Use Carrot Liquor In Your Bloody Mary for a Crudité Twist
Boardroom Spirits, a micro-distillery in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, has a history of trying innovative new materials for it spirits (like beets), so perhaps its no surprise that the newest offering is a carrot liquor. C, as Boardroom calls it, is a spirit made entirely from raw carrots. According to the distillery, it takes 12.5 pounds of carrots to get one 350 ml bottle of the spirit, which retails for $30. It packs a wallop, at 42% alcohol, and straight out of the bottle it tastes like an earthier, slightly sweet vodka, like a boozey crudité. It's a nice Easter bunny-inspired treat for the set that's over the Easter egg hunt, but it's more of a mixing spirit than something you'd drink on the rocks. But the question, in the office, was what to mix it with.
Ideas abounded. There was mention of making ice cubes out of ranch dressing in order to mimc the classic carrots-and-ranch party platter. But the logistics of freezing ranch are unknown, and frankly terrifying, and so we thought about what more traditional cocktails a carrot note might be nice. You could add C to a gin drink if you wanted it to be particularly botanical, for example. It wouldn't be bad added to juice, like a screwdriver. Adding it to soda would be weird-a carrot and Coke? But finally we hit upon the carrot bloody mary.
The idea is pretty simple. Put together a bloody mary mix. We used this bloody mary mix recipe from the excellent Karen Palmer. But rather than just using tomato juice, we did half tomato juice and half carrot juice. Add in a couple spoonfuls of horseradish, juice of one lemon and one lime, some shakes of celery salt, a splash of green Tabasco, a generous splash of Worcestershire sauce, and some pickle juice. Adjust to taste-we needed ours spicy and savory, so we doubled down on the hot sauce and horseradish. Then replace your usual helping of tequila or vodka with carrot liquor. We also crusted our glass in ranch, which is optional, but delicious. Throw in a pickle spear, a celery stalk, and a raw carrot for a garnish. The carrot liquor gives it a nice freshness and bite, and the carrot juice adds to the flavor. It's kind of like a smoothie, but way more fun.
