At a seminar on this last topic, one of the panel members was farm-to-shaker mixologist Scott Beattie of Healdsburg, California’s Cyrus restaurant.

Beattie’s locavore cocktail list was inspired not by cocktail fashion, but by all the beauty and bounty that Beattie sees around him in Sonoma County. And, without overstating it, his cocktails are the prettiest things I’ve ever drunk. They are delicately layered and complex in flavor. And they are often so chock full of lovely edible garnish that he had a special bar fork commissioned so you don’t have to miss a single delicious ingredient. He not only sources local melons, stone fruit, citrus, flowers, and herbs; he also works almost exclusively with locally made spirits like Domaine Charbay and Hangar One. Even better, Beattie—who’s about to release his first book on the topic, the gorgeously photographed Artisanal Cocktails: Drinks Inspired by the Seasons from the Bar at Cyrus, November 2008, Tenspeed Press—partners with small-scale local farmers to give them a constant client and Cyrus the fruits (and veggies) that come from practically right outside the door. 

I left Beattie’s seminar feeling simultaneously inspired and depressed—after all, love it though I do, I live in New York where gorgeous citrus doesn’t  grow during the cold winter (or ever, for that matter!) like it does in California, and my time for fresh, greenmarket-inspired anything lasts about six months tops.

Still, that leaves six months to play with local produce, damn-it, and I’m determined to make the most of it. Before my head hit the pillow last night, I read through the latest issue of the locally-minded foodie journal Edible East End and came across an article by editor-in-chief Brian Halweil on using local produce in cocktails. While the cocktails Halweil highlights weren’t the works of art Beattie concocts at Cyrus, the mixes (created by Mike Mraz) were smart, cheeky, and, best of all, based on a broad sweep of summer edibles, from berries to local tomatoes and cucumbers.

I woke up this morning with visions of produce dancing in my head. I got out of bed to let the dog outside and stood pajama-clad in my yard pondering a pot of rosemary, when I remembered a great recipe I saw from the mixologist Nick Mautone for a drink called the Rosemarino. I clipped some of the herb, found an empty jar, and plucked a bottle of vodka from my home bar. A few hours later, and it’s already taken on a gorgeous, pale, pale green hue that is going to make a great pre-dinner sipper for the guests I have coming over Friday night. 

So…what are you going to make this weekend?

—Amy Zavatto