Drinking with Chickens- craft cocktail recipes

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Clover Whiskey Sour

As seen in the March 2019 issue of Country Living Magazine.

As usual, this time of year, the garden is beginning to pop with all sorts of interesting stuff. We have this native 'weed', Wood Sorrel (goes by many names but is actually a type of Oxalis--many people refer to it as clover, many people also try to eradicate it from existence because it is invasive. But I encourage it, because if you can't beat it, then call it a wildflower and embrace it). It's a cheerful little plant with bright yellow flowers that I just adore. Not only is it attractive (and decidedly UN-weedlike), it is completely edible and has this yummy, citrusy tang to it. Additionally, this year, I planted white clover as a drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly ground cover. All parts of it are edible, as well, including the pretty white flowers, though it doesn't have the same great flavor as the Wood Sorrel does.

Princess Vespa kicking her way through the clover crop.

Wood sorrel on the left, clover on the right.

Wood Sorrel harvest for to cocktail with.

It just so happens that these green things spring up in the garden just in time for me to use them in St. Paddy's Day drinks. How lucky.

(See The Springtime Lush that I made last year.)

Uh, yeah. I painted my chicken's toenails green. So she doesn't get pinched.

She’s just as baffled as you.


C L O V E R   W H I S K E Y   S O U R

To make one cocktail:

  • 2 oz. Irish whiskey (such as Tullamore Dew)

  • 3/4 oz. fresh lime juice

  • 1 oz. simple syrup

  • approx. 1/4 cup loosely packed wood sorrel leaves and stems

  • 1 fresh egg white

  • clover or wood sorrel leaves to garnish

Add wood sorrel and lime juice to the bottom of a shaker and muddle. Add ice, whiskey, and simple syrup. Shake until chilled, strain into a glass, set aside. Dump ice and clover bits from shaker, add back the cocktail mixture, plus the egg white. Shake hard and thoroughly until whites are well-foamed. Pour contents into a coupe glass (do not strain, you want allllllll that lovely foam). Garnish with a few clover leaves.


Here's to a St. Paddy's Day full of green whiskey drinks, green beer, and green chicken toenails.

Sláinte!