A Quick Note
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A Little Elbow Grease
Our next botanical wine release is just around the corner. That’s been the record on play for a bit. As is now (apparently) usual, we’re running late.
This year’s bottling begins with Mentha (mint aperitif) and Solstice (plum vermouth). Technically, they should be going into bottles right about…now. As with all good things in food and drink, they’re taking some time. More about that next month.
We do have some of our previous vintage bottlings in stock. Specifically, Thistle (artichoke aperitif), Nocino Americano (Black Walnut), and Equinox Gentiane (sweet potato.) Awfully out of season…or so it would seem.
Don’t let a simple failure of creativity bog down your summer cocktail lineup. Nothing is out of season to the inspired palette. With a good shaker and a little elbow grease, we can make summer out of just about anything.
That brings us to the theme of the hour. This month’s newsletter is the cocktail edit, or in the case of the soon-to-be-bottled, the pre-cocktail edit.
The Summer Formula
Nothing is off limits on the summer bar. The trick here is three-fold: consider the driving flavors of your problem child in question, a correlating spirit profile, and the appropriate bridge between the two. The bridge could be anything: citrus juice, sherry, a flavored (or not) syrup, but it must accomplish one thing: it must bear likeness to both the aperitif and the spirit.
That’s our formula: problem + spirit + bridge = summer.
Let’s set aside our overdue vintage and start with what we do have on hand:
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Thistle
Thistle is our most versatile bottling for summer cocktails. It’s inspired by the Italian tradition of infusing amaro with edible thistles (thus the name), putting it in the same camp as Cardamaro and Cynar.
There’s a large sprawl of rocky turf on our farm. Nothing much will grow there, but thistles seem to like it just fine. Our products are all about showcasing native and climatically-appropriate flora. Artichokes and their kin are certainly appropriate for that otherwise useless spot, so they fit the bill.
Thistle is light, honeyed, herbal, and subtly bitter. It’s the most demure of our lineup, but by no means lacking for it.
Let’s start off with something easy. A Thistle Sour covers all of your summery sweet-tart needs, and then some. We like to add a little Hickory Bark Syrup from Falling Bark Farm in Clark Country (that’s Virginia, for all you out-of-staters).
For a lower-ABV option, try this almost 50/50 blend of Thistle and Limoncello in a Pomeriggio. Pomeriggio is Italian for “afternoon,” which is to say, “drink this on a nice summer afternoon.”
If you’re feeling especially lazy but still want to drink something classy, make yourself a Gin Thistle. It’s like a martini, but better. It’s also very, very easy.
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Nocino Americano
In the case of our Nocino, we’re not exactly helped by the Italian tradition of enjoying theirs as a winter holiday tipple. It does have a certain coziness on the palette…but we’re going to ignore that. Our Nocino isn’t just stodgy, it also has a good amount of tannin and perfume, thanks to extensive aging with cherry wood and a few complementary botanicals (elderflower, in particular). It’s dense, powerful, and noticeably bitter. These are our working points.
We need a spirit that is either powerful or floral, and a summery bridge that both softens and lifts.
Take this Smokeberry cocktail, for example. It’s a 50/50 split between Mezcal and Nocino, with a touch of blackberry syrup between the two. Perhaps not the best poolside frosé option, but a knockout on a sultry summer’s evening.
Option 2: terrify your cookout guests by making them a round of Mitlas. We designed the Mitla Cocktail as a part of a CSA deep dive into Oaxacan cuisine. It takes its name from an ancient collection of archeological ruins in central Oaxaca. Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, meaning the "place of the dead" or "underworld."
Don’t let it’s name fool you. It’s just the thing on a hot day.
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Equinox Sweet Potato Gentiane
Sweet potatoes for summer? Challenge accepted. Let’s start by breaking down Equinox to its basics: bitter, smoky, yes…sweet-potatoey, but also drying, dusty, and a little fruity.
Our first question was “which summer fruit likes a little time on the grill?” We both said the same thing: peaches. A Peach Bonfire takes the idea and runs with it. Oloroso, Equinox, and a touch of rum and peach syrup all land a great drink for cookouts, bonfires, and any other summer gatherings involving open flames. Just keep them away from your glass.
Equinox also makes a great Margarita. Our uncreatively (but straightforwardly!) named Sweet Potato-Grapefruit Margarita does just that. Grapefruit juice and tequila ping on Equinox’s sunnier side, while the California-based Mommenpop’s Makrut Limepop levies some structure. Salted rim, naturally.
Up and Coming
What about Mentha and Solstice? This season’s iterations are a little different from last year’s: a touch less sweet, a tad more bitter. They’re functionally the same, and we have a few teasers to share.
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Mentha
The thing about Mentha is that it’s minty. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a problem, but it can wreak havoc when spirits are at play. The pungent oils in mint leaves affect the way alcohol, acid, and bitterness are perceived on the palate. When mixing with Mentha, the goal is always to maintain a happy mint balance.
Starting with the classics is a good direction. Say, a Mentha Mojito? Sub in Mentha for the muddled mint and lime juice. When we made this recipe, our Mentha was a bit more pinky in the glass (more rhubarb, less mint) and it shows in the recipe. Today’s Mentha is more golden (more mint, less rhubarb). Deal with it.
Another way to ensure a good match in the shaker? Match your botanicals. Our Loudoun county neighbor, Clever Beast, makes a stellar lineup of vermouths and aperitifs. Much like us, they use botanicals native to the Mid-Atlantic.
We find their clean, refined aesthetic to be an ideal counterpoint to our own. Exhibit A: Tomato-Mint Spritz. We combine our Mentha with their Tomato Vine Spritz and a little Spanish white vermouth. A touch of rosewater and our own Sumac Bitters add just the right stuff on the nose.
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Solstice Vermouth
Solstice is an atypical vermouth. Not only is it infused with local plums, it’s also highly textured and acidic. We ferment the base wine with full skin contact and partial stem inclusion. That gives us a lot of personality to work with, for better or worse.
Not quite French in style, not quite Italian, not really Spanish…it’s a uniquely Appalachian take on the genre.
When working with Solstice, your focus is acidity. A Negroni is a good place to start. We used Charlottesville-local Vitae Spirits’ Gin in ours, as well as a little Antica Torino Rosso Vermouth. Antica Torino is the long-time project of a dear friend of ours, Vito, who was kind enough to give us pointers in our early vermouthing days.
Solstice’s secondary characteristic is its fruit. Take it in a softer direction with D.C.-based Ciccio e Figli’s Cerasum Aperitivo. This aptly-named Cereza cocktail does just that, plus a little mezcal. House-brandied cherry, for good measure.
Summer, Served
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Remember, with a little ingenuity and a lot of desperation, you can craft a summer cocktail from just about anything. If at first you don’t succeed, try again…or visit our Cocktail Archive for some proper direction.
Did we mention that we deliver? If you’re lucky enough to live in NoVA or D.C., you can order our botanical wines (and bitters) online for home delivery. If you’re home at the time, you’ll likely have the pleasure of meeting one of us at your doorstep. We’re a team of two, and that means we’re our own delivery drivers.
We Want Your Recipes
Are you a fan of our botanical wines and bitters? We’d love to see what you’re mixing up. Share your recipes with us and we’ll share them with our audience. You can shoot us a message on your favorite social media platform or send us an email: contact@artemisia.farm.
Cheers!
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