Rain, rain, go away: but here’s a cozy sipper to fill your days spent indoors. Kaytie Keck, creative director of the popular Red Feather Lounge in Boise, Idaho, is the mastermind behind this winter-meets-spring toddy recipe. “The name is an inspiration of the color that the syrup created, Tyrian Purple,” Keck says of the hue the huckleberry lends to her house-made syrup. “Pliny the Elder wrote the process on how to extract the color from sea snails in his writing the ‘Natural History.’ He was a curious fellow which would ultimately lead to his early death — his plight.”
In a nod to Idaho’s state fruit and Pliny’s dire straits, Keck mixed huckleberries with sage and ginger to create additional depth in the syrup, alongside truly Northwest-made spirits. “2bar bourbon from Seattle paired the best,” she says. “It’s a wonderful whiskey which uses 100 percent Northwest local grains.”
Pliny’s Plight
Makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces Huckleberry Syrup (recipe follows)
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
¼ ounce brown sugar syrup*
2 ounces 2bar bourbon
1 cup hot water
Combine the Huckleberry Syrup, lemon juice, brown sugar syrup, bourbon and hot water into a mug and stir to combine.
*To make the brown sugar syrup, combine ½ cup brown sugar and ½ cup hot water. Stir until dissolved and store refrigerated.
Huckleberry Syrup
Makes about 2 cups
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 cup of puréed huckleberries
½ cup turbinado sugar
½ cup water
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat. Cool and strain the syrup through a fine sieve. Store refrigerated for up to 10 days.
