This workshop will provide a basic overview of creating your own botanical cocktails and mocktails that you can serve to guests or sip solo.
The workshop includes the following three lessons:
Lesson 1: Botanical Mixed Drinks 101
In this lesson, you will learn how mixed drinks have been used in past and present celebrations, as well as how to approach alcohol use responsibly. We will also cover the basic supplies you’ll need to make your own mixed drinks at home—from kitchen and apothecary equipment to glassware and food ingredients, and we’ll even show you how to save money on supplies by thrifting for them. We will also unfold the main elements needed for a well-rounded mixed drink while diving deep into some additional elements you may want to consider when crafting your own botanical drinks.
Finally, get introduced to 14 common botanicals that will infuse your beverages with flavor and wellness benefits and show you how to create your own flavor profiles for the botanicals you wish to use in an effort to help you become a better botanical mixologist over time.
Lesson 2: Elevating Mixed Drinks
The basis of a botanically infused mixed drink comes down to incorporating flavorful and aromatic plants into foundational preparations, which are then layered together to craft a delightful and enjoyable beverage. In this lesson, we will discuss the basic botanical preparations you will need to have on hand to create botanical mixed drinks at home, including herb-infused alcohols, sugars, salts, syrups, vinegars, and more. Not only will you learn why these elements are needed in a mixed drink, but you will also learn how to make them. We’re even including several foundational recipes so you’ll be ready to shake and stir up some mixed drink recipes in the kitchen as soon as possible.
Watch as herbalist Meagan Visser walks you through several videos showing you how to make some of these foundational preparations, including how to make your own herbal salts and sugars for rimming glasses, how to make herbal bitters to finish each drink with an herbal flair, how to create delicious syrups and shrubs to add an extra botanical pop to your drinks, and even how to create your own customized wild vermouth! We’ll even dive into topics such as non-alcoholic spirits, how to make sugar-free mixed drinks, and how to layer botanicals in your custom drink recipes to create deep, enjoyable flavors in your botanical mixed drinks.
Lesson 3: Botanical Mixed Drinks Recipes
While we encourage you to experiment with different combinations of botanicals and ingredients to create your own botanical mixed drinks, it can be helpful to start with some tried-and-true mixed drink recipes as you’re settling into the process. In this lesson, we will walk you through how to create a special mixed drink—The Happy Hippie—from the ground up so you can see the entire process step-by-step. We then share 13 botanical mixed drink recipes that you can make and enjoy right away, including a High-C Toddy with rosehip and sumac syrups, a Southwest Sundowner with lavender-infused gin, a Savory Switchel with thyme-infused vodka, and more.
Follow along with herbalist Meagan Visser as she demonstrates how to make a handful of these delicious drinks! These recipes are exclusive to this workshop and are not included in other Herbal Academy courses, intensives, or blog posts. With an assortment of mixed drink recipes, you will find something for every celebration throughout the year as well as something your friends and family are sure to enjoy.