While I’m typically a wine girl, I love to order a cocktail when I go out to dinner and I’ve upped my cocktail game at home over the last year with quarantine cocktail night. My husband tends to go for the standards like an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan and I tend to veer toward the Cosmopolitan and champagne cocktails. I was recently sent a copy of Katie Stryjewski’s book, “Cocktails, Mocktails and Garnishes from the Garden,” which is a beautiful and boozy (or non-boozy if you desire) guide to crafting delicious cocktails at home with gorgeous garnishes from your garden. The book’s author is a writer, cocktail photographer, recipe developer, and Instagram influencer. She trained as an ornithologist and evolutionary biologist, receiving her Ph.D. from Boston University and completing a postdoc at Harvard University before transitioning to her current career.
* Complimentary book received for review. This post may contain affiliate links.
From learning more about stocking your bar with the right bottles to using the perfect glassware, this book will help you become comfortable making classic cocktails such as Margaritas and Gimlets, as well as some more creative libations like the Thai Bloody Mary to mix things up. The book also offers tips and tricks on how to garnish your drinks and what it takes to grow a cocktail garden.
Since we live in Southern California, we have an abundance of citrus at the ready—between my lemon tree and my neighbor’s lime tree and my in-laws grapefruit tree—we are prepared to pick and make the perfect drink.
I decided to try my hand at a French 75 cocktail, which is an elegant mixture of gin (or cognac), lemon juice, simple syrup and sparkling wine. I have to say, it came out quite beautifully and tasty to boot. While we didn’t have the right flower garnish on hand (nasturtium), we did have some lemon rind and blackberries, so we got a little creative. That’s what I love about this book. It’s inspiring and gets you thinking out of box a bit. What’s really great is that this recipe also has a mocktail version available too, so you can really mix things up.
“Cocktails, Mocktails and Garnishes from the Garden” is perfect for stirring things up and taking your drinks to a new level. With spring (and Mother’s Day right around the corner), it will get you in the mood for garden parties, backyard barbeques and boozy brunches for sure.
The book is available for $22.95 and can be found on Amazon and Bookshop.
To learn more about Katie, you can find her on Instagram. You can also visit her blog at www.garnishblog.com.
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Disclaimer: Kristine has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ. Please read our official rules for giveaways before entering. Thank You!
THis sounds like a fascinating book to read for those who make their own cocktails or mocktails and would like to use plants / herbs form the garden. I would love to try some of the recipes.
What a interesting book! My sister in law has a neighborhood bar so this book would be fun to have. In the summer she has a small garden there with fruits, herbs and veggies. This would make a great book for her