Book Review: Growing Your Own Cocktails, Mocktails, Teas & Infusions

From garden to glass!

Now that Mother’s Day has come and gone, the gardening season is in full swing. If you have a traditional kitchen garden like me, you are waiting with anticipation…wondering if your tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and a handful of herbs will be successful enough to make a salad and some garnish later this Summer. But other than salad, what else could you grow to make your days tastier?  Jodi Helmer’s “Growing Your Own Cocktails, Mocktails, Teas & Infusions” answers just that question.

While not an expansive reference book, the five chapters of “Growing Your Own” provide a solid foundation for the development of a beverage that you can grow from scratch.  Helmer opens with a  “brief history of your favorite drinks” and then launches into a lengthy chapter on plants that can help make a cocktail special, describing “leaves”, “flowers”, “fruits and vegetables”, and “roots.”  What is especially helpful is that Helmer provides the suggested growing zone for each variety (and the growing zone map for North America) so that you don’t accidentally choose a tropical plant that couldn’t survive your garden in Pennsylvania!

Helmer continues by providing tips for every aspect of bringing your garden into your glass (and your mouth!).  From garden planning to harvesting to proper glassware, everything you need to make your first artisanal beverage can be found in these chapters – including recipes for simple syrups enhanced with herbs, cocktails, and non-alcoholic drinks.

Making a simple syrup with mint

To put Helmer to the test, I harvested fresh spearmint from my garden and made a simple mint syrup, following the instructions on page 125.  With the mint syrup in hand, I gathered the ingredients for the Mojito recipe on page 133.  It was a delicious, summer cocktail, to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend and the informal beginning of summer. I would definitely consider this “experiment” a success; the libation was tasty, especially because I knew that the mint had been growing outside my back door only a short time ago.

Artisanal Mojito!

Overall, “Growing Your Own Cocktails, Mocktails, Teas & Infusions” is a solid introductory book for home gardeners and bartenders alike.  With the word “Cocktails” in the forefront of the title, I expected to see more recipes, but as I noted above, the recipe for the Mojito was excellent, so I’ll take quality over quantity in this case.  And one note – the chapter on cocktails was written by Jeanette Hurt, author of “Drink Like A Woman,” so check that book out if it is more recipes you need! In addition to Helmer’s gardening expertise, the photography in the book is bright and enticing; it motivates the reader to plant that garden and get ready to enjoy a homegrown cocktail some evening later this summer!

“Growing Your Own Cocktails, Mocktails, Teas & Infusions“ was published in April 2020 by Fox Chapel Publishing.  It is available on Amazon and retails for $18.99.  

Cheers!

The Brewholder

Copyright 2020 – all rights reserved

A Vacation at Home with the Shower Beer Holder

For many people, an important tradition for Memorial Day Weekend and summer vacation is having a beer in an outdoor shower.  Whether coming back to a beach house after a day in the sun and sand, or returning to a cabin after boating on a crystal lake, a crisp, cold beer in an outdoor shower is one of the most relaxing events of your time off.  So what if you could have that feeling all year round, from the privacy of your indoor shower at home?

Recently I was asked to review the Sudski Shower Beer Holder by 30Watt.  Does it seem simple? Yes.  Is it something that you must have?  No.  But in this time of quarantine and questionable vacation plans, is it a nice reminder of better times (in the past and to come)? Undoubtably YES.

The Shower Beer Holder is made of “space age” materials and sticks to shiny surfaces.  Luckily I have a glass door and wall, so my Shower Beer Holder stuck just fine there.  It can hold both 12 oz and 16 oz cans (in case you want to enjoy a hazy NE IPA pounder in the shower).  I chose a 16 oz. Hip Czech Lager by Victory Brewing Company for my test, and it held up perfectly!

One note – you need to install the Shower Beer Holder 24 hours before you use it, and make sure you remove any air bubbles…or else your beer will fall and pour down the drain.  Once you’ve taken care of those 2 steps, all you need is hot water, maybe some good tunes, and the vision of your favorite outdoor shower – and it’s a vacation at home!

The Shower Beer Holder is available online at various locations – on Amazon it sells for $24.47.  I thoroughly enjoyed testing this product and am considering purchasing the companion product, the Shower Wine Holder soon!  

Cheers!

The Brewholder

Copyright 2020 – all rights reserved