Today's drink is appropriately Christmasy, and comes to us from across the Bay at Revival Bar + Kitchen (2102 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley), which is the new venture by Amy Murray, chef-owner of Venus. Says Murray, "We've been developing this neat drink with cranberries, that is perfect for the holidays.
It came out of my "cheffing" with the seasons philosophy, which started back in '94.
Every Thanksgiving I would stare at the cranberries and wonder what else could be made
from them...beyond cranberry sauce? I'm not a fan of cranberry juice, as it is a processed liquid more than a 'fresh squeezed' nectar. At Venus we don't have a full bar, and thus I was driven to create libations from interesting fruit and herb bases, with my alcoholic mixers being limited to shochu, Lillet, port, wine, etc. Now that I have a full liquor license at Revival Bar+Kitchen, plus an awesome cocktail consultant — Corey Harrison, who is the barman at Quince, and quite the wizard with booze — he and I bounce ideas back and forth. I made him a batch of cranberry-satsuma-thyme syrup, and it inspired him to make this holiday cranberry shrub. We chose to name it in the "shrub" category because of its colonial roots, and the coincidental fact that the cranberry bush is a shrub. Plus, we're in this old-timey 1901 building, so we like connecting story to our ideas."