Back To Your Roots | A Carrot-Ginger Cocktail

Do you remember playing with your food as a child or unabashedly tasting something different or foreign for the first time? When was the last time that you experimented with flavors that don’t usually get paired together? Those moments, for me, are some of life’s finest pleasures — getting out of our comfort zones and getting back to our creative, explorative roots.

This cocktail is multifaceted and layered with cozy fall flavors. Freshly pressed carrot juice meets a barrel-aged gin, complemented with a subtly sweet-yet-spicy ginger-honey syrup and brightened with a pop of lemon. I added a little of my favorite Colorado apple brandy, Big B’s Barrel-Aged Pommeau, which offers just the right amount of round, apple notes.

Now for the dreamy, textural part of this drink, the egg white. While carrots and ginger are classic and common food-pairing matches, adding an egg white to this combination might seem a little strange. Trust me on this one. The texture is sublime, and the resulting flavor is reminiscent of a childhood favorite — a citrusy, complex, grownup version of a creamsicle.

CARROT-GINGER COCKTAIL

YIELD: ONE COCKTAIL


  • 1½ ounces Spring 44 Old Tom Gin

  • ¼ ounce Big B’s Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pommeau

  • 2 ounces fresh carrot juice

  • ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

  • 1 ounce ginger-honey syrup

  • 1 egg white

  • Fennel flowers, for garnish

1. In a mixing tin, combine the gin, pommeau, carrot and lemon juices, ginger-honey syrup and egg white.

2. Dry shake (without ice) for about 20 seconds.

3. Add ice and shake for another 20 seconds; you’ll want the cocktail frothy and creamy.

4. Double-strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with fennel flowers or another seasonal, edible flower.

Photos by Jayme Henderson.

GINGER-HONEY SYRUP

Use a small saucepan and combine ½ cup honey and ½ cup water along with a coarsely-chopped, one-inch piece of ginger. Over low heat, bring the mixture to a low boil, stirring along the way. Let simmer for about five minutes, remove from heat and let fully cool. Strain the solids, and store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Jayme HendersonDrink