Garden Fresh Ingredient Cocktails Sprouting in Sacramento

Fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits in cocktails? Exploring Sacramento's fresh farm ingredient cocktails by pedaling through downtown! By Bethany Heckman, Local Roots Food Tours Guide Grange Restaurant & Bar 926 J St  -  Inside Citizen Hotel Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 492-4400 http://www.grangesacramento.com Happy Hour: Monday-Friday 3pm-6pm The Citizen Hotel is a stunning building with an ominous presence in downtown Sacramento so the fact that there is a beautiful bar/restaurant inside is a bonus. The Grange is a farm to table restaurant, offering fresh and local ingredients for each of their dishes. Walking into the Grange you immediately notice their lovely large bar showcasing liqueurs and bottles of spirits. The bartenders are constantly chopping, cutting, and peeling fresh produce: mint, oranges, cucumbers, lemons and ginger. The Grange is a hot spot in downtown Sacramento and known for their fresh summer cocktails. As often as possible they use fresh ingredients to give customers a true taste of garden cocktails. For example, the “Zarzamora,” Don Q rum, Veev acai liquor, blackberry-vanilla syrup, lime, mint. When I spoke with the bartenders at the Grange they let me in on a little secret of a cocktail they were just creating: so new it didn’t even have a name yet. It begins with a 12 year old Zaya Rum blended with a house made fresh nectarine and mint syrup (similar to a smoothie) to bring out the fresh fruity taste of the nectarine. Then, a little fresh squeeze of lemon juice is added and poured as a sipper cocktail. Click to continue reading!