Ode to Saint Rita
Alcohol-free Cocktails from Dzantik'i Heeni, or Juneau
I LOVE SHRUBS. They’re versatile and great for saving borderline “bad” produce. They also keep well, longer than syrups. This basic sh...
I’d like to dedicate this drink to Amaurluq Bamiovan/Rita Blumenstein, a Yup’ik doctor and healer who passed away in August of 2021. She is an inspiration to countless ethnobotanists, plant nerds, healers, and practitioners of traditional medicine. I don’t know if she would have liked this drink, but I like to think there are some health benefits from the elderflower and spruce tips. Quyana/gunalchéesh, Rita, for clearing the pathway to wellness and light.
This drink reminds me of a margarita, but omit the tequila, add local plants, and you have an Alaskan Saint Rita. Omit the bitters for a completely alcohol-free drink. A note about the elderflower syrup: you can make your own. A LOT grows “out the road” in Juneau in the spring, or you can buy it bottled. I like the Monin brand, which you can buy online if you can’t bribe a coffee shop into selling you a bottle. I hate salting rims—it’s not a strong suit of mine—so I like to chill the glasses ahead of time to help the salt-sugar stick to the rim as opposed to first wetting it with citrus.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 1 drink
- ½ teaspoon lime juice (about ¼ lime in wedge form)
- 1 ounce citrus syrup (lemon, lime, orange)
- 1 ounce elderflower syrup
- 1½ ounces non-alcoholic gin (I use Monday brand)
- 4 drops spruce tip bitters
- Club soda
- Alaska Pure Sea Salt Co.’s spruce tip sea salt
- Sugar
- Dehydrated lime wheel, for garnish
Preparation
Mix salt and sugar 50/50 in a small container and pour some of the mixture on a plate for coating the rim. Muddle lime in a cocktail shaker. Add both syrups, non-alcoholic gin, and bitters and dry shake for 10 seconds. Grab a chilled 10-ounce rocks glass from the refrigerator and rotate in a circle, rim down on the plate, in the sugar-salt mix. Fill the glass with ice and pour contents of cocktail shaker in glass. Top with club soda and give a quick stir with a cocktail spoon. Garnish with dehydrated lime wheel.
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