1.5 oz. peppermint tea
1 oz. blueberry lavender shrub
barspoon gentian syrup
10 drops lemon hemp extract
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir with ice. Strain over a large ice cube and garnish with a lemon twist.
Peppermint tea
3 bags peppermint tea
500mL boiling water
Brew tea bags in water for 10 minutes, then remove.
Blueberry lavender shrub
1200g blueberries (about 2 quarts)
950g sugar
950mL apple cider vinegar
12g dried lavender
Blend blueberries and sugar until homeogeneous, about one minute. Combine apple cider vinegar and lavender. Let both these mixtures sit in the fridge for two days, then combine. Strain through a fine mesh chinois, pressing with a spatula to get as much liquid out as possible. Strain the resulting liquid through a nut milk bag.
Gentian syrup
3.5g dried gentian root
500mL boiling water
500g sugar
Steep the gentian root in the boiling water. After 10 minutes, strain out the root, and combine the water and sugar. Mix until all the sugar dissolves.
I wanted to create a non-alcoholic drink that still had the relaxing effects of a cocktail, so I turned to CBD extract. Here I used the lemon hemp extract from Upstate Elevator Supply Co. The fresh summery flavors of mint, blueberries, and lavender pair perfectly with the deeper bitter lemon note of the extract, which is complemented by the earthy bitterness of the gentian syrup. While this drink is definitely crushable, it serves equally well as a slow sipper.