In gardens around the Pacific Northwest this month, rhubarb plants are in full bloom. This crisp, tart and tangy vegetable is a favorite for pies and other desserts, but it’s an ingredient to consider for your liquor cabinet as well.
DRY Soda Co., headquartered in Seattle, launched in 2005 with four flavors—lavender, kumquat, lemongrass, and rhubarb. While the company, and its product line, have expanded, rhubarb remains a popular flavor. It’s tart, fizzy and refreshing, and plays well with just about any spirit. James MacWilliams at Seattle’s Canlis created a cocktail using Rhubarb DRY Soda, called a Ruby Crusta, combining rum, grenadine, ginger syrup, and lime juice along with a healthy splash of the soda.
Author and Northwest urban farmer Amy Pennington, who published an e-book series last year on single ingredients including rhubarb, is a fan of rhubarb shrubs. Shrubs, also known as drinking vinegars, have gained popularity in recent years. They combine fruit, vinegar, sugar, herbs, and spices. When mixed into a cocktail, they balance flavors much like citrus juice. Pennington likes combining her Rosemary Rhubarb Drinking Vinegar with an herbaceous gin, but also pairs it with just fizzy water for a non-alcoholic aperitif.
One of the easiest things to do with rosy stalks of rhubarb, is simply to chop it up, place it in a large jar, top with a high-proof, neutral flavored spirit, and wait. I found some frozen rhubarb in the depths of my freezer a couple of months ago, and a few clicks later, came across this recipe on the blog Mostly Food Stuffs for homemade rhubarb liqueur. It literally makes itself. Use it in place of a gin for a twist on a Tom Collins, or use in place of plain vodka for a delicious vodka tonic.
For something with a little more investment, but a lot more payoff, consider making rhubarb bitters. I like the recipe by author and beverage consultant Maggie Savarino that Brad Thomas Parsons adapted for his book “Bitters”. It includes gentian root, grains of paradise, coriander, horehound, sassafras, eye of newt…Okay, I made up that last one. Basically, you combine the rhubarb along with spices and bitter roots, top with some high-proof spirit (I like to use Everclear) and let it steep for a couple of weeks. Strain it, sweeten it up a bit, and you’ve got homemade bitters that can be used in Old Fashioneds, Sazeracs, or just about any cocktail you’d normally add bitters. One batch of the rhubarb bitters yields about 20 ounces, which you can store in smaller jars to give to all the rhubarb-loving drinkers in your life.
Ruby Crusta
Makes 1 drink
James MacWilliams | Canlis | Seattle
1 1/2 ounces rum
1/2 ounce House Grenadine*
1/2 ounce ginger yrup
1/2 ounce Fresh Lime Juice
2 ounces Rhubarb DRY Soda
Garnish: Sugared rim and lime twist
*For the House Grenadine, toast the seeds of 8 white cardamom pods in a pan. Cool pan and add the peels of two oranges with all the pith removed. Add 500 grams of sugar and 750 ml of pomegranate juice. Heat just until boiling and all of the sugar has dissolved. Let spice and peel steep until cool, about an hour. Strain through a chinios and bottle.
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add all ingredients and shake lightly. Strain into prepared glass, add garnish and serve.
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Rosemary Rhubarb Drinking Vinegar
Makes about 4 cups
4 large rhubarb stalks, trimmed and diced (yielding about 2 cups)
4 cups apple cider vinegar
3 rosemary sprigs
1½ cups sugar
In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the rhubarb, apple cider vinegar and rosemary sprigs over medium-high heat. Bring to a gentle boil and cook another 10 minutes. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, wash and dry a quart-sized glass canning jar or other glass jar with a lid. When the rhubarb mixture is cool, strain all solidsfrom the vinegar and pour into the jar and cover. Put the drinking vinegar in the fridge, where it will keep for several months.
To serve, add approximately 2 tablespoons of the Rosemary Rhubarb Drinking Vinegar to an ice-filled glass. Fill with seltzer water and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
