“Anything that smells good and doesn’t poison us can be the start of a cocktail.”
This from Chris Conatser, the botanist bartender at Justus Drugstore in Smithville. During a recent interview about cocktail trends, Conatser told me that he draws inspiration from everywhere—daisies along the road, corn tassling out, aromas from the kitchen. If it looks good and smells good, he just might turn it into syrup, or tincture, or infusion. His entry for the GKCBC finals is based on a gin infused with Queen Anne’s Lace seeds, a wildflower Conatser describes as a feral carrot. “I wanted to use something that was incredibly commonplace but completely overlooked,” he says. I can’t imagine it will be for long.
(Photo courtesy Society for Environment Education)