When it comes to cocktails, we’re living in a golden age of the garnish: At many bars, a martini is now likely to come with a veritable salad of imported olives, orange peels carved into spirals and anchovies on toothpicks. In certain corners of New York City, your drink might even feature a plastic dinosaur bobbing above its rim. But at home, a rococo approach is not the only way to surprise and delight. “You have to read the room,” says Erika Flowers, 33, who runs the bar at Compère Lapin in New Orleans, where the drinks are topped with thoughtful accouterments like showers of grated nutmeg and pineapple fronds. In her mind, the purpose of a garnish is to turn the act of cocktail consumption into “a full sensory experience,” engaging the nose and the eyes as well as the taste buds. Here, three chefs and mixologists share their suggestions for embellishments that do just that — and are surprisingly easy to make, too.
Citrus-Peel Flowers With Sage
To dress up a margarita, tumbler of rum punch or another tropical drink, Flowers cuts one long strip of lemon rind with a metal citrus peeler and trims off any white pith with a paring knife. She then coils the peel into a roselike shape, threading a sprig of mint through the center for a fragrant addition. To serve, she either sets the peel flower atop a mound of pebble ice or pierces the base with a skewer and balances it on the rim of a coupe glass. As a finishing touch, Flowers uses an atomizer to spray the garnish with a sage tincture that she makes by filling an airtight glass jar with the chopped herb and then steeping it in a high-proof spirit (vodka, she says, is most neutral) for two to four weeks, giving it a shake once a day. The herbaceousness of the spritz will add depth to a fruit-forward cocktail.