This honey spruce tip cocktail is a bright spring elixir, blending fresh spruce tips and golden honey into a light, citrusy woodland drink perfect for a feast in the elven realm Lothlórien
A Feast in Lothlórien – The Golden Wood
Travel east over the Misty Mountains and enter the golden woods of Lothlórien for an enchanting elven feast. With hair as golden as the flowers of the Mallorn trees that adorn her realm, Galadriel rules over Lothlórien with her husband Celeborn. Aided by the power of Nenya, one of the three elvish rings of power, the woodland realm is kept beautiful and pure, free from evil and where the trees themselves do not die. Gather beneath the golden boughs of the Mallorn trees for an enchanting feast worthy of the woodland realm of Lothlórien – the heart of elvendom on Earth.
A spruce tip cocktail
Enter the enchanted woodlands of Lothlórien and enjoy a sip of this honey sweetened elixir infused with the first green buds of spring. The everlasting trees of Lórien continue to bloom and flourish year after year due to the power of Galadriel’s ring, Nenya. With spring comes fresh green spruce tips with their citrusy pine flavour. The spruce tips are gently steeped with sweet honey and blended with gin and dry vermouth for a light and refreshing tipple. A dash of grapefruit bitters draws out the natural citrus flavours in this spruce gin cocktail.
More Recipes from Lothlórien
Ingredients for Honey Spruce Tip Cocktail
Spruce tips: Use new growth spruce tips to make this syrup. The best time to make this syrup is in late spring when the fresh spruce tips are coming in. The flavour is light and citrusy and not overly tree-ish. Almost all conifer trees are edible with the exception of the Yew tree, so be sure that you are able to identify and avoid any Yew.
If you can’t source fresh spruce tips, you can order it from specialty food suppliers wither frozen or dried. I ordered mine locally in the Lower Mainland of BC from Mikuni Wild Harvest. You can also find them dried online in Canada from Forbes Wild Foods.
Honey: The delicate floral notes in honey pair beautifully with the citrusy spruce tips. This simple syrup swaps the typical sugar with honey in a 1 to 1 ratio.
Gin: With its botanical profile, gin is the perfect spirit for this spruce tip cocktail. Cocktail gin from Empress is my favourite gin for mixing in cocktails.
Dry vermouth: Vermouth is a fortified wine. It is infused with various botanicals and can be both dry and sweet. For this cocktail choose a dry vermouth, such as Martini & Rossi.
Lemon: A splash of lemon juice adds balancing acidity as well as drawing out the strong citrus notes in the spruce.
Grapefruit bitters: A few dashes of citrusy bitters adds a complex layer of flavours to this spruce tip cocktail and brings out the natural citrus flavours of the spruce tips.
How to Make Honey Spruce Tip Cocktail
Make the spruce tip syrup
In a saucepan combine the water and honey. Place over high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the honey. Add the spruce tips and let simmer for another minute. Then remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 20-30 minutes.
Strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer and discard the spruce tips. Let the syrup cool before using. The syrup will keep for 2 to 3 weeks in the fridge.
Make the Honey Spruce Tip Cocktail
In a cocktail shaker add the gin, dry vermouth, honey spruce simple syrup, lemon juice, and grapefruit bitters. Add ice, then cover and shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with more spruce tips and fresh flowers if desired and enjoy!
