Spring Cocktails at Blackberry Mountain

At Blackberry Mountain, the Firetower and Three Sisters restaurants are elevating their Spring cocktail menus with fresh and foraged ingredients that capture the authentic flavors of the season. Learn about the inspiration behind each unique sip, and discover their recipes to recreate them at home!

Arrivederci Earl

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ ounces Italicus
• ¾ ounces earl grey syrup
• 2 dashes celery bitters
• 2-3 ounces Nino Franco Prosecco  
• Splash of Fever Tree Club Soda
• 3 Castelvetrano olives, for garnish

To make:
Build in a red wine glass. Garnish with three Castelvetrano olives on skewer. Stir and serve with a straw on the side.

Translating to “Goodbye Earl” in Italian, the Arrivederci Earl mixes herbal elements to create a low ABV beverage. It’s the perfect drink to enjoy one or two of while relaxing on the porch this season.

– Halee Jones, Beverage Manager at Three Sisters

Rosé Colored Glasses

Ingredients:

• ½ ounce raspberry syrup
• ½ ounce lemon
• ¾ ounce St. Germain
• ¾ ounce Proper Sake
• ¾ ounce La Luna Black Label Mezcal
• 3 drops rose water
• Rosé champagne, to top
• 3 Raspberries, for garnish

To make:
Build in shaker tin and shake until cold. Strain into chilled coupe class. Top with Rosé champagne. Garnish with three raspberries on a pick.

For something a little brighter in flavor and color, the Rosé Colored Glasses blends all the elements from Sake to Mezcal to St. Germain to Rosé champagne for a well-balanced spring in your step. Its zippy flavor profile highlights the delicious raspberries that are in season right now.

– Halee Jones, Beverage Manager at Three Sisters

Palso Verde 

Ingredients:

• 3 drops saline
• ½ ounce lime juice
• ¾ ounce green juice
• ½ ounce Italicus
• 2 ounces G4 Tequila Blanco
• Topo Chico, to top
• Lime wheel, for garnish

To make:
Shake all ingredients and top with Topo Chico over fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Palos verde translates to “green stems.” We make a green juice that goes into this cocktail, which is made with bell peppers, cucumber and celery. The cocktail is a mix of the green juice, lime, Italicus and tequila topped with Topo Chico, resulting in a floral and refreshing drink.

– Amanda Remke, Sommelier at the Firetower

Hay Fever

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ ounces Wild Turkey Rare Breed Rye
• ¼ ounce Aperol
• ¾ ounce housemade beet turmeric cayenne reduction*
• ½ ounce lemon juice
• ½ ounce housemade ginger syrup*
• Orange weave, for garnish

*For the housemade beet turmeric cayenne reduction:

• 2 cups chopped beets
• 2 cups chopped turmeric root
• 1 quart water
• ¾ Tablespoon cayenne
• ½ xanthan gum

Reduce beets, turmeric and cayenne in water for 10-15 minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth. Add back into a clean pot. Add xanthan gum. Over heat, whisk for 1-2 minutes. Strain again using either a mesh strainer or cheesecloth.

*For the housemade ginger syrup:

• ½ cup thinly sliced ginger
• 10 ounces hot water
• 25 ounces light golden agave syrup

Add everything into a quart container and stir to dissolve. Strain off ginger after 24-48 hours, depending on how pronounced you want the ginger to be.

To make:
Shake all ingredients and double strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with an orange weave.

This cocktail is a creation from Firetower bartender Nathan McIntosh. It’s a refreshing riff off a Paper Plane and Penicillin combined. With a focus on our commitment to health and wellness, it uses turmeric, beet and ginger to promote respiratory health.

– Amanda Remke, Sommelier at the Firetower

Roundabout Martini

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces housemade rosemary infused Drumshanbo Gin*
• ½ ounce Paddock & Co Blanco Vermouth
• 1 full dropper of housemade peach leaf bitters*
• 3 dashes peach bitters
• Basil olive oil*, to top

*For the housemade rosemary infused Drumshanbo Gin:

• Bottle of Drumshando Gun Powder Gin
• 3 long rosemary sprigs

Pour the gin into a large container and steep the rosemary in the gin for approximately 45 minutes. Remove the rosemary and pour the gin back into bottle. Place in a freezer until ready to use.

*For the housemade peach leaf bitters:

• 1 teaspoon coriander
• ½ teaspoon lavender
• ¼ teaspoon cardamon
• ¼ teaspoon gentian root
• 8 juniper berries
• 20 peach leaves (chopped)

Add all ingredients to an iSi Gourmet Whipper. Use two charges and shake five times after each charge. Let sit for one hour before releasing pressure. Strain with mesh strainer and then through a coffee filter.

*For the basil olive oil:

• 1 quart whole basil leaves, chopped
• 3 cups olive oil (Georgia Olive Farms is what we use)

Add ingredients to an iSi. Use two charges and shake five times after each charge. Let sit for one hour before releasing pressure. Strain with a mesh strainer.

To make:
Stir ingredients and strain into a coupe glass. Top with a few drops of basil olive oil droplets.

This cocktail is named after the roundabout outside of the Firetower and created by Harmoni Ulmer, a Firetower supervisor and bartender. It's an elevated version of a martini with Spring vibes. The gin is infused with rosemary in house, with the addition of housemade peach leaf bitters. The peach bitters give the drink a pink hue, and when we garnish it with housemade basil olive oil droplets, this martini is reminiscent of a Spring garden.

– Amanda Remke, Sommelier at the Firetower