An herbal spring tonic

celebrate flavor and fragrance...

Celebrate flavor and fragrance with a garden sip that tastes like spring. Perfect and pink for all your gatherings, especially those that honor moms, sisters, beloved girlfriends, brides, babies, and all the special people in your life.

This is a forgiving recipe so feel free to make it your own with a variety of different herbs; tarragon perhaps, chamomile would be delicious.

You’ll need

• Fresh rhubarb, the pinker the better although green will be just as delicious

• A good sized bunch of fresh sweet woodruff (Gallium odoratum)

• Sugar, white sugar will yield the clearest finished syrup

Chop rhubarb and layer with fresh, slightly wilted sweet woodruff in a glass or plastic container. Top the mixture with sugar, as sweet as you’d like — or not — and pound with a muddler, wooden rolling pin, or the handle of a sturdy wooden spoon to get the juices flowing. If you’re looking to lean decidedly pink, add a few red ripe strawberries to the mix and mush everything together.

Cover and leave the mixture to macerate in a cool location for 24 hours, spring is rhubarb season, so room temperature on the countertop should be fine unless you live in a very warm climate. When you come back to the mixture, you’ll find the sugar has drawn out the rhubarb’s juices and dissolved, creating a clear pink syrup infused with sweet woodruff. Strain into a glass jar and refrigerate.

To serve: mix a tablespoon or so into a glass of wine or fizzy water. The first backyard strawberry would make a delightful garnish.

A tart alternative

Before straining, add Champagne vinegar to the rhubarb-syrup mixture to make a shrub. Stir to combine, and chill, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 8 to 12 hours. Chilling even longer allows the flavors to develop and soften. Taste periodically to note the difference.

When you’re happy with the flavor, using a fine sieve, strain the mixture into a glass bottle or pitcher, pressing to capture every last drop.

To serve: mix 1 part shrub with 1 to 2 parts sparkling water or wine. Serve over ice garnished with a sprig of fresh rosemary. Rhubarb shrub is also delicious spiked with a floral gin for a garden-forward cocktail enjoyed on the first warm day in May. Cavorting optional.