Craft Quarantine Cocktail Delivery
Vian Studios’ series of blogs about creativity in this time of quarantine has inspired me to interview Jordan, who started craft cocktail kits with her own invented recipes. What started out as a creative hobby to connect friends (who reimbursed her for products used), turned into a way for Jordan to start saving for her and her husband’s dream trip-an immersive Old Testament study trip to Israel in 2022.
*Right now kits are just for fun, and solely for donation
Thanks for taking the time Jordan! How did you get the idea to do cocktail kit delivery?
Oh my gosh where to begin! This has really been a fun hobby focused on connecting friends. I have been missing the social element of being behind the bar, telling the stories behind the drinks I create, and getting reactions in real time. When I first started allowing myself more creativity at home during the lockdown, I wanted to be able to share it with friends and have fun complex drinks together, despite being apart. The majority of my friends have zero bar equipment and consider squeezing a fresh grapefruit over whatever spirit is in the cupboard a win. They needed help. I needed my creative outlet back. Figuring out a way to share craft cocktails with only the supplies already found in their kitchen was the ultimate goal of these kits.
“A cocktail is about the emotion it evokes. It's more than just a yummy drink. It’s smell and taste. From the glassware, to the color, to the name, I want it to transport you to the same place emotionally that I was in while creating it.”
Can you tell me about the first cocktail ‘Market Bouquet’ on your menu?
Stuck in quarantine, I was craving the sunny bustling farmers market outings I usually associate with spring season. Let me give you the vision I had. Picture a group of friends, post brunch, all smiles, stopping to eye wildflower bouquets. You can’t escape the refreshing smells of lavender, goat milk soaps, and salves, and there seems to be fresh herbs on every corner. You feel a warmth and lightness from the sun, and your whole day is free of work and responsibility. I wanted to taste what that would feel like. Thus appeared ‘Market Bouquet,’ a classic sour build. I chose a neutral Vodka base to give myself plenty of room to play with the florals and citrus that I wanted to shine through in this cocktail. I made a hibiscus syrup and combined it with St Germain Elderflower for ‘the sweet’, and balanced it with fresh lemon juice for ‘the tart.’ I felt that rosewater gave it a lighter and sunnier feel, and a garnish of rosemary brought ‘farmers market’ to the nose without muddying the palette with anything vegetal.
What is your favorite cocktail that you offer?
A Poet’s Scribbles. What I wanted was to curl up, nose in a book, near a crackling fireplace. I imagined a grand library-deep scarlet velvet chaise, a heavy wood side table holding a glass of scotch, maybe some classical music wafting in through a vent. This was the emotion and image I wanted to create. I actually did not follow any classic build here, I trial-and-errored the contrasting flavors I envisioned in my head until I had what I wanted. My image of a decanter of scotch lead me to use bourbon as the base. Trying to capture the feeling of turning a page in a good book however, had me halving it with tequila, as it has a more funky vegetal note that reminds me of newspaper. Velvet Falernum is one of my favorite spirits because it is often used in tiki drinks, and it's clear almond and clove tasting notes gives it a cozy type of warmth. Angostura, also common to tiki drinks, contains a mix of gentian, herbs, and spices that culminate to the richness of my envisioned atmosphere, while also providing the bittering agent I needed to balance my drink’s sweetness. I finished it off with fresh lime juice to enhance the vegetal nature of the tequila and keep the drink springy…avoiding any delusion that it was meant for the holidays.
What was the most challenging cocktail for you to create?
Thyme’s Whisper was one of the harder cocktails on this menu for me to settle on, and resulted in the most failed attempts dumped down my kitchen sink. I had been wanting to start a garden by my house. Tomatoes, herbs, and strawberries, but I hadn’t been motivated to make any of this happen. So I thought, how about a drink that tastes like gardening and is light enough to sip before noon, hoping the outcome would inspire my green thumb. I knew exactly where I wanted to start: steeping fresh thyme in one of my favorite locally made gins, but beyond that I didn’t know how to accomplish the vision I had for how the drink would make me feel. I tried muddling tomato and juicing red bell pepper. The veggies were not strong enough or consistent in flavor. Finally, I tried Aperol! A perfect amount of brightness, bitter, and flavor. I added some lillet to incorporate notes of honey and more herbs, and my end result was a light and herbal gin sour-such an easy sipper that I had my first official taste over breakfast. I wanted to feel the sun peeking around a wide brimmed hat while smelling fresh garden air. I'm proud to say I think Thymes Whisper accomplished my vision. It’s only a matter of time before I’m growing those herbs myself!
