Discovery is everything. - Makro

42
BRANDY & COGNAC SUPPLEMENT
In Good
Spirits
Garden to Glass
It’s in with the Fresh Cocktail, the bespoke and the crafted.
It’s out with the pre-packed, ready-mixed, artifi cially
fl avoured ‘junk food of the drinks world’ kinda cocktail.
Know your Th ai basil from your thyme; your cilantro from
your chervil? Mixologists and drink enthusiasts are donning
their wellies and giving their green fi ngers a work-out. Cocktail
gardening is fast catching up with urban farming, the locavore
movement, seasonality and other eco-lifestyle trends. Cocktails
made from a garden’s worth of herbs have become more than
a trend – they’re a new standard, reports William H Hamilton,
cocktail critic of the New York Times.
Not that you have to transform your lawn into a veggie patch.
A few potted herbs on the balcony, a windowsill or sunny spot
on the bar counter are all it takes to add an extra layer of fl avour,
great looking garnishes and feel-good fl air to your next creation.
With edible fl owers so de rigueur, planting your own violets are
not so far-fetched at all.
A tip is to grow only what you can maintain. Mint, basil, sage,
rosemary cilantro and thyme are good cocktail herbs. Try borage,
marigold, nasturtium, chamomile and geranium for their fl owers.
August 2012
COURTESY OF THE