Local fruits, vegetables pour into cocktails

When Aaron Andrews thinks about apples hanging heavy on the trees, his mouth doesn't water for apple pie, apple fritters or apple sauce. When the first batch of just-picked apples comes into the kitchen at Duke's Ale House in Crystal Lake Andrews plans to turn them into juice and combine that juice with local maple syrup and sage from the next farm down. Those flavors will mingle with vodka in the apple sage martini he pours at the bar.

Andrews is one of the many bartenders (aka bar chefs or mixologists) embracing the "eat local" movement and adapting it to a "drink local" philosophy.

"The chef's influence is drifting out of the kitchen," says Andrews, himself a culinary arts graduate with years of kitchen experience. "Once chefs turned their attention to local ingredients it was just a matter of time before it went to the bar and bar chefs."

Instead of using preservative-laden syrups, canned juices and artificially flavored liqueurs in cocktails, some bartenders today infuse spirits with their own blend of fresh-snipped herbs, muddle tree-ripened peaches for margaritas and garnish drinks with tiny tomatoes, cucumber ribbons and raspberries.

"I can walk across the street (to the farmers market) and get berries for mojitos," Andrews says, "there wasn't the opportunity to do that before."

Vince Balisteri, beverage director at Niche in Geneva, also loves the creativity fresh ingredients bring to the bar.

"Fresh produce is great for design purposes. Instead of just garnishing a drink with a lemon, I use cucumber or other fruit," he says. "When Jeremy (chef Jeremy Lycan) goes to the market and brings back peaches, blueberries or blackberries, I muddle them for fresh fruit margaritas."

Balisteri is especially proud of Niche's Bloody Marys. The drink starts with a base made from heirloom tomatoes to which he adds his own infused vodka blended with roasted bell peppers, chilies and fresh herbs.

"The longer it sits, the more heat it gets," Balisteri says. "Instead of putting Tabasco in and killing the flavor, the vodka brings the flavor."

Bridget Albert, mixologist for Bolingbrook-based Southern Wine and Spirits, says she's been working with restaurants and bar chefs to introduce more garden-fresh cocktails to their menus.

"Seasonal cocktails are really taking off," Albert says. "When you use the best of what's in season, you're giving your guest a cocktail that tastes better, a cocktail with integrity."

Vodka offers a relatively blank canvas for adding fresh flavors, yet Albert says bolder liquors, like gin and bourbon, should not be overlooked.

"Peach goes well with bourbon and lemonade; muddle a peach, add an ounce of bourbon and your favorite lemonade," she suggests. "It's what I call a front-porch drink."

Andrews says he infuses small-batch whiskey with local honey and uses that mixture in an Old Fashioned that also gets a boost from local cherries.

Balisteri says he's had better luck working with seasonal fruits than vegetables.

"Everyone appreciates that fresh fruit taste," he says. "I used radish for vodka once - that was not good."

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