Well, hello, you gorgeous, sweet-talking readers. I think I’d like to buy you a drink, just to say thank you for the unexpected and lovely outpouring of anti-troll support you laid on me last week. That was….wow. It was wow. Please know I appreciate it, and I have no intention of letting a few anonymous jerk-wads derail this blog.
Since I can’t actually buy everyone a drink, I’d like to do the next best thing. Giveaway!
If there’s anything better than a gardening book, it’s a gardening book with a drinking problem, and I’ve got one that lives up to that promise.
I happen to have two signed copies of The Drunken Botanist to give away, which is kinda cool since this book isn’t even being released for sale until March 19th.
The Drunken Botanist is the latest work of staggering genius to come from Amy Stewart, author of many books including Wicked Plants and co-founder of the fabulous blog, Garden Rant.
The story of how Amy (New York Freaking Times Bestselling Author) Stewart handed me a few copies of her book after the Northwest Flower and Garden Show isn’t nearly as flattering to my garden writer reputation as you might think – she has no idea who I am.
No, basically the extra copies were just too heavy for Amy to lug back on the plane, and I threw myself in her path as a willing book porter. I think I basically jumped up and down with my hand in the air yelling, “Oooh, pick me! Pick me!”
Did I ever claim to have a lot of shame when, after several herbal cocktails, free books were up for grabs?
No. No, I did not.
Which brings me to The Drunken Botanist.
Next time you pull a piece of silk from between your teeth while you are eating a fresh ear of corn, remember that you’ve just spat out a fallopian tube.
Summer barbecues will never be the same: “Is that a fallopian tube in your teeth, or are you just happy to see me?” Yes, this book will change the way you look at plants, even if you already think you know them pretty well.
Stewart manages to turn a seemingly random botanical collection of grains, herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables into a fascinating guidebook to anything that could end up in a cocktail glass or beer stein. She crams cocktail recipes, history, accessible science, varietal suggestions and growing tips into The Drunken Botanist, and keeps the whole jaunt really fun to read.
The only thing this book doesn’t have that you might expect is detailed instructions on how to actually make hooch. There are instructions for simple infusions and cordials, but this is not a winemaking, homebrewing or distilling how to book.
As if combining plants and booze isn’t hedonistic enough, the book itself is a joy to hold and page through. The paper feels burnished, and the color, typography and graphic flourishes are vintage-fun. This is the kind of book-lover’s book that makes you hope Kindles and Nooks never completely take over.
To enter to win one of two copies of The Drunken Botanist, leave a comment below telling me how you use the harvest in your own creative mixology (“Pineapple Sage Mojito!”) If you don’t drink booze, non-alcoholic beverage refreshment options are welcomed, too!
Contest open until Thursday, March 21st at 8 PM PDT. US residents only, please, because of shipping constraints. Two winners will be selected randomly and notified by email.
Good luck, and thanks again for being wonderful.
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I just got a Vita Mix so I want to make my own tomato juice for bloody marys, similar to Snap E Tom, I love canning so hoping I can figure out a nice substitute since its getting harder and harder to find. I love herbs in drinks so interested in this book love stuff like this and books especially, LOVE books, self taught is my thing…..
While not alcoholic, it’s good! Cranberry or other jucie (pineapple also very good) with basil. Make by infusing the juice with basil…….pour hot juice over a crammed container of basil, let sit until cool, strain. Enjoy! Makes wonderful jelly too.
I am new to the herbal cocktails, but love to do non-alcoholic herbally refreshing drinks. I would love to learn how to make some amazing cocktails! I could easily see myself using all my garden amenities; mints, lavender, cucumber, basil, fruits, you name it! How divine!
~What raspberries & strawberries that actually make it into the house get frozen & dropped into sparkling lemon water & consumed on those hot days — we have hot days in Seattle, right? — while gardening.
~Sage, lemon balm, mints, & rosemary garnishes in gin based yumminesses…
~Fig syrup in everything I can think of, drinks & other goodies
~Sun tea from all herbs, sweet & savory
OMG I am so glad it’s gardening season!!
I like to make fruit-infused vodkas and herb-infused simple syrups. Delicious!
ooh… i keep hearing about this book and it sounds amazing. I don’t know how to mix drinks, so the only drink i’ve tried from my garden is mint tea. an amazing neighbor farmer makes pumpkin beer, honey basil beer, and i’m not sure what else… but jokingly (i think) spoke of offering an alcohol CSA… i’m in if that day comes!
Sadly, the only thing I’ve done so far is to use my home-grown meyer lemons to infuse vodka, but I hope to branch out more since moving and starting an actual garden last year. I added a dwarf cherry tree and some blueberry bushes to the lemon, lots and lots of herbs, and will be growing cucumbers this year; those are all things I love to use in beverages. 😀
So far, I’ve been using my rhubarb to make infused vodka (which is delicious and a little bit different) and mint for mojitos and tea.
We started growing our own mint for mojitos a couple of years ago. I will be trying my hand this year producing my own wines from blackberry and plums and hard cider from apples and pears.
While not technically from my garden, a friend and I made about 5 gallons our own lemoncello many years back from another friend’s meyer lemons. It was the best drink and folks were begging us for their own little bottles. I haven’t been able to recreate it since and think the key was that tree. With all the fun ideas from everyone here, I will definitely be infusing more drinks this year!
We make limoncello but I buy the lemons to use in it. I have made lavendar-infused and mint-infused simple syrups, though, and the herbs come from my garden. And then I use the leftover lemons and the simple syrup to make (non-alcoholic) mint lemonade. Yum!
I love the basic mojito – warm, fresh mint from the garden, rum, sugar, and lime. It gives me an excuse to crush the mint with my muddler, which is always fun after a few “samples” of the mojito!
We make our own tomato juice inthe summer and use it in bloody mary’s and we’ve used our starwberry harvest for the usual daquiri. This year, however, we plan on making raspberry wine because we have such a huge harvest, we can never eat them all! And I plan on trying to make raspberry brandy. Slainte!
Elderberries, mint, purslane, lemon juice and gin… divine!
We use a light nettle infusion and parsley juice to make a smoothie that works well with rum or vodka.
The kids love to mash the raspberries and mint (and pretty much anything else they think will taste good) into a special summer drink. It’s quite refreshing for the grownups with the addition of a finger or two of tequila. Yum!
We made marigold wine last summer, as well as dandelion wine. Also all sorts of fruit wine–pear, peach, apple, blackberry, blueberry. No mixed drinks though. My husband is the drinker in the house and he prefers wines.
In early spring I love to make a rhubarb syrup, add some vodka, and top it off with seltzer and a twist. Sometimes I add a little spritz of rise water if I’m feeling romantic.
fresh mint is the ONLY was to make a julep
I MUST have this book. As soon as I saw it come up in my feed I was like “That is SO me” Anything that combines gardening and cocktails is a WIN in my book… but sadly, I don’t have a book.. therefore the inherent need for THIS one.. I enjoy making mojitos (the right way – none of that imitation premade mixer junk) and lavender & rosemary spiked lemonades. MMmmm. I can almost taste summer already. I’d be over the moon – with an herb infused drink in my hand, of course – if I were to win. Thanks for offering such an awesome giveaway.
My girlfriend and I grow hot peppers that we put into tequila to make a spicy and delicious infusion. Great for a Bloody Maria!
Rosemary-Lavendar Lemonade!
Fermenting mania right now!
I use muddle mint from my garden with local peaches (instead of ice cubes) and bourbon to make what I like to call a Kentucky Sunset.
Mint for mojitos, cucumbers for a lovely gem called Gordon’s cup (http://orangette.blogspot.com/2008/05/something-more-exciting.html). I’ll put pureed fruit in just about anything – blueberry gin and tonic, strawberry margarita, etc. Green beans make a great garnish for a bloody mary and lavender is super yummy in a simple syrup to add to just about anything.
Cucumber vodka! Black raspberry cordial! And of course, mojitos. Got hooked on mint juleps recently so will be planting more mint.
This book sounds like something to share with several friends (including some who don’t garden but do tend bar.)
Sorry, can I post again? We also make hard cider that is the best damn stuff in a bottle. And it’s easy. If you haven’t tried making this, you’re missing out. Commercial ciders are too sweet.
I use my mint for mojitos and lemons for French 75s. If I ever try my hand at distillation, I grow almost all the herbs that I would want to but in absinthe.
Cherries infused with sugar and vodka; plum halves infused with sugar and rum; apple wine in a carboy; plum wine in another carboy (I got tired of canning and juicing excess apples and plums so wine seemed a natural segue.) I’d love to win one of these books. “If you have a library and a garden, you have everything you need” ;o) (not my original saying – maybe I got it from you! – but I think it’s true.)
Ginger Mint Mojitos…
Cucumber and Basil in my Pim’s Cup. Looooooove it
I love to use fresh herbs from my garden for tea, hot or cold!
I just loved seeing you at the Flower and Garden show last month. Im not terribly creative, so simply use my home grown mint for mojoitos. Love em and always a hit with guests.
A sure sign of summer for me is a home-grown mint julep! Yum!
Wow, so many good ideas, I can’t wait to try some! My current favorite is The Bees Knees which is the juice of 1 lemon (from my tree), two fingers of gin, 1/4 cup honey (from my neighbors hive who pollinates my plants). Dilute the honey slightly with hot water so it mixes better. Shake with ice and pour in you favorite martini glass (which for me is a rocks glass since I spill). This is insanely good
I have made strawberry-basil martinis which are incredible. As well as monitors with mint and basil. Last year I made hard cider with the apples from my trees.
oooo pick me pick me pick me! lush here again.
grapefruit campari and tonic. lavendar wine. sage julep… don’t knock ’til you’ve tried it, and yes the original time was inadvertent – chin chin to happy surprises. eau de vie from plums in a garbage can with leaves and dirt – french style. jalepeno gin madness – cool and clear over cubes. more to come as i ‘member – off for raspberry champers.
gosh, gardening is such a joy.
Infused vodkas using herbs from the garden, hot peppers, watermelon, and strawberries for a whole bunch of refreshing cocktails over the summer.
my mint plant is my Mojito Tree, and after discovering Hendricks gin, I am looking forward to muddling my homegrown cucumbers in a Hendricks and tonic. 🙂
My friend calls it El Sanguino- it’s a tequila bloody-mary. We made an amazing version using our own homegrown tomatoes, cilantro, and pickled jalapenos. This year I’m trying to grow cumin, so that would definitely go in, and if I grow enough chiles I could make my own chile powder. Stirrer? Your own celery or cucumbers or sticks of bell pepper or… um… anything you grew that can be cut into stick shape ;). Knocks you down, but hey, sometimes Sunday morning calls for an extra kick.
Not sure I have any good recipes, but as I am going to try to grow jalapeno peppers again this year I may have to try making a drink featuring them 😉
I may not have any drink recipe ideas but the book looks so interesting – count me in.
I make Bloody Mary mix with my tomatoes, cilantro and hot peppers. I also infuse vodka with my oranges and/or Meyers lemons. Oh, and lets not forget mojitos with mint that I can’t get rid of in the yard.
I’m relatively new to the whole gardening game so my garden right now consists of some herbs and wild blackberry bushes that I obviously can’t take credit for. During the summer I make countless drinks but one of my favorites is consists of making a blackberry simple syrup that I mix with fresh mint lemonade, some vodka or gin and a little bit of club soda. My other is a twist on a classic G&T with a thyme simple syrup added which pairs well with gin’s herbal notes.
So excited to see this book in person! Tart cherries from a local farm make their way into cherry bounce in my kitchen.
How I use the harvest( of my local farmer’s market; and friends herb garden.) This cocktail is a little more labor intensive but soooo worth it:
Pineapple Sage Martini/ The Winterflower
5 chunks of fresh pineapple ( reserve one chunk for garnish)
1/4 oz Homade elder-flower syrup( using locally grown elder-flower, dried, then steeped in simple syrup)
.5 oz St. Germaine’s elder-flower liqueur
2.5 oz high quality vodka( I fly with the “Goose”)
3 leaves of fresh sage( reserve a leaf for garnish)
The juice of 1/2 fresh Meyer lemon( Though any fresh lemon will do but it has to be fresh)
Muddle the pineapple and sage in a shaker
Add ice cubes, elderflower syrup and liqueur , the vodka and the lemon juice
Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with the pineapple chunk and sage leaf
Short-cuts and cheats: you may omit the elderflower syrup but the bouquet won’t be as lush and you don’t have to muddle the pineapple if you can get good quality pineapple juice.( 3 tbls per cocktail) The kind in a can with the blue label isn’t the quality I speak of;)
Because I have a very shady garden, about the only thing I can contribute to a cocktail is a little crushed mint! However, if you were to include the sweat of my brow – that would just be disgusting! I have a lovely spot in my shady yard for the drinking of any libation and that’s what I look forward to as I sit at my computer and watch a squirrel poke its head out of a hole in a tree and wonder that it’s snowing again! Dang! Where’s my spring and my cocktail under the trees!
Lemon verbena, you know how they go on about how delicate it is, how not hardy? Every year I believe, every year I stare worridly at my poor baby, wondering if it will survive. Every year it gets over four feet tall, and I can’t figure out what to do with it, there is lemonade, there is hot tea, there is flavored sugar, and, there is BOOZE! Yeah.
Herbal simple syrups, mint tea, and my favorite — blackberry shrub. It’s blackberry simple syrup with vinegar added, so not too sweet (I think my proportions were 4 blackberry:2 sugar:1 vinegar). Himalayan blackberries are invasive here in Portland, so I canned plenty of blackberry jam, syrup, and shrub last summer — the shrub is getting used the most. I like it with club soda, with or without vodka or gin.
We infuse liquors as well, with cucumber or peppers. And we use lots of herbs in our drinks, including mint, thyme, lemon thyme, basil, etc. One of my favorite drink recipes when the gold cherry tomatoes come in, and the basil is going wild is the August Sun (recipe here: http://www.squareoneorganicspirits.com/TownSquare/TS_MixologyArt/TS_cucumbercocktails.html)