Farm to Bottle

What’s in your drink should be as clean as what’s on your fork.

Feb 05, 2025

Kim Lavere with some of her Land + Local products (and me!)

Food is medicine. That’s a fairly consolidated version of the popular saying, 'Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food', often ascribed to Hippocrates (400 BC), and used to bolster the often overlooked importance of nutrition in preventing and even curing disease. And if food is medicine, beverages are quite possibly the easiest way to get it down. Enter community herbalists, the alchemists who have changed the beverage space for good, and forever.

I’ve had the privilege of working with many of these trendsetters who know exactly how to create delicious products to soothe and heal us, one drink at a time. Without necessarily meaning to, they’re also supporting a sober lifestyle. Of the many, there are three alchemists in my foodshed (see previous Substack, and next Friday’s Argus Courier to learn more about what this is). These are women I’ve befriended over the years who make an amazing array of products. Find makers wherever you are - just type in your search engine bar “find local shrubs for cocktails in _____.” I typed in Los Angeles and found three right away: Sideyard, Element, M’tucci’s. (And an L.A. Times article all about the cocktail bars making their own shrubs, and stunning drinks with those.)

Shrubs aren’t the only hip ingredient that alchemists are dreaming up. Land + Local is run by Kim Lavere, an herbalist, chef, and scholar of Eastern medicine. She offers a selection of syrups, shrubs, and spice blends, all made from local, organic herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables, fungi, adaptogenics, and other health supportive ingredients. She works with local, organic farmers to buy their ingredients when they most need to sell them: at their peak, or even past their peak which is better for farmers and for her processing. After all, farmers can’t sell imperfect fruits to consumers, but for chefs like Kim, overripe strawberries with their sugars and flavors more concentrated, she can preserve the juice with apple cider vinegar, to use throughout the year. She also uses unique flavors that many of us aren’t as familiar with: shiso, lemongrass, yuzu.

While one shot of her syrups makes a delicious drink, each is packed with health supportive ingredients. This makes them perfect for cocktails and mocktails, and our health. The easiest way to start is pour a shot of any of her syrups into a glass filled with ice, top it off with soda water, and a sprinkling of one of her spice blends. Bam! Mocktail and wellness in one drink. Or you can check out all the drink ideas on her website to see how she makes incredible, playful combinations based on any different alcoholic and nonalcoholic base.

Phaedra Achor holding one of her products, and a salad from my lil place!

Phaedra Achor of FloraLuna Apothecary brings to the beverage-obsessed an array of syrups and bitters. Her products can be found at many cocktail bars in the United States, but also as far away as Australia where there is a renaissance in the beverage space. Bitters are made with alcohol so not a good thing for those who truly don’t drink, but great for those of us who want a cool mocktail and don’t mind a wee bit of low-alcohol. That being said, her syrups are 100% alcohol free. Phaedra has an amazing palate and lets this inform her combinations of flavors, from the Pistachio-Cherry syrup to Cayenne-Citrus bitters. One could have some serious fun coming up with drinks based on her goods. With the sober curious movement gaining speed, these items are important to nurturing that mission. You can also look at her website for all her fun, creative, and delicious ideas. (see below for link)

Joanne Krueger with just one of many of her delicious items

Little Apple Treats is run by a husband and wife team Dan and Joanne Krueger, who know their way around an apple farm! They’ve been certified organic since 2003, and make a million delicious things with said apples. Bestselling, and award-winning, are the shrubs. Now, you can check out their website to see all the recipes they have come up with, which might tantalize you. But I recommend tasting the shrub and letting it lead you to your most creative self. These are packed with flavor, and punch from the apple cider vinegar and organic fruits and herbs.

Next time you’re headed to a dinner party, stop at your local cocktail shop or mercantile and buy some local shrubs, bitters, or syrups to give as a host gift. These never spoil as they’re preserved from the processes, so for years you’ll delight your friends and family with these little gifts. Scroll to bottom.

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