Nettle Shoots

This year I somehow forgot to plant my garden, so right now rhubarb is the only thing I can harvest - strawberries, raspberries and currants will come later along with things I've probably forgotten about.

And as I cut the available rhubarbs the other day - there really wasn't any bounty to be had, at least not any I had planted, but I have plenty of stinging nettles and thought I would utilize those.

Sticking my hand in a plastic bag I picked a good handful of the young, top shoots from not very big nettles.

I poured about 2 dl of gin - Bombay was at hand - over them and let it stand for 45 minutes during which time the gin turned a lovely orange, almost Aperol color (as seen in the picture below).

When the cocktail hour rolled along I was ready to taste my stinging nettle gin in a creation I call Nettle Shoots:

• 4,5 cl stinging nettle gin
• 1,5 cl white creme de cacao
• 1,5 cl yellow Chartreuse
• 1,5 cl lemon juice
• Dash of Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters

Using my new Lewis bag - thank you for saving med the $30-40 getting one shipped to Denmark would have cost me - I stirred my cocktail with lot's of ice and strained it into a cocktail coupe and garnished with a maraschino cherry.

If I may say so - that is one tasty cocktail.