The Valley Grrrl

This lightweight-cheapdate-Pandora-cocktail employs the remaining essence of late Spring Lilies of the Valley. No longer fragrant for your bouquets, late Spring lilies of the Valley still got plenty of plant spirit mojo left in their delicate little blossoms. Valley Grrrl utilizes contrary flavors in a creative blend of opposing philosophical viewpoints. Peppermint Schnapps, Tazo Passion and Tazo Chamomile Calm tea show up to the debate, with a peanut gallery of wild blueberries and Mathilde Raspberry Framboise as the impartial mediator.

If you enjoy crisp mouthwash kisses, you'll love my Kitchen Nightmares-ready lovejoy. Meet The Valley Grrrl: part riot grrrl, part valley mall rat. A walking contradiction. Almost a Cosmo, not quite Sangria.

Move over highly trained mixologists with delicate palates, this herbalist-shaman is in wild-cocktail-making mode.


This is how I made it: (The safety of Lilies of the Valley is now questioned. It has been used as a cardiac tonic in Europe for thousands of years prior. Those crazy monks...)

1). First, I brewed my Passion-Calm Tazo sun-tea. (See earlier brewing instructions, and refrigerate tea over night.)

2). Next, I picked 2 cups of fresh Lilies of the Valley, and trimmed the sprigs to cut excess stems. I added these flowers to a mad-scientist beaker, poured in two shots of peppermint Schnaps, covered with a lid and shook for 20 seconds.

3). I strained the Lilies of the Valley through a cheesecloth. Added one flower-essence-imbued shot to each of two wine glasses.

4). Added a tablespoon of frozen blueberries to each glass. Poured 6 oz of chilled Passion-Calm Sun-Tea into each glass. Added 1/2 ounce Raspberry Framboise.

5). Couldn't resist the flapper headdresses! Sliced one orange. Added one orange slice to each glass and garnished with a slice of ripe pear and a sprig of Lilies.

For an alcohol-free version, add pear-juice or sliced ripe pears sliced to your glass for a sweet drink. Alternatively, brew a decoction of ginseng. (Do not use ginseng unless you have high blood pressure or blood sugar. Boil 2 ounces of ginseng root and 2 ounces of cut and sifted muira puama for 30 minutes on low heat in a covered pot with 4 cups of pear juice. Cool decoction-syrup until room temperature. Use this syrup instead of Peppermint-flavored Schnapps in the above recipe.