Garnishes
Whether it’s a maraschino cherry or edible flowers, many consider a cocktail to be incomplete without a garnish. Some cocktails, including the martini and the bloody mary, are downright incomplete without a proper garnish. This section considers the myriad garnishes available for cocktails, including things like rim salts and sugars and even edible straws.
Top Garnishes Posts:
How to Use Infused Ice to Upgrade Your Cocktails
The Spice Lab Special Touch Premium Mixology Case
Tillen Farms Garnishes
As discussed in our in-depth roundup of cocktail cherries, “brandied cherries” are often a misnomer. Almost all cocktail cherries, even the high-end ones, are stored in syrup or juice (or some combination thereof), with no booze at all in the jar. Tempus Fugit, best known for its intense liqueurs, is one of the exceptions. This…
Read More
Filthy is based in Miami and is the latest contender in the cocktail kit arena trying to raise the bar (this pun was unavoidable) for the DIY home classic cocktail game. Filthy was founded by Daniel Singer because, well, accordingly to the website, “He loved cocktails but couldn’t understand why the best bartenders were using…
Read More
“The Covered Bridges Whiskey Company” is a New Jersey-based operation making Kentucky whiskey, including a straight bourbon and a straight rye. In other words, while the company has a lush backstory about the value of covered bridges, gristmills, and the history of one Isaac Ruddell, dating back to 1788, this is still all sourced stock…
Read More
In April of this year, Hendrick’s posted an Instagram prank advertising Hendrick’s-branded pickles. Clever, but not an earth-shattering level of jokery, really. Only now the pickles are real, courtesy of a collaboration with iconic Katz’s Delicatessen in New York, where they are available in store and for nationwide shipping, for a limited time. They’re made…
Read More
It’s time for more late-arriving cocktail cherries, these another rare entry into the booze-infused variety, jarred under the straightforward name of Spiked Cherries. (Technically these are “Howie’s Spiked Cherries,” but Howie’s does not appear on the label.) Both are bright, dyed-red maraschino-style cherries which come in 355ml jars. Refrigerate after opening. Let’s give both a taste.…
Read More
Dirty Sue (best known for its bottled olive juice) sent us their cocktail cherries after our big cherry blowout, so naturally we felt we needed to take a fresh look at these filthy little fruits, which are preserved in a mix of sugar, cherry juice, and red currant juice, plus a hint of star anise,…
Read More
If there’s a more iconic and versatile cocktail garnish than the cherry, I don’t know about it — and you can keep your “twist” to yourself. When it comes to an edible treat at the bottom of your glass, there’s really nothing better than a high-grade cocktail cherry. Like all cocktail ingredients, the cherry has…
Read More
Not even the fine print of the old-timey Argonaut Brandy bottles will clue you in to who actually makes it, but it’s not a massive secret. Argonaut is a new brand produced by none other than Ernest & Julio Gallo, made in California from its own excess wine production. For decades Gallo has been distilling…
Read More
Traverse City is a craft whisky distillery in the eponymous town in Michigan. Lately they’re also introduced cocktail cherries — of the “brandied” variety, not artificial maraschinos. Some details: TCWC Co-founder Chris Fredrickson chose to use Northern Michigan Balaton Cherries,which are harvested exclusively from orchards in the Traverse City area. The large, plump, firm cherries, which…
Read More
My sleepy burg of Novato, California is home to a surprising operation: King Floyd’s, which produces both artisanal bitters as well as a couple of tins of rimming salts. The company was kind enough to send all five of its products our way for review. Thoughts follow. King Floyd’s Orange Bitters – Strong orange notes…
Read More