As regular readers may have noticed, I love using hydrosols to flavor my vodka, but these natural flavorings with little or no sugar, are great for flavoring water too, and hence, indispensable tools for making it through Dry January. Be sure to get your hydrosols from reputable sources. I recommend Aromatics International and Stillpoint Aromatics. You want to make sure that they have nothing in them besides the hydrosol–just water that has been run through the still with aromatic material. …
Tag: Brad Thomas Parsons
The Spirit of St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
There was “sad news in the spirits world” when it was reported by Eater.com and countless other food and beverage blogs that Robert Cooper, the founder of the wildly popular St-Germain elderflower liqueur, died suddenly at the age of 39. Cooper was born into the booze business, but struck out on his own when his idea to make an elderflower liqueur (like those he’d encountered in London) was pooh-poohed by his father. The elder Cooper had cause to regret his …
‘There’s Rosemary, That’s for Remembrance,’ With Recipes!
Ophelia, as her wits unwind, uses the language of flowers to express what her modesty as a young maid won’t let her say directly. She says, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember,” to her brother Laertes, perhaps as a stand-in for the lost Hamlet. Rosemary has long been renowned for its stimulating effects on the brain, and modern science seems to be catching on. I remember well a roommate in Santa Cruz who burned rosemary sprigs to …
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