What inspires the Barn's signature cocktails?

When the bartenders and I work on the development of signature and seasonal cocktails, we use a formulaic approach that helps us to maintain our mission,dedication to the craft and seasonally inspired ingredients. When creating a new cocktail, we ask ourselves three questions:

What’s growing in the garden?
What classic cocktails motivate us, and how can we use them as the building blocks for a signature drink we want to craft?
What is fun, different and pushes the limit of how our guests think about drinks?

This approach led us to a very inventive and garden-inspired libation we call “Uprooted”. It features juiced garden carrots, fresh picked dill, botanicallyrich Bristow gin and Yzaguirre dry vermouth. It was inspired by something we do at Blackberry Farm called “Hammer Nights” and a favorite vegetable dishthat is made for the occasion.

The dish is simply wood grilled garden carrots that are tossed in garden herbs. The taste is sweet and herbaceous. That flavor inspiration was a welcomedchallenge to figure out how we would translate those nuances into a cocktail. After a lot of tasting, shaking and juicing we figured out a perfect harmonyof flavors and now proudly serve the Uprooted on our menu.

Logan Griffin, Beverage Manager