Bitter Best Coast

A cocktail to celebrate spring

RECIPES AND PHOTO BY JESSICA TUNIS AND AMBER TURPIN

It’s been a wild few years here in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Between wildfires and recovery, winter storms, floods and mudslides, we’re all ready for a spring of regeneration, wildflowers… and perhaps a glass of something that embodies the complexity of why we live here.

We crave something that tastes of the land, something with powerful roots and volatile oils— edible, medicinal, familiar, but at the same time, strikingly unique. This drink gathers that essence for refreshment and healing of all sorts.

In the burn scar left by the CZU fires, a sticky regrowth of yerba santa scents the air with medicinal perfume. In the coastal farmlands near aging levees, the gray-green leaves of artichokes wave in the salt air; their bitterness and their beauty both are necessary now. Yarrow that staunches wounds and aids immunity, angelica for breath and belly, coriander to aid digestion all add their tonic wisdom to this brimming cup, along with burdock and dandelion, their long, gnarled taproots drawing minerals and medicine from deep in the soil.

If this sounds like a spell or an impossible ingredient list…well, it might just be. But luckily, Blossom’s Farm in Aromas has bottled these flavors, so that your attention can be freed for other springtime pursuits.

We have covered Blossom’s Farm before in these pages, but never in quite this way. This is an off-label use of its digestive West Coast Bitters, and we ask their blessing as we raise our glasses with a toast that might make Rudolph Steiner proud: May we drink to this land, to living in right relation upon it. May we sustain and nourish the earth as we are sustained and nourished by the earth. Cheers, friends!

For this recipe we wanted something spicy, something with a little heat, to represent not only the fires and the regrowth that has followed, but also the warmth of the sun and the passions that drive us. So we start by making a simple ginger syrup. The combination of ginger syrup and Meyer lemon juice give this cocktail the taste of bracing spring—cold sunshine, a warming spirit, a taste of home, sweet and bitter and tart and alive, stimulating to all the senses.

Ginger Syrup

1 one-inch knob of ginger root, peeled and sliced
1 cup sugar
2 cups water

In a small saucepan, heat the water, then add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the ginger slices. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to steep as the syrup cools, about 15 minutes. Strain the ginger slices from the cooled syrup and discard or use as garnish for your drinks. Place syrup in the refrigerator to chill (can be stored up to 1 week). Makes 2 cups.

Bitter Best Coast

1½ ounces gin (we use St. George Botanivore or Venus No. 1)
¾ ounce fresh Meyer lemon juice
½ ounce ginger syrup
¼ ounce Blossom’s West Coast Bitters
Ice
Slice of lemon
Sprig of garden herb or edible flower

In a shaker, pour gin, lemon juice, ginger syrup and bitter. Add ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into a coupe or martini glass. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a sprig of garden herb or edible flower of choice. Makes 1 cocktail.

NA West Coast Bitter Spritz

1½ ounces Seedlip non-alcoholic spirit “Grove 42”
½ ounce fresh Meyer lemon juice
½ ounce ginger syrup
¼ ounce Blossom’s West Coast Bitters
Ice
Slice of lemon
Sprig of garden herb or edible flower

Combine the Seedlip, ginger syrup, lemon juice, and bitters in a rocks glass. Stir well to combine. Add one large ice cube, then top with the sparkling water. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a sprig of garden herb or edible flower of choice. Makes 1 cocktail.