St. Louis restaurant Bulrush features "Ozark cuisine" and an extremely low-waste ethos, including ingredients in the cocktail program. The press release states: From house-made cider plus vinegars/shrubs made with gathered local ingredients like pawpaws, spicebush and okra, unlikely spirit infusions like stinging nettle cordial, brown butter-washed rum and Chanterelle mushroom whiskey, as well as the savory incorporation of items like chicken stock for their "Chicken Soup for the Grown Up Soul” drink and more, the cocktails and spirit-free options at this local hot spot are worth taking a closer look at. The most interesting aspect perhaps is that nothing on... Read more →

The bar Stilllife in Montreal uses no fresh citrus juice on their menu. The citrus products they do use are waste created by their other bar, The Cloakroom. Bar owner Andrew Whibley emailed with some information and recipes from the bar. He made sure to credit the other members of his team for these recipes as well: Andrew Whibley- Owner Stillife/Cloakroom Bar Jonas Kempeners - Manager Cloakroom Jay Lawson- Prep manager Stillife Anna Levy- Prep manager Cloakroom Quick Links Citrus Oil Sprays instead of using fresh peels Fermented leftover citrus juice and a drink recipe that uses it Acid-adjusted fruit... Read more →

Trevor Easter of The Snug in Sacramento shared information about a top-selling drink called That's the Fuckin’ Drink. For it, he makes a cordial out of limited-season blood oranges, a sunflower seed infusion, a vegan foamer, and preserved edible citrus as a garnish. It's a good example of extending seasonality and looking local for ingredients. He originally shared the post to Facebook and gave us permission to post it here. The below text is from Trevor Easter. Photos are by Anna Wick for The Snug. That's the Fuckin’ Drink By Trevor Easter California has had really poor citrus seasons lately... Read more →

Julian de Féral is an international drinks consultant, occasional bartender, and writer. He was previously the drinks director for the London-based Gorgeous Group. He created a non-alcoholic milk punch that uses an oleo saccharum from extra lemon zests, plus older lemon juice. The mix punch method (curdling the mixture with milk then straining) helps preserve the lemon flavor, and adds whey from the milk that in turn adds froth to cocktails! Typically the ratio of "punch" to milk in the milk punch is 4:1 and this one has more, it would be interesting to play with the ratios to see... Read more →

Luuk Gerritsen lives on Curacao and is the general manager of Kome. Some of the ideas below were developed at previous venues where Gerritsen worked, and he would also like to acknowledge Bar Manager Wesley Quinlan as partner in many of these recipes and procedures. Citrus Gerritsen says, "All our fresh juice will be frozen at the end of the night and agar-clarified the day after. [Agar clarification turns the juice clear and helps it last much longer.] We clarify and acidify citrus for bottled drinks. Also, blending it with a little zest can bring back the aroma." They freeze... Read more →

Jared Hirsch of Sidebar and Nickel Dime Syrups shared his recipe for lime cordial that requires no zesting of limes. Lime Cordial From Jared Hirsch of Sidebar 4 cups lime juice (reserve lime shells) 3 cups cane sugar 4oz vodka Using a cleaned jar saved from our olives, we pour the ingredients over the juiced lime shells (unpeeled) and refrigerate for 2 days before straining out the liquid, re-juicing the limes to extract as much cordial as possible. I've tried both just lime peels and whole spent limes and found very little difference, preferring the unpeeled limes the best, which... Read more →

Brain Nixon of McClellan's Retreat in Washington, DC shared his recipe for Lime Acid Water, a lime juice replacement, and Acidified ("Corrected") Orange Juice, a way to make orange juice last longer and be more useful in drinks. Below the recipes for these ingredients are cocktail recipes that use them. Lime Acid Water Ingredients Amount Water 1 qt Citric Acid 16 grams Malic Acid 10 grams Ascorbic Acid 9 grams Cucumber 0.5 Preparation Method Cut half a cucumber into slices Soak in water for an hour Strain out Cucmber Combine water with remaining ingredients in blender and blend until acids... Read more →

Patrick Braga of Paper Plane in San Jose wrote in with some recipes that use alternative acids in place of citrus in cocktails. He writes, "In the past I've played with citrus stock, and I'm not the greatest fan of the end products. I've also used spent citrus to make acid rectified hydrosols, and it turned out great, but without a large still would be nearly impossible to execute at volume for the bar." "So far on Paper Plane's menus I've created two drinks that are refreshing without the use of citrus, The Grape Pretender and the Here Comes The... Read more →

Patrick Braga of Paper Plane in San Jose wrote in with some recipes that maximize cantaloupe and corn (separately). He writes, "For the first drink, the One in a Melon, we were able to use cantaloupe juice for ice cubes we dissolved into the cocktail, and then used the seeds to infuse the vodka, making for full use of the cantaloupe. I have also created 2 different drinks using corn. The Midnight Morada is a cocktail using Chicha Morada, a purple corn drink, and the Maize Runner uses a house made Corn Syrup." One In A Melon From Patrick Braga... Read more →

The following missive comes from Nicholas Box of The Acorn restaurant in Vancouver. This post has tons of information in it, so if you followed a link here you might have to scroll a bit to find the particular section where it's mentioned. "I run the bar at The Acorn restaurant in Vancouver - that is up until the great closure of many many businesses. We are a 44-seat vegetarian restaurant focused on local ingredients. Now citrus isn't very local, but at least we can still order in organic. I'm a believer in getting organic when possible, especially if the... Read more →

To reduce citrus waste at the bar, some bartenders are making cocktails using alternative acids including vinegar. Below are recipes. Note that many may need to be adjusted to the needs or your own bar rather than used directly. IT’S ABOUT TIME Created by Justin Lavenue & Matt Ross Lavenue is the Owner / Operator of The Roosevelt Room & The Eleanor (Austin, TX) Toki translates to “Time” in Japanese. Note this recipe used both red wine vinegar and acid phosphate for acidity. 1.5 oz Toasted Coconut infused-Suntory Toki Japanese Blended Whisky Scant .5 oz Bai Mudan White Tea syrup... Read more →

Verjus is the juice of unripened grapes. It is often used in salad dressings but bartenders are also using it in place of citrus juice in cocktails as it has a good level of acidity. The below recipes use verjus as a citrus replacement. ROSENBLOOM * Based on a Julep, which derives its name from the Persian word Golâb, meaning “Rose Water.” From Justin Lavenue, Owner / Operator of The Roosevelt Room & The Eleanor (Austin, TX) Muddle: 10-12 Mint leaves .5 oz Verjus blanc 1.25 oz Zubrowka Vodka .25 Ketel Vodka .5 oz Clarified Strawberry juice .25 oz Clarified... Read more →

Falernum is a traditional syrup or liqueur from Barbados flavored with lime, almond, ginger, and clove. It is used in cocktails including the Corn 'n' Oil, Three Dots and a Dash, Chartreuse Swizzle, and more. It's also a recipe that uses lime zest that can be made from limes before juicing them. At Queen's Park, they use their homemade orgeat in their homemade Falernum. Background Info and Cocktail Recipes that Use Falernum Tiki’s Essential Secret Ingredient: DIY Falernum [PUNCH] Our Favorite Falernum Cocktails [Imbibe] Falernum Moves Beyond the Tiki Realm [PUNCH] Falernum Recipe From Laura Newman of Queens Park in... Read more →