The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks

by Amy Stewart

  trees

  Fruit trees are not exactly an impulse purchase. A tree is like a puppy: it’s cute when it’s small, but it does grow up, and it requires a lifetime of care.

  GROWING NOTES

  Pomegranate

  Some fruit trees need a certain number of winter chill hours (hours during which temperatures hover around freezing) in order to complete their dormancy cycle. Some are vulnerable to pests and diseases that would require you to apply more sprays than you might be comfortable with, considering the fact that cocktails often call for the rind of the fruit. Consult with a good local fruit tree nursery or your county agricultural extension office, both of whom might offer fruit tree workshops, and ask about disease and pest-resistant varieties and organic methods.

  Some trees, including citrus, will grow in a container and won’t object to overwintering indoors if they can’t survive the winter outside. Just know that fruit trees tend to be grafted onto root-stock that determines their size, so if you want a tree to stay small, ask for one grafted onto dwarf rootstock.

  The care and feeding of a fruit tree is also a little different from other plants. Some varieties are self-fertile, which means they don’t need a mate nearby, but others won’t bloom without a compatible tree (called a pollinizer) in the area. Speaking of pollination, your local bees will probably do the deed without any special effort on your part, but indoor plants might require a little assistance. (Have this birds-and-bees talk with your garden center staff.) Fruit trees also require special fertilizer loaded with micronutrients like iron, copper, and boron. They call for particular pruning strategies, and some must be thinned when the fruit is still small and green to ensure a good harvest.

  None of this, however, should discourage you. Fruit trees are endlessly rewarding. Some nurseries will double or triple that reward by grafting a few varieties onto one rootstock. These “three in one” or “four in one” offerings are a great way to grow a variety of fruit in a small space. With a little education and help selecting the right variety for your area, you’ll enjoy the singular pleasure of enlivening a drink with fresh, seasonal juice from your own garden.

  • • • GROWING NOTES • • • trees

  Apple

  Malus domestica

  Choosing varieties that thrive in your climate is key. Do plenty of tasting at farmers’ markets and ask local growers for help selecting a tree. (See p. 17.)

  Apricot

  Prunus armeniaca

  Most apricots grown for fruit in the United States have bitter, inedible pits, which is fine if you only intend to use the fruit. One sweet variety, whose almond-flavored pits can be soaked in brandy, is SweetHeart. (See p. 260.)

  Cherry

  Prunus cerasus

  var. marasca

  To make your own maraschino cherries, look for a sour, dark, morello type, also called a pie cherry. (See p. 271.)

  Fig

  Ficus carica

  Violette de Bordeaux is a classic French variety, but what matters most is choosing one suitable for your area. Try to taste figs from local farmers before committing to a variety. Great for simple syrup reductions. (See p. 270.)

  Lemon

  Citrus limon

  Great in containers. Choose Improved Meyer for the juice or Eureka or Lisbon for flavorful rind. (See p. 297.)

  Lime

  Citrus aurantifolia

  Also called key lime, Mexican lime, or West Indian lime, this is the ideal variety for mixed drinks. Kaffir lime, C. hystrix, is grown for its aromatic leaves, which are used in Thai-flavored drinks. (See p. 298.)

  Lychee

  Litchi chinensis

  An extraordinary tropical fruit, the juice is delightful in cocktails and the fruit makes a lovely garnish. The tree can’t survive temperatures below 25 degrees Fahrenheit and grows to over thirty feet, making it unsuitable for cold climates or greenhouses.

  Olive

  Olea europaea

  Gordal is a classic Spanish variety. Arbequina is small and cold-tolerant. Look for a variety that is bred for fruit production, not as an ornamental tree. Be aware that olive pollen can be highly aggravating to people with seasonal allergies. (See p. 336.)

  Orange

  Citrus aurantium,

  others

  The so-called bitter orange is grown for its peel, as are citrons. Navel and blood oranges are better for juice, and some varieties will grow indoors. For containers, consider kumquats and calamondins for sheer ease of growing. (See pp. 287, 301.)

  Peach

  Prunus persica

  Look for disease-resistant, dwarf varieties. Peaches (and closely related nectarines) are ideal for so-called combo trees, where a few varieties are grafted to one rootstock.

  Plum

  Prunus domestica

  Dark blue damson, bright yellow mirabelle, and greengage plums are the traditional European varieties used for making wines, liqueurs, and eau-de-vie. Try Big Mackey or Jam Session, bred by Cornell University to succeed in North America. (See p. 277.)

  Pomegranate

  Punica granatum

  The dwarf variety P. granatum var. nana thrives in pots, but commercial growers prefer Wonderful, the variety grown by the founders of the juice company POM Wonderful, which also supplies fresh pomegranates to markets around the world. Angel Red and Grenada ripen earlier than Wonderful, making them more likely to set fruit before an early freeze arrives. (See p. 337.)

  BRINE YOUR OWN OLIVES

  A terrible olive can ruin a great martini. If you have access to fresh olives, try brining your own with nothing but water and salt.

  Get fresh-picked green olives from a farmers’ market (or a friend with an olive tree) and make a single cut in each one from top to bottom. Wash them in plain water and place them in a clean glass jar or bowl. Choose your container carefully; you’ll need to weigh the olives down, so pick something with a wide mouth and find a plate or lid that just fits inside. (A sturdy plastic bag filled with water also works as a weight.) Soak the olives in water for 24 hours, being sure to keep them submerged. Keep them stored in a cool, dry place during this process.

  Change the water every day for 6 days. After 6 days, make the final brine by combining 1 part pickling salt to 10 parts water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and allow to cool. Pour the olives into jars and fill with brine. Add lemon, garlic, spices, or herbs, if desired. Seal them tightly and refrigerate for 4 more days. They’ll be ready to eat and should be kept refrigerated and enjoyed fresh.

  POMEGRANATE

  Punica granatum

  lythraceae (loosestrife family)

  An 1867 medical journal entry on pomegranate explained that “the tincture, a liqueur glass morning and evening, infallibly expels the yellow tapeworm.” This was not the first report of the vermifugal powers of pomegranate: a Portuguese doctor had been making a tea of the bark for the same purpose since 1820 and calling it grenadine. Fortunately, by the second half of the nineteenth century, grenadine had come to refer to a sweet, ruby-colored fruit syrup used to flavor sodas and drinks, not a bark tea designed to kill intestinal worms.

  A pomegranate tree is actually a large shrub of Asian and Middle Eastern origin. It still grows wild there today, but now it is cultivated throughout Europe, the Americas, and in tropical areas around the world. Although the tree has ancient origins and was extensively grown by Egyptians, there are just two species. The plants were once classified in a taxonomic family by themselves, until new molecular research uncovered their close genetic relationship to purple loosestrife, crepe myrtle, cuphea, and other seemingly dissimilar plants. (Crumpled flower petals are their most obvious shared anatomical feature.)

  Pomegranate trees are now grown primarily in the Middle East, India, and China, although they are a specialty crop in the Mediterranean, and in Mexico and California. The fruit earned its species name granatum from the Latin word for “seeded,” and its fruit does, in fact, contain a few hundred seeds surrounded by bright red pulp. The syrup made fr
om it, grenadine, derives from the early French word for pomegranate, grenade. The hand-thrown projectile of the same name was invented in the sixteenth century and was named after the fruit, perhaps because they were each the same size and filled with explosive materials of a very different kind.

  Grenadine syrup was popular in French cafes as a sweetener for water in the 1880s, and shortly thereafter it began turning up in American soda fountains and cocktail bars. In 1910, the St. Regis hotel in New York served a cocktail called the Polly made of gin, grenadine, lemon juice, and soda. In 1913, the New York Times sent a skeptical male reporter to a bar designed just for women called Café des Beaux Arts on Sixth Avenue at Fortieth Street. Among the many marvels he discovered in this feminine establishment were brightly colored cocktails, including the frothy pink Beaux Arts Fizz, made with gin, orgeat (sweet almond) syrup, grenadine, and lemon juice.

  Grenadine’s run as a pure pomegranate syrup was surprisingly short. Artificial versions appeared in the early twentieth century, and by 1918 manufacturers were challenging new labeling laws, trying to pass off any sort of red syrup as grenadine. As one reporter described the situation, “The syrup and the fruit from which it took its name were total strangers.” Although the artificial form eventually won out, grenadine stayed behind the bar, becoming an essential ingredient in hundreds of cocktails, including the Jack Rose and the tiki classic, Tequila Sunrise.

  Thanks to a renewed interest in authentic ingredients, grenadine made with actual pomegranates can now be found on the shelves of better liquor stores and specialty food shops, as can pomegranate liqueurs and infused vodkas. But there is no substitute for homemade grenadine made from fresh-squeezed pomegranates. Even replacing the fresh juice with bottled compromises the flavor. When the fruit is in season, it is well worth spending an hour or so in the kitchen making up a batch for the freezer.

  HOMEMADE GRENADINE

  5 to 6 fresh pomegranates

  1 to 2 cups sugar

  1 ounce vodka

  To peel the pomegranates, score the rind with a knife as if you’re cutting an orange into wedges. Carefully peel away the rind, leaving the seeds and membrane intact. Squeeze with a fruit press or manual juicer and filter through a sieve. You should have about 2 cups of juice.

  Measure 1 cup of the sugar into a saucepan, add the juice, stir, and bring to a simmer. Let the sugar cool and taste it; add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter syrup. Stir in the vodka as a preservative. Pour into a clean jar and store it in the refrigerator, where it will last about a month, or in the freezer. Adding another ounce or two of vodka will help keep it from freezing.

  JACK ROSE

  1½ ounces applejack

  ½ ounce fresh lemon juice

  ½ ounce grenadine

  Shake all the ingredients over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

  -- proceeding onward to --

  berries & vines

  Just about everything that can be said of fruit trees applies to berries and vines as well, with one exception: these plants are reluctant to grow in containers and won’t enjoy life indoors.

  GROWING NOTES

  Berries tend to be low-maintenance, requiring only a trellis, once-a-year pruning, and occasional fertilizer. Most berries are planted in bare-root form (you buy a clump of live roots attached to a cane, not a growing plant) in winter or early spring.

  Do check with local experts to find the varieties that grow best in your climate, and ask if you need a nearby pollinizer. Get pruning advice specific to the variety you’ve chosen: some raspberries, for instance, bear fruit twice a year and only on two year-old canes, which means that you have to cut back the old canes after they’ve fruited, but let the younger canes grow unmolested for two years before they bear fruit.

  • • • GROWING NOTES • • • berries & vines

  Blackberry

  Rubus spp.

  Do yourself a favor and choose a thornless variety. Extend the growing season by selecting several cultivars with different blooming periods; for instance, Arapaho starts in mid-June, and Black Diamond bears in August. Loganberry, marionberry, boysenberry, and tayberry crosses (generally blackberry-raspberry hybrids) are well worth growing.

  Blueberry

  Vaccinium spp.

  Because blueberries prefer acid, moist soil, growing them in a container might be the best way to give them the conditions they need. Top Hat and Chippewa are compact varieties for pots. Some varieties tolerate winter temperatures to –20 degrees Fahrenheit.

  Currant

  Ribes nigrum

  The black currant, used to make cassis, is still banned in some states even though new disease-resistant cultivars do not spread the dreaded white pine blister rust. Ben Lomond is a vigorous Scottish variety. Red and white currants have a bright, light flavor and make beautiful garnishes in drinks. (See p. 263.)

  Hops

  Humulus lupulus

  Hops require specific day lengths to bloom, so do best in latitudes of 35 to 55 degrees north and south. The golden hop vine Aureus, with its yellow to lime green foliage, is a widely sold ornamental, as is Bianca, a variety with light green foliage that matures to a darker green. (See p. 210.)

  Raspberry

  Rubus idaeus

  Look for everbearing varieties that fruit over a long season. Pruning is simpler because all canes are cut down each winter. Try Caroline or Polka Red.

  Sloe

  Prunus spinosa

  Also called blackthorn, this large, thorny shrub is hardy to –30F. Bears the fruit used to make sloe gin—if the birds don’t get them first. (See p. 281.)

  INFUSED VODKAS

  Nothing could be simpler than infusing herbs, spices, and fruit in vodka to make your own flavored spirit for cocktails. There’s just one catch: some plants, particularly tender green herbs like basil or cilantro, produce bitter, strange flavors if they’ve been soaking for long. To get around this, make a small batch as a test, and taste it frequently, starting just a few hours after the infusion has begun. For herbs, 8 to 12 hours may be sufficient. For fruit, 1 week may be long enough. Citrus rinds and spices can soak for a month. The trick is that as soon as it tastes wonderful, strain it. Time will not necessarily improve an infusion.

  The instructions are simply this:

  Fill a clean jar with herbs, spices, or fruit. Pour in an affordable but not rock-bottom vodka, like Smirnoff. Seal tightly and store in a cool, dark place. Sample regularly until you decide it’s perfect. Strain it and use it within a few months.

  LIMONCELLO AND OTHER LIQUEURS

  Consider this recipe to be a template for other sweet infusions. Coffee beans, cocoa nibs, or almost any kind of citrus could take the place of lemon to make another sweet, after-dinner liqueur.

  12 fresh lemons (see note)

  1 750 ml bottle vodka

  3 cups sugar

  3 cups water

  Peel the lemons, being careful to get only the yellow rind. (If you don’t have another use for the fruit, squeeze the juice and freeze in ice cube trays for use in cocktails.) Place the lemon rinds and vodka in a large glass pitcher or jar. Cover and let sit for 1 week.

  After 1 week, heat the sugar and water, let it cool, and add it to the vodka and lemon mixture. Let it sit for 24 hours, and then strain. Refrigerate overnight before drinking.

  Note: Avoid chemicals and synthetic waxes by choosing organic or unsprayed, homegrown citrus.

  -- and wrapping things up with --

  fruits & vegetables

  Any well-stocked kitchen garden could easily supply a bartender as well, but if you’re focusing exclusively on drinks, you can forgo culinary necessities like salad greens and summer squash, and instead plant a fruit and vegetable garden made exclusively for cocktails. Look for varieties that produce over a long growing season, or find early-and late-season varieties of the same fruit or vegetable, to extend the harvest. Look for small-fruited varieties, too. After all, most drinks call for only small quantities of fruit, and cocktai
l glasses themselves can only accommodate a diminutive garnish before they get difficult to drink. Here are a few favorites.

  GROWING NOTES

  Strawberry | Pepper

  • • • GROWING NOTES • • • fruits & vegetables

  Celery

  Apium graveolens

  Believe it or not, celery is well worth growing if you have a long, cool growing season. Homegrown stalks may be thinner than beefy, store-bought varieties, which make them perfect as swizzle sticks. Look for the dramatic crimson Redventure.

  Cucumber

  Cucumis sativus

  Spacemaster 80 and Iznik do well in containers, Corinto tolerates heat waves or unexpected cold spells; Sweet Success resists diseases and is a ‘burpless’ variety, also called an English variety, which is said to be easier to digest.

  Melon

  Cucumis melo

  The best way to select a variety to plant might be to buy a selection from the farmers’ market and save the seeds of your favorite. Ambrosia resists powdery mildew; Charentais is a classic French variety.

  Miracle fruit

  Synsepalum

  dulcificum

  A good container plant, available from tropical plant nurseries. This native West African shrub produces tiny dark red berries that contain a glycoprotein with a strange effect on the tongue: When eaten, the proteins bind to taste buds and change the way receptors perceive flavor. For about an hour, until digestive enzymes break down the proteins, sour foods taste sweet. The possibilities have not been lost on bartenders; a sour drink made with lemon or lime juice can be garnished with a miracle berry, the idea being that bar patrons will take a few sips, eat the berry, and enjoy a completely different cocktail afterward. Fresh berries are hard to find unless you grow them yourself.