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Food Blog

Some of the Sexiest Farm-Fresh Cocktails in the County

Fog & Smog, the viral video gurus behind “It’s Getting Real in the Whole Foods Parking Lot” and “Yoga Girl,” have some fun with the burgeoning craft cocktail trend with their parody anthem “Hey Mr. Mixologist.”

They lampoon giant ice cubes, $20 price tags, snobby bartenders and suggest drinks like “A Wilson's Boulevard of Broken Dreams” with single-mash Gatorade, bitters, Smirnoff Ice and human tears—or the “Moist Yoga Mat” with hemp vodka, 12-year kombucha, wheatgrass with a coconut water back.

But don’t fight the feeling, fellas: Sure, cocktails are getting complicated, but they’re also getting damn good. The best complex-and-cohesive inventions around here, though, all share one simple thing in common: They enjoy super-fresh ingredients.

Check out some of the freshest best here, which first appeared in our annual Wine & Dine epicurean adventure guide in the fall:

1. Hold onto your sombrero: El Trailero ($13.50) on the freshly revamped cocktail menu at Mundaka (624-7400) enjoys Tres Organic Blue Agave Añejo tequila, OJ squeezed that day, fig jam made in house, fresh rosemary and ginger syrup from Marina’s The Ginger People. Oh yes. “Trailero” means traitor, but this collaboration between barkeep Frayne Padgham and cocktail consultant Katie Blandin (aka The Mixtriss) won’t do you wrong.

2. At Esteban (375-0176), arugula drives the Martini Verde. A handful of the spicy greens is muddled with slices of cucumber, fresh lime juice and Hendrick's Gin.

3. Pebble Beach's new toy, The Bench (625-8533), glows with sunlight, so it only makes sense that the Thai One On ($12) is a bright and vibrant and natural drink driven by cucumber wheels, fresh basil leaves with ginger syrup, bisongrass-infused vodka with Thai basil puree with Zu Vodka.

4. Montrio Bistro (648-8880) cocktail doctor Anthony Vitacca has ridden the cusp of the farm-fresh drink wave in Monterey County, and the Beta Vulgaris ($10) remains his best, buoyed by a surreal smokiness from roasted beet juice plus St. Germain elderflower liqueur, green chartreuse and fresh lemon juice, served up and taken down enthusiastically.

5. The gorgeous on-site gardens at Sierra Mar (667-2800) give the Lavender Martini ($15) and the wild-mint Moderator ($15) their character, but it’s the Sierra Refresca ($12) that is the freshest find. The ever-changing concoction is a blend of an agua fresca-style juice made from a farmers market harvest of seasonal berries and/or papaya, mango and pineapple blended with a pick from the bar’s top-shelf artisanal rum, tequila or vodka.

6. The brand new Mexican Monk ($9) at Tarpy's Roadhouse (647-1444), with Herradura Blanco tequila, green chartreuse, agave, muddled pineapple and jalapeño unleashes a symphony of smoothly balanced savory, citrus and sweet with a gently spicy finish. It could qualify as a religious experience, and at the very least a prayer answered.

7. Thyme is Everything ($10.50) isn’t just the most popular drink at C Restaurant (375-4800), it’s the prettiest and, yes, the freshest, thanks to a bundle of freshy plucky thyme splashed in with Nonet gin, fresh-squeezed lime juice and blue agave nectar.

8. At Restaurant 1833 (643-1833) Chief Bartender Mike Lay squeezes his own ginger after hitting Old Monterey Farmers Market every week, and his take on Pimm’s Cup ($11) is similarly fresh, lifted by Pimm’s liqueur, fresh lemon juice, Death’s Door gin and fresh muddled kumquats with cucumber. The Tuesday happy hour (5-6:30pm, with signature drinks chopped to $5.50), in fact, is completely dedicated to whatever he retrieves in the market: On a recent afternoon that meant Lay was doing strawberry whiskey fizzes; as this issue hits the street he might be doing fiendishly fresh things with blood orange.