A book so beautiful the illustrator is listed first in the byline, The Cocktail Garden: Botanical Cocktails for Every Season is a sweet and lovely collection of drink recipes dedicated to fruits, herbs, flowers and even some vegetables.
Next to lush and vibrant intricate drawings of dragon fruit, beets and sorrel, recipes almost feel like captions to the artwork. But the tidy text offers plenty of guidance to embracing the season’s gifts and turning them into cocktails and their components. The book starts with how-tos for syrups, purees, tinctures (akin to bitters) and infusions, with fresh ideas like pear and green tea puree and sugar snap-pea syrup.
Drinks lean as simple as a gin and tonic, though served in a wine glass, with the addition of finger lime and a sprig of shiso. Spins on margaritas are plenty, with one dubbed Margherita Margarita with tequila and tomato juice (cherry garnish) and others matching mango with matcha and kale juice with ginger. Picker and Loveday both call Sydney home, which is why it makes sense when they list 666 Autumn Butter Vodka from Tasmania for an espresso-based cocktail also featuring spiced rum and a cardamom tincture. (Tangential recipes for this drink include butter-washed vodka and that tincture.)
This cocktail companion, ripe for warm-weather party season, is as pretty as it is useful.
(May 2018)
