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We’re all accustomed to a slice of fruit or a ripe berry adorning our cocktails, but what about the humble vegetable?

Before you express the knee-jerk reaction that veggies and liquor don’t mix, remember to think upon the tomato and her legacy within the Bloody Mary.

The truth is, cocktails have been made with choice vegetables for decades, with the 1920s and 1930s seeing a boom in ingredients like tomato juice and aubergine skins.

In fact, contemporary mixologists are pushing for a resurgence in veg-based cocktails, which may be more sustainable for our tipples to come.

Giulia Cuccurullo, an artesian drinks creator, is one such intrepid mixologist. For over a year, Cuccurullo has been experimenting with “future-proof ingredients” at Artesian, The Langham’s cocktail bar in the UK.

Her latest creation, Alter Ego, is a series of 16 cocktails that transform unexpected ingredients, most of them vegetables, into familiar flavours. Think daikons pickled to resemble lychees and mung beans cooked down to create walnut-tasting Old Fashioneds. Cuccurullo is clearly a maverick, challenging the norm when it comes to beverage creation:

“If a combination of flavors works when you eat something, why can’t it work in liquid form?”

The trend of vegetable-infused cocktails isn’t confined to laarney bars though. Across the globe, bartenders are embracing this innovative approach. In London, NoMad, Mount St Restaurant, and LPM all offer riffs on tomato Martinis, while Istanbul’s Arkestra Bistro Ritmo makes a vodka cocktail with clear tomato juice. Singapore’s gastro bar Fura takes it a step further, lacto-fermenting locally grown tomatoes with MSG before adding mezcal, parsley, and basil.

And who said a vegetable has to be savoury?

Award-winning bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana explains, “Every ingredient has a different threshold, so you need to assess the right way to incorporate them to retain balance. Think about how you use an ingredient in your cooking – then you’ll better understand how to use it in a cocktail.”

Chetiyawardana certainly knows his stuff, considering at his Thameside bar, Lyaness, drinks feature fermented potatoes that taste like vanilla ice cream.

While I am sceptical that I can recreate something as delicious-sounding with potatoes in my own kitchen, there are many creative (and slightly safer) options to try by yourself.

A bag of frozen peas is a well-priced investment, and your friends will be titillated at their sweet & dry G’n’Ts adorned with sweet little green spheres.

A little stressed about putting your soup ingredients into your drink? Never fear, here to make our veg-periments sweeter and easier is Fitch & Leedes with a host of offerings for cocktail mixers.

Pairing gin with one of Fitch & Leedes‘ many flavourful offerings is a simple and powerful start. We recommend using their pink tonic for a bit of flair, decorated with frozen peas and a slice of beetroot – Magnifique!

When you bring this fantastical drink out to your choms for winter sundowners, they’ll be frantically looking around for your Michelin star for sure.

[source:financialtimes]