MIXOLOGY
FARM-TO-BAR COCKTAILS
Homegrown
Cocktails
Fresh produce and seasonal
ingredients continue to drive
cocktail trends • BY SALLY KRAL
T
he farm-to-table restaurant is now a fixture in Amer-
ican dining; venues that source ingredients from local
purveyors or directly from backyard gardens have
become prevalent not only in major foodie cities like New
York and San Francisco, but all over the country as well. It
was only a matter of time before the trend made its way to the
bar, says Johnny Swet, mixologist at The Skylark in New York
City. “Mixologists work very closely with chefs, so it was a natu-
ral progression to see the use of locally sourced and seasonal
ingredients extend into mixology,” he says.
Fernando Bambaren, bar manager and lead mixologist at Virtu
Honest Craft in Scottsdale, Arizona, first noticed farm-to-bar
cocktails take hold locally in 2011. “The rejuvenation of the
craft cocktail scene began in New York City in the early 2000s
and with that, bartenders started caring more about the ingre-
dients in their cocktails,” Bambaren explains. “Those ideas
eventually spread to Arizona—it’s been growing ever since
and it doesn’t seem like it will end anytime soon.”
Peter Abbruscato, director of nightlife and entertainment
at Nina’s House at the Confidante Hotel in Miami Beach, can
remember an exact moment when he was introduced to the
concept of cocktails featuring locally sourced ingredients. “In
the summer of 2007, I visited a restaurant named Applewood
in Brooklyn, New York,” Abbruscato recalls. “This was the
epitome of a farm-to-table restaurant. It was owned by a
husband and wife, who later purchased their own farm. They
had designed an amazing cocktail program using all locally
grown fresh ingredients. At the time, there was no cocktail
program like it. Shortly thereafter, there was an explosion of
similar cocktail programs all over Brooklyn and spreading out
over the rest of New York City and now the world.”
Though a relatively new trend, making drinks with local
ingredients—from fruits and herbs picked at a nearby farm to
spirits distilled just down the street—is quickly becoming the
66 M A RKE T WATCH | MA R KETWATC HM AG.C OM | JULY/ AUGUST 2 017
norm in restaurants and bars across the country. Consumers
have come to expect this level of care to be put into cocktails,
and mixologists are more than happy to deliver.
Natural Flavors
A major reason behind the popularity of using locally sourced
ingredients in meals and in cocktails is that consumers today are
more health conscious than ever before, and they want to know
exactly what they’re putting in their bodies, Bambaren says.
Swet also notes that people are eating and drinking health-
ier. “Consumers favor unprocessed, natural options,” he says,
pointing to cocktails like his Spring Fling ($18), which
features Crop Organic Cucumber vodka, St-Germain elder-
flower liqueur, simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, and muddled
fresh green grapes and basil leaves.
“People like to see that bars are using local ingredients—some-
thing they can put their hands on and touch,” says DiSean
Burns, manager of drink at Stoke restaurant in Charlotte,
South Carolina. “They like familiar flavors, such as basil and
berries, used in a way that showcases their freshness. Fresher is PHOTOS OPPOSITE BY (TOP) TRINETTE REED; (BOTTOM LEFT) MATTHEW PERRONE
better, and people have taken note of that.” The South by
Southwest ($16)—his take on a Margarita—comprises Lunazul
Reposado Tequila, agave nectar, fresh lime juice, Bittermens
Hopped Grapefruit bitters, Bittermens Hellfire Habanero
shrub, and muddled blueberries and basil.
Consumers are drawn to cocktails that exhibit a clear attention
to detail. House-made ingredients have become increasingly
popular, as they both incorporate fresh flavors and reflect the
personality and flair of the venue. “People are much more apt
to spend $14 on a cocktail if they know you put some time
and effort into creating it,” says Richard Murphy, beverage
director at Kings County Imperial in Brooklyn, New York.
Michael Baldonado, bar manager at MKT Restaurant and
Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, uses a lot of
 Fresh, local ingredients are used in drinks like (clockwise
from top) the Lavender & Lemon from Farm at Carneros
in Napa; the Spicy Nina from Nina’s House in Miami;
the Farmer #3 from Urban Farmer in Philadelphia; and
the Spring Fling from The Skylark in New York City.

J ULY / AUG UST 2 017 | MA R K ETWATC H MAG . C O M | MA R K E T WATCH 67

shrubs, cordials, tinctures and bitters, all made in-house. He
says these ingredients give the bar “a sense of place and style
that is distinctly San Francisco,” adding that he takes pride
in this handmade approach to cocktails. “I like to create my
own ingredients and know where they came from and that I
made them myself,” Baldonado explains. “For example, in one
of my cocktails I make a passion fruit syrup that takes a few
days to macerate and reduce to the flavor and consistency that
I want.” The drink is called Island Fever ($16) and features
Cruzan Aged Dark rum, house-made passion fruit syrup, and
fresh squeezed orange and lime juices, garnished with a house-
made pineapple wafer crisp that’s set ablaze with brown sugar
and Everclear before serving.
Supporting Sustainability
Beyond favoring fresh ingredients for their perceived health
benefits, consumers appreciate seeing bars that support the
local agriculture. Abbruscato of Nina’s House says this trend
has become the norm. “With their heavy focus on health and
wellness, customers have really taken to local ingredients as
they provide a noticeably fresh aroma and taste to cocktails,
as well as allow them to understand the responsible and
sustainable methods used in procuring the ingredients that
they’re consuming,” he explains.
Abbruscato also notes a change in consumer expectations.
“In the past, if you wanted lime juice in your cocktail, it was
a neon green, sugar-based liquid, poured out of a bottle,” he
recalls. “Now you would expect nothing less than freshly
squeezed lime juice in your cocktail. And clearly, we have
advanced from the simple juice aspect to fresh herbs and spices.”
Abbruscato loves using fresh herbs in his drinks for their
simple yet unique qualities. His Globetrotter cocktail ($16)
blends Death’s Door gin, St-Germain, fresh basil leaves, and
fresh watermelon and ginger juices, while his Spicy Nina ($16)
features Caña Brava rum, fresh cilantro and jalapeño, and
fresh pineapple and Honeycrisp apple juices.
Virtu Honest Craft receives shipments every week from
Brother Nature Farms in Scottsdale, Arizona. “We get a vari-
ety of freshly picked herbs and fruits that I haven’t heard of
or haven’t thought to use in a cocktail,” Bambaren says. “I
enjoy the challenge of building a drink around new produce—it
offers an opportunity for me to expand my creativity and grow
as a bartender.” Bambaren’s Spring Garden ($13) comprises
Arizona Distilling Co.’s Commerce gin, Turin Tuvè Bitter
liqueur, Tempus Fugit Gran Classico Bitter liqueur, fresh
lemon juice, simple syrup, fresh radish pods and spearmint
from Brother Nature Farms, and fresh breakfast radish from
another local farm called Steadfast.
Urban Farmer, a steakhouse concept with locations in
Cleveland, Philadelphia, Denver and Portland, Oregon, takes
locally sourced ingredients to the next level with its in-house
butcher shop and partnerships with dozens of local purveyors.
This homegrown feel can also be found at the bar. At Urban
Farmer’s Portland venue, a rooftop apiary provides fresh honey
for manager Robbie Wilson’s best-selling Farmer #3 cocktail
($12), which in addition to honey includes Ketel One vodka,
St-Germain and grapefruit juice. “Fresh honey ties this drink
into what we do here at Urban Farmer.” Wilson says. “I’m
excited to see bartenders making their way into kitchens and
becoming foragers, beekeepers and gardeners.”
At Kings County Imperial, Murphy tends a garden in the
backyard and pulls from it seasonally for his cocktails. “Garnish-
ing our drinks with our backyard mint or Thai basil is pretty
awesome,” he says. “We could buy herbs at the local market, but
we’d much rather grow them ourselves. The edible flowers that
came out of that backyard last year were simply beautiful.”

Farm-To-Bar Cocktail Recipes

SPICY NINA LAVENDER & LEMON FARMER #3
By Peter Abbruscato By Zion Curiel By Robbie Wilson
Ingredients: Ingredients: Ingredients:
1½ ounces Caña Brava rum; 1½ ounces Uncle Val’s Botanical gin; 1½ ounces Ketel One vodka;
8 cilantro leaves; ½ ounce fresh lemon juice; ½ ounce of St-Germain elderflower
1 jalapeño, sliced; ¼ ounce lavender simple syrup1; liqueur;
3 ounces cubed fresh pineapple; Lemon wheel; 1 ounce grapefruit juice;
¼ Honeycrisp apple. Lavender sprig. ½ ounce honey syrup.
 
Recipe: Recipe: Recipe:
Add cilantro and jalapeño to bottom of a Combine gin, lemon juice and syrup in Combine vodka, liqueur, juice and syrup
cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Juice the cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake.
pineapple and apple and add to the shaker into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon Double strain into a coupe glass.
along with the rum. Shake hard and strain wheel and a lavender sprig.
into an ice-filled Collins glass. Garnish
1Combine
with jalapeño slices. a 750-ml. bottle Pommery Brut
Royal Champagne with 1 quart sugar and
½ quart water in a saucepan and reduce by
a quarter. Remove from heat and add ½ quart
dried lavender. Allow to steep for 5 minutes
and then strain.

68 M A RKE T WATCH | MA R KETWATC HM AG.C OM | JULY/ AUGUST 2 017

 At Farm at Carneros in Napa, California, the bar team pulls
ingredients from the culinary garden just outside of the restaurant.
Beverage director Zion Curiel’s Lavender & Lemon ($15)
comprises Uncle Val’s Botanical gin—distilled in nearby
Sonoma, California—fresh lemon juice and a house-made
lavender simple syrup that incorporates lavender from the
property. At Death or Glory in Delray Beach, Florida, owner
Isaac Grillo’s cocktail The Green House Effect ($12) blends
Afrohead Briland 7-year-old Premium Aged rum, St. George
absinthe verte, simple syrup made from purple basil grown
in-house, and fresh pressed lemon and grapefruit juices sourced
from Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Local Love
As the craft distilling boom continues, bartenders have a wide
array of locally produced spirits at their fingertips. “People in
Cleveland can appreciate sourcing locally and supporting and
driving Ohio businesses,” says Kelly O’Connor, sales and
marketing manager of Urban Farmer’s Cleveland venue.
“We’ve found that people seek out our cocktail menu for
options that offer ingredients from local companies, such as
Cleveland Jam and Watershed Distillery in Columbus.” The
Sideways ($11) blends Watershed Four Peel gin, Cleveland
Jam Co.’s Rock and Roll Merlot jam, and lime juice.
“Watershed Distillery shares our ethos of sourcing local
ingredients,” O’Connor adds. “Their vodka, for instance, is
distilled from 100-percent Ohio corn and apples, and they
also produce a nocino using walnuts from an Ohio walnut
farm.” The Contadino ($14) features Wild Turkey 101 rye
whiskey, Rémy Martin VSOP Cognac, Watershed Nocino
walnut liqueur, Campari aperitif and Peychaud’s bitters.
Virtu Honest Craft’s Bambaren is a big fan of Arizona Distill-
ing Co., based in nearby Tempe, Arizona. “Their Copper City
Bourbon is really versatile, lending itself to various cocktail
applications. It works well with so many different ingredients.” The Powder Keg (top) at Kings County Imperial, The Green House
His Local Sour ($13) features the Bourbon with Giffard Crème Effect (bottom right) at Death or Glory, and Island Fever (bottom
de Pamplemousse Rose pink grapefruit liqueur, fresh lemon left) at MKT all feature locally made or sourced ingredients.
juice, house-made Moroccan syrup, Regans’ No. 6 orange
bitters and wild za’atar from Brother Nature Farms. City rum, Aperol aperitif, Carpano Antica Formula sweet
“More and more consumers come in seeking local spirits vermouth and Regans’ bitters.
from Northern Californian distilleries,” MKT’s Baldonado In another draft cocktail called The Powder Keg ($13),
says. “I currently use Anchor Distilling’s Junípero gin in my Murphy mixes gunpowder green tea–infused Bulleit Rye whis-
take on an Aviation and St. George Spirits Botanivore gin mixed key with honey syrup, fresh lemon juice, egg white and an
in with our house-made lemon cordial for our French 75. All orgeat syrup that is made right in Brooklyn. “We love support-
of these products are made within 10 to 15 miles of us.” The ing the little guy whenever we can,” he says. “It gives me such
Aviation ($16) comprises Junípero, Luxardo Maraschino pleasure to tell people our orgeat is made in Carroll Gardens
liqueur, Tempus Fugit Spirits Liqueur de Violette—also in the by my friend Adam Kolesar. You don’t get much more small
Anchor Distilling portfolio—and lemon juice, while the batch than that.”
French 75 ($16) features St. George Botanivore, house-made Kolesar also provides the macadamia nut syrup in Murphy’s
lemon cordial and Enza Prosecco.  Coco Palms cocktail ($13), which features Denizen rum, Hiram
“So many small, local companies are distilling their own Walker Blue Curaçao, pineapple juice and Coco Lopez cream
PHOTO BY (TOP) LEVI MILLER

spirits now and that’s great for our industry,” Kings County
Imperial’s Murphy says. “Just the other night we had a guest
who was so excited to try our Owney’s Negroni because he
knew the rum is made right up the street.” The drink ($14)
is served on tap and comprises Owney’s Original New York
of coconut. “We find little details like that to be really fun to
share with our guests,” Murphy says. “We couldn’t be happier
to support the small-batch, farm-to-bar experience.” mw
Sally Kral is an Ithaca, New York–based freelance writer.

J ULY / AUG UST 2 017 | MA R K ETWATC H MAG . C O M | MA R K E T WATCH 69