The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks

by Amy Stewart

  1 ounce Plymouth gin or vodka

  1 ounce Grand Marnier

  ¾ ounce freshly squeezed orange or tangerine juice

  Juice of one freshly squeezed lemon wedge

  Dash of grenadine

  Orange peel

  Shake all the ingredients except the orange peel over ice and serve in a cocktail glass. Garnish with the orange peel.

  WHAT’S BEEN SPRAYED ON THAT ORANGE ZEST?

  In Florida and Texas, and on warm Caribbean islands, citrus groves don’t experience the cool nights needed to help the fruit turn from green to orange. This forces growers to find other ways to use greenish fruit that is perfectly ripe but unattractive. This problem explains, in part, why Florida is so well known for its juice industry while California, which has cooler nights, sells more fresh citrus. Some growers correct the green color by exposing the fruit to ethylene, a naturally occurring gas that speeds up ripening and breaks down chlorophyll.

  Farmers in the United States are also permitted to spray the fruit with a synthetic dye called Citrus Red No. 2. The dye is banned in California but may be used by Texas and Florida growers. It is only permitted for fruit that is going to be peeled and eaten or juiced, not for fruit whose rinds will be “processed” into food or drink. Because fruit sold at the grocery store is assumed to be for eating or juicing, it may be sprayed with the dye—and not always labeled as such.

  Citrus can also be sprayed with wax; if wax is used on organic citrus, it cannot be synthetic or petroleum-based. If you’d prefer to avoid using synthetic dyes or waxes in cocktails, limoncello, or other infusions, choose organic citrus.

  ESSENTIAL OILS

  An essential oil is a volatile oil extracted from a plant through distillation, pressing (expression), or solvents. In the case of citrus, the most common oils are:

  Neroli oil

  Extracted from the blossoms of bitter orange, usually through water distillation

  Petitgrain oil

  A distillation of the leaves and twigs of a citrus tree

  Sweet orange oil

  Extracted from the rind of the orange, often through cold pressing

  CALAMONDIN

  Citrofortunella microcarpa (syn. Citrus microcarpa)

  A likely cross between a mandarin and a kumquat, the calamondin retains the best qualities of both trees: small fruit with thin skin and a tart but not bitter juice. It is one of the most cold-tolerant of all citrus trees, surviving even when the temperature dips below freezing, and it is so content in a pot indoors that it has become popular as a houseplant. It is widely grown in the Philippines, where it is also called calamansi.

  The juice is just tart enough to substitute for a lime in cocktails. The peels can be soaked in vodka and sugar to be made into a liqueur. In the Philippines, the juice is treated as a mixer with vodka and club soda.

  CHINOTTO

  Citrus aurantium var. myrtifolia

  With diminutive fruit no larger than a golf ball and tiny, diamond-shaped leaves, the chinotto (pronounced key-NO-toe) is the kind of tree that any citrus collector would want in an orangerie. Although the fruit is often described as bitter and sour, it’s actually less tart than a lime or lemon and perfectly fine to eat. The trees flourish in the Mediterranean, where the fruits ripen in January.

  The chinotto’s distinctive flavor is widely reported to be a key ingredient in Campari, which is best enjoyed in a Negroni or splashed into club soda. A nonalcoholic soda called Chinotto can also be found throughout Italy and in Italian markets everywhere. Resist the temptation to combine the two: mixing Campari and Chinotto would almost certainly be too much of a good thing.

  NEGRONI

  1 ounce gin

  1 ounce sweet vermouth

  1 ounce Campari

  Orange peel

  Shake all of the ingredients except the orange peel over ice and serve in a cocktail glass. Garnish with the orange peel.

  CITRON

  Citrus medica

  One of the earliest species of citrus and the parent to many others, the citron is known for its monstrously thick peel and sour, nearly inedible fruit. In about 30 BC, Virgil wrote that citron “has a persistently wretched taste, but is an excellent remedy against poisons.” The peel was added to wine as a medicinal remedy; it induced vomiting, which might not recommend it as a cocktail ingredient.

  Citron is the dinosaur of the citrus world. It is downright reptilian in appearance, with thick, wrinkled skin and bizarre deformities. The Buddha’s hand citron (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis) is shaped like a many-fingered hand, making it almost all peel and no flesh. Like other citron, it can be brined and candied to make into a kind of crystallized peel called succade. But because the Buddha’s hand has such a large surface area of flavorful peel, it can also be infused whole in vodka.

  Recipes for “citron water” from Barbados, where the tree was abundant, date to before 1750 and might have flavored vermouth in those days. The fruit was also chopped or zested, soaked in a variety of spirits, and mixed with sugar to make a cordial not unlike limoncello.

  CITRUS PEEL: THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB

  The best tool for peeling citrus is a handheld zester, which looks like a fat, stubby fork. The tines on the end are used to extract zest, but below the tines is a hole with a sharp edge that makes long, thin, perfect peels.

  CITRUS

  Anyone who lives in a mild-winter climate and doesn’t have a citrus tree in the backyard is squandering an opportunity. There is nothing better than grabbing a fresh lemon or lime for a cocktail, and even neglected trees producing nearly inedible fruit still offer excellent peel for garnishes.

  If possible, visit a fruit tree nursery that specializes in citrus to choose a tree with fruit you like that grows well in your area. At a general garden center, ask around and find an employee with expertise in citrus who can advise you about potential pests or disease in your area and tell you whether young trees will need protection against frost.

  Calamondin, Improved Meyer lemon, and most lime trees do well in containers and can survive indoors if they have bright light (not just a sunny window, but a well-lit conservatory, greenhouse, or supplemental grow lights) and if you can keep their living quarters humid in winter, when furnaces make the air too dry for their taste. Potted citrus should be kept on the dry side in winter, as cold, wet roots may rot.

  * * *

  full sun

  regular water

  hardy to 30f/-1c

  * * *

  Use specialized citrus fertilizer monthly during the growing season, but withhold it in the winter, when it can burn roots already stressed by cold temperatures. Nearly all citrus are self-fruitful, meaning that they don’t need another tree nearby for pollination.

  GRAPEFRUIT

  Citrus × paradisi

  A cross between the sweet orange and pomelo, grapefruit is most likely a mutant, or an accidental hybrid, that sprang up around 1790 on Barbados. The compelling mixture of tangy citrus and bitterness make grapefruit an astonishingly good mixer—it works well in variations of the Negroni, and it blends beautifully with either rum or tequila.

  Grapefruit liqueurs are harder to come by. Giffard Pamplemousse is one example; it is made from a maceration of pink grapefruit. An Argentinian distillery called Tapaus makes Licor de Pomelo, pomelo being the Spanish word for “grapefruit.” Both could be sipped on their own or used experimentally in any cocktail that called for citrus liqueur.

  CIAO BELLA (A NEGRONI VARIATION)

  1 ounce gin

  1 ounce sweet vermouth

  1 ounce Campari

  1 ounce grapefruit juice

  Grapefruit zest

  Shake all of the ingredients except the grapefruit zest over ice and serve in a cocktail glass. Garnish with a wide slice of grapefruit zest.

  Ichang papeda (c. ichangensis): The world’s hardiest evergreen citrus, surviving temperatures down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit in the Himalayan foothills. The fruit often contains no juice at
all, just seeds and pith, making it fragrant but nearly inedible.

  FRANK N. MEYER, PLANT HUNTER

  Japanese immigrants began importing sweet lemon-mandarin crosses to the United States in the 1880s, but the Meyer lemon bears the name of the man responsible for formally introducing it to America. Frank N. Meyer was born in Amsterdam in 1875 and arrived in New York City in 1901. He undertook four expeditions to Russia, China, and Europe on behalf of the USDA, gathering seeds and plants that might be of use to American farmers. In all, he introduced twenty-five hundred new plants, including the Chinese persimmon, the gingko tree, and an astonishing array of grains, fruits, and vegetables. He also endured unimaginable hardship, including injuries, illnesses, robberies, and the loss of countless plant specimens owing to shipping problems or delays clearing customs.

  He found what is now the Meyer lemon in Peking in 1908 and managed to get it back to the States. Over the next few decades, farmers realized that clones of this tree were symptomless carriers of a disease called tristeza; as a result, many of the original Meyer lemons had to be destroyed. A virus-free selection was discovered by Four Winds Growers, a California nursery, in the 1950s. Today the Improved Meyer lemon is once again widely grown.

  Mr. Meyer’s plant explorations came to a tragic end in 1918, when at the age of forty-three he died while traveling down the Yangtze River to Shanghai. His body was recovered from the river a week later, though the exact cause of death remained a mystery.

  LEMON

  Citrus limon

  A lemon is most likely a cross between a lime, a citron, and a pomelo. The Italian Sorrento lemon, Femminello Ovale, definitely exhibits citron characteristics, with its thick skin and sour flavor.

  To get the flavor just right, Sorrento trees are shaded by straw mats called pagliarelle or, more recently, plastic shade cloths. This protects the trees from cold weather and helps slow down the ripening process so that harvest season happens in summer. Because the trees produce fruit year-round, each crop has its own name: limoni comes first, in the winter, followed by bianchetti, then verdelli during the summer months and primofiori in the fall.

  The Eureka lemon, more properly called Garey’s Eureka, is descended from the Sicilian lemon and is a more acidic, thick-skinned variety. The most popular lemon for home gardeners, cooks, and bartenders is the sweet and juicy Meyer lemon, which is actually a cross between a lemon and a mandarin. The rind is lower in essential oils, so for mixing drinks, the zest is less desirable than the juice itself.

  THE FRANK MEYER EXPEDITION

  This combination of straight spirits, sugar, and Meyer lemon showcases the fruit perfectly. The Champagne float gives it a nice effervescence. Mix up a batch for friends and drink a toast to Mr. Meyer and his daring adventures.

  1½ ounces vodka

  ¾ ounce simple syrup

  ¾ ounce Meyer lemon juice

  Dry sparkling wine (Spanish cava works well) or sparkling water

  Lemon peel

  Shake the vodka, simple syrup, and lemon juice over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Float sparkling wine on top and garnish with lemon peel. For a less intoxicating variation, strain into a tumbler over ice and top with sparkling water instead of sparkling wine.

  LIME

  Bearss lime, Tahiti lime, or Persian lime, Citrus latifolia

  Key lime, Mexican lime, or West Indian lime, C. aurantifolia

  Kaffir lime, C. hystrix

  Limes originated in India or Southeast Asia and came to Europe by the fifteenth century. They are actually yellowish green when ripe; they have to be picked before ripening to retain the green color that buyers expect in limes. With half the sugar content of lemons, and slightly more acid, they play a distinct role in cocktails. Chemical analysis of limes shows that they are higher in linalool and α-terpineol, two rich, floral flavors, and that the peel contains oils that add a warm, spicy note.

  The more acidic key lime is the bartender’s best friend, adding just the right tropical touch to margaritas and mojitos. It also grows particularly well in a container, staying small and producing fruit nearly year-round. The milder Bearss lime, considered the “true lime,” produces larger fruit and tolerates cooler climates. The kaffir is grown primarily for its leaves, which flavor Thai food and are used in infused vodkas. Its rind is grated into curries, but the fruit itself is nearly inedible.

  A number of lime liqueurs are on the market, the most useful being Velvet Falernum, made with lime, sugar, and spices. (There are also nonalcoholic lime, spice, and sugar mixers sold as Falernum that accomplish the same thing in a drink.) Mai tais, zombies, and other tropical cocktails depend upon falernum. A French liqueur called Monin Original Lime, which was introduced in 1912, has only recently been back on the market and is hard to find in the United States, but it is worth seeking out for citrus-based drinks. St. George Spirits makes a kaffir-infused Hangar One vodka; it is the perfect base to Thai-inspired cocktails.

  ANATOMY OF A CITRUS FRUIT

  MANDARIN

  Tangerine, clementine, or common mandarin, Citrus reticulata

  Chinese mandarin, C. nobilis

  Satsuma mandarin, C. unshiu (syn. C. reticulata)

  The much-hybridized mandarin, a sweet fall or winter-fruiting orange with a loose skin that practically falls off the fruit, flavors a Cognac-based liqueur called Mandarine Napoleon that, according to its makers, has its origins in Napoleon’s court. Chemist Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, apparently invented the recipe for Napoleon, who liked his brandy steeped in orange peels. And in fact, mandarins grew in Corsica, an island off the coast of northern Italy, which was the French emperor’s birthplace. Mandarin blossoms, along with a little peel, also flavor a delightful mandarin-infused Hangar One vodka from St. George Spirits.

  POMELO

  Citrus maxima (syn. C. grandis)

  Also called shaddock, the pomelo is an ancestor to modern grapefruits and bitter oranges. The fruit is large and heavy, weighing up to four pounds. The rind has a thick, often green skin, especially in southeast Asia, where it is widely grown.

  Charles Jacquin et Cie, makers of Chambord raspberry liqueur, once made a pomelo and honey brandy–based liqueur called Forbidden Fruit that was an essential ingredient in some classic cocktails, including the Tantalus, a mixture of equal parts lemon juice, Forbidden Fruit, and brandy. (Some bartenders attempt to re-create the liqueur by steeping pomelo or grapefruit peel, honey, spices, and vanilla in brandy, with varying degrees of success.) The words pomelo and pummelo are widely used to refer to either true pomelos or grapefruits, so liqueurs with pomelo in the name might be flavored with either fruit.

  SWEET ORANGE

  Citrus sinensis

  The sweet orange, probably a cross between pomelo and mandarin, is one of the most widely grown fruit trees in the world, accounting for almost three-quarters of all citrus production. Valencia, Navel, and blood oranges are the best-known varieties. While they are popular for fresh fruit and juice, they are not the top choice for distillers making citrus-flavored liqueurs. Those liqueurs tend to be flavored with the more complex, bitter sour oranges. However, the peel is widely available through spice distributors, so it is often used to add a bright note to gins and herbal liqueurs.

  One orange-flavored liqueur that employs sweet oranges is Orange-rie, which its distiller describes as a blend of hand-zested Navalino oranges (botanists do not recognize a variety called Navalino, but perhaps they mean Navelina, a sweet navel orange from Spain first described in 1910), cinnamon, and cloves, infused in Scotch whisky. Another is Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur, a sweet liqueur made from Sanguinello blood oranges that combines separate distillations of the fruit, the peel, and lemon rind. It’s an upscale substitute for triple sec and adds a lively, sweet note to gin drinks.

  BLOOD ORANGE SIDECAR

  This variation on the classic sidecar replaces lemon juice with blood orange juice. Feel free to adjust the proportions to taste. And if you’re not a fan of brandy, replace it w
ith bourbon. (And if you’re not a fan of bourbon, go read another book. No, seriously, experiment with your spirit of choice. Vodka, gin, rum? Give it a try!)

  1½ ounces Cognac or brandy

  ¾ ounce blood orange juice

  ½ ounce Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur (or another citrus liqueur like triple sec)

  Dash of Angostura bitters

  Shake all the ingredients except the bitters over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a dash of bitters on top.

  Orange flower water: Also called orange blossom water, this is a hydrosol (water-based) extraction of orange blossoms. It is a key ingredient in a Ramos Gin Fizz. Some hydrosols are a by-product of neroli oil manufacture; the water left after the distillation is saved and sold as orange flower oil. in other cases, the water or steam extraction of the blossoms is done specifically to create orange flower water without also distilling the oil. In either case, trace amounts of essential oil are present in the water, along with some water-soluble flavor and aroma compounds that are not found in the essential oil.Bartenders prefer French brands such as A. Monteux to middle eastern brands, but both are fine to experiment with.

  YUZU

  Citrus × junos (syn. C. ichangensis × C. reticulata var. austere)

  This thick-skinned, sour cross between a mandarin and the strange, bitter Ichang Papeda comes from China and made its way to Japan around 600 AD. While the fruit is not particularly tasty, the rind exudes a complex, fruity citrus fragrance beloved by Japanese cooks. Yuzu zest can be found in a soy sauce called ponzu, and it also flavors miso soup. People bathe with it as well; a traditional Japanese solstice bath features yuzu fruit floating in hot water.