JWessel Photography for Gracie’s and cocktail by Kristi Dukoff

post by guest blogger Jessyloo Rodrigues of www.herbaloo.com

This cocktail does not contain chocolate or roses.

Nope.

Instead I’m getting you sultry in your pantry with plants that have long been considered aphrodisiacs.  The Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, is associated with many exotic herbs & spices that stimulate and excite. If you’re looking to “spice” things up on Valentine’s Day, you needn’t travel much further than your kitchen spice rack.  Ginger’s aromatic roots are warming and stimulating: your olfactory system gets turned on, your temperature heats up, and your blood gets pumping. Honey is a collection of the sensual dance between bee and flower and represents the sweetness of life. The Peach is revered in China as representing vitality and longevity.

Thanks to Kristi Dukoff, Bar Manager at Gracie’s in Providence, we have a delightfully invigorating cocktail to share with you, which features honey, ginger, and peach.

Honey for My Honey
1.5 oz Barr Hill raw honey-distilled Vodka
0.5 oz Barenjager honey liqueur
1 oz Peach Ginger tea (available in most grocery stores. Or DIY it by muddling peaches & ginger into black tea.)
1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 dash Angostura bitters

Prepare by steeping the tea for 4 minutes in 6oz of hot water. (Or, steep black tea for 4 minutes in 6oz hot water and muddle a few peach and ginger slices once cooled.)

Pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove debris. Mix equal parts tea to honey to make a syrup.

Add 1oz of the finished syrup and the remaining ingredients into a cocktail shaker, and shake with your most seductive dance moves.  

Pour into a 12oz collins glass over ice and top with soda water. You can also double the recipe into a 24 oz cocktail shaker and pour for two.

Come by the store to pick up the spirits needed for this romantic drink, or, give it a try at Gracie’s, where it’s a featured cocktail for the month of February. For more information on locally grown herbs and their uses, check out guest-blogger Jessyloo’s fantastic website: www.herbaloo.com.

Happy Valentine’s Day!