Living Libations

Cocktail creators turn to the garden for the freshest flavors.

Gardening is a year-round affair in the 805, but even so, spring has a special meaning for those with itchy green thumbs. Likewise, for cocktail lovers it’s the season to begin incorporating garden-grown ingredients into mixed drinks. For inspiration, we turn to five Central Coast practitioners who literally bring the garden to the glass. Longtime Santa Barbara resident Alvaro Castellanos Rojas grew up in the kitchen of his father, a professional chef, and opened his first restaurant while still in his early 20s. With the arrival of Alcazar Tapas Bar in 2000, followed by Milk & Honey in 2007, Rojas hit his stride serving inventive food and creative cocktails, both of which draw extensively on the garden’s offerings. His latest venture, opened this spring, is Glass House Cocktail Garden (glasshousecocktails.com), an all-outdoor cocktail garden inspired by pioneering American botanist David Fairchild.

“Fairchild is responsible for [introducing to the United States] over 200,000 plant species that we enjoy in our diets today—things like mangoes, dates, kumquats, avocados, etc.,” says Rojas. “Thanks to him we have a vastly more extensive array of choices when we sit down to eat our meals.”

Naturally, botany enthusiast Rojas relies on living ingredients for his cocktails. “We’ve been growing goodies from our own aquaponics farm,” he explains. “We just started yielding fresh cilantro and black kale, and we’ve been harvesting marigolds for our bar and menu, too.” Employing both of these, Rojas offers his piquant Jardin de Frida cocktail.

JARDIN DE FRIDA

This drink is “inspired by [artist] Frida Kahlo’s garden, which I visited last year in Mexico City,” Rojas says. The Cutler’s Gin, he notes, is from Santa Barbara’s own Artisan Spirits.

10 fresh cilantro leaves

½ fresh jalapeño

½ ounce lime juice

¼ ounce organic simple syrup

¼ ounce Nostrum Pineapple Turmeric

Ginger Shrub

1½ ounces Cutler’s Gin

Ice cubes

1 fresh marigold

In a shaker, muddle cilantro and jalapeño. Add lime juice, simple syrup, shrub, gin, and ice cubes. Shake, then strain into a coupe. Garnish with fresh marigold and serve.

At cozy, casual Finney’s Crafthouse & Kitchen (finneyscrafthouse.com) in Westlake Village and Santa Barbara (and soon Ventura), owner Greg Finefrock offers classic cocktails that vary seasonally with garden-fresh ingredients. “Our guests,” he says, “enjoy the variations on cocktails with fresh muddled fruit—blackberry, strawberry, watermelon, raspberry, cucumber. I wanted to offer rum drinkers and mojito fans another great option with fresh fruit.” Hence, the spring-appropriate Strawberry Mojito.

STRAWBERRY MOJITO

The wide selection of crispy tacos at Finney’s provides the perfect savory nibble to accompany this vibrant mixed drink.

Makes 1 cocktail

3 fresh strawberries

10 fresh mint leaves

¾ ounce fresh passion fruit

2 ounces Flor de Caña Light Rum

½ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice

½ ounce agave syrup

Ice cubes

In a shaker, muddle together 2 strawberries, 8 mint leaves, and passion fruit. Add rum, lime juice, and agave syrup. Shake, then strain over ice cubes into a tall glass. Cut remaining strawberry in half and use as a garnish with remaining mint leaves.

There’s some serious gardening going on at Sycamore Minerals Springs Resort & Spa (sycamoresprings.com) in San Luis Obispo, where chef Edward Ruiz’s spontaneous seasonal cuisine is the centerpiece of the resort’s Gardens of Avila restaurant. Both the kitchen and bar use produce from the property’s one-acre organic chef’s garden, which is also available for events.

Restaurant manager Kelsay Shorter points to the fruity and ebullient Garden Party cocktail as an example. “We incorporate lavender into several of our drinks because it grows everywhere around the property,” she says.

THE GARDEN PARTY

Using an 805-produced sparkling wine such as Laetitia Brut Cuvée will keep this cocktail locally grounded.

Makes 1 cocktail

2 garden-fresh strawberries

2 one-inch cubes fresh pineapple

¾ ounce Stoli Crushed Pineapple Vodka

¼ ounce Stoli Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka

½ ounce Lillet blanc

½ ounce St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur

Ice cubes

Sparkling wine

Lemon wedge

Fresh lavender sprig

In a shaker, muddle strawberries and pineapple. Add vodkas, Lillet blanc, and elderflower liqueur. Shake, then strain over ice cubes into a large wine glass. Top off with sparkling wine. Garnish with lemon wedge and a fresh lavender sprig.

Lauren Butler and Brandon Alpert were inspired to found Paso Robles–based Yes Cocktail Co. (yescocktailco.com) after touring with an international theater troupe. “My favorite inspiration happened during our stop in Bahrain,” Butler recalls. “There was a huge street festival and one vendor was selling a rose petal–infused tea drink. It was absolutely divine—floral, sweet, and just the perfect shade of pink.” After settling on the Central Coast, Butler began making her own rose-petal syrups from Bulgarian roses and experimenting with complementary flavors, eventually landing on hibiscus and a hint of lemon peel to create the No. 5 Hibiscus Rose Cocktail Mixer, one of the company’s wide line of all-natural cocktail syrups and mixers.

“Living on the Central Coast, we are able to source nearly everything we need within 100 miles of our production facility,” Butler says, “which means we can support local farmers and provide the freshest, all-natural cocktail experience.”

SIMPLE PLEASURES

For this drink, Butler suggests: “Try freezing rose petals in your ice cubes or muddling some fresh mint for a hibiscus rose mojito.”

Makes 1 cocktail

1½ ounces Yes Cocktail Co. No. 5 Hibiscus

Rose Cocktail Mixer

2 ounces rum

1 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice

Ice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake well, then strain into a chilled bucket glass.

Not every garden-derived cocktail has to be sweet or flowery. Fresh-picked vegetables and herbs make suave savory drinks. At Ojai Pub (ojaipub.com), spirits curator Kat Wilkins was inspired by the laid-back Ojai Valley lifestyle to create The Big Dill cocktail, using fresh ingredients and dill-infused Wilder Gin from Ventura Spirits. “The flavor profile is perfect for spring—fresh, herbaceous, and refreshing,” says Wilkins.

THE BIG DILL

To make dill-infused gin, pour gin into a nonreactive container, such as an extra-large Mason jar, and add ½ cup of fresh dill. Cover the container and set aside for one hour.

Makes 1 cocktail

3 cucumber wheels

2 dill sprigs

Ice cubes

2 ounces dill-infused Wilder Gin

¾ ounce fresh lime juice

½ ounce dill syrup (recipe follows)

1 ounce soda

Muddle 2 cucumber wheels and a sprig of dill in a shaker. Add ice, gin, lime juice, and dill syrup. Shake, then strain into a double Old- Fashioned glass filled with cubed ice and top with soda. Garnish with remaining cucumber wheel and dill sprig.

DILL SYRUP

This recipe produces 9 ounces of dill syrup, enough to make 18 Big Dill cocktails.

½ cup sugar

½ cup cold water

2 tablespoons fresh dill, lightly packed

Combine ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed for 30 seconds. Let rest for 10 minutes, then strain into a container for storage. Syrup will keep for one week in the refrigerator but is best enjoyed within the first three days.