Snow in April is common where I live. Spring birds begin to return, singing to the
sun. A constant drip from eves of the
house signal melting ice. You peek
through the garden, excited at any sign of new growth. Almost there….you think….It will be time
soon. But just as you tuck your long
undies to the back of the drawer and start airing out your swim suit you look
out the window to see snow gently smother all hope. Usually, the new snow only lasts a day or
two. But this year is special. It snowed 6 inches of heavy, wet snow last
week and there is no end in sight. Not
yet anyway.
After a particularly trying day of driving across town in
near white out conditions, I discovered an interesting article about Japanese cocktail making. The article went into
detail about how Japanese bartenders use fewer ingredients, how they draw inspiration
from nature, and how every cocktail tells a story. Each description on how to make these cocktails
read more like a poem than a recipe. One
bartender told the story of visiting his wife’s family home using whisky, pineapple
juice, apricot brandy and a garnish of burning lemongrass.
I thought about this way of seeing the world. I thought about how trying to capture an
experience in a glass must require such deliberate detail and subtle finesse. In order to succeed at this, one must need to
be incredibly conscious of their surroundings. It made me think about this snow storm
differently.
When making this cocktail, I wanted to tell the story of
spring snow in my garden. The earthy
sweet taste of Buffalo Grass vodka represents new growth waiting to break the soil. The St. Germaine represents swelling buds of
my plum tree covered in melting ice. The
snow ball is the heavy snow quilting the ground and the tonic is the snow melt
washing the garden clean.
Cocktail recipe:
Snow in April
Drop one 1/8 of a small lime in a cocktail shaker. Add 1 oz
Buffalo Grass Vodka, a splash of St. Germaine Liquor and a hand full of ice. Cover and shake. Strain into a straight sided cordial or whisky
glass. Add a tightly packed snowball
just large enough to seal the glass but not touch the liquor. Slowly pour in 1 oz tonic water. Enjoy.
