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| O'Keeffe's Jimson Weed/ White Flower No. 1 inspired several of the special cocktails. |
As part of its celebration of the exhibit The Beyond: Georgia O'Keeffe and Contemporary Art, on view through Jan. 20, 2019, North Carolina Museum of Art partnered with restaurants in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham to create cocktails inspired by the artworks in the exhibition.
Here's what this amazing group of bartenders - artists in their own right - came up with and their commentary on their creations, plus recipes so you can celebrate Georgia O'Keeffe at home.
We think these cocktails are (almost) too pretty to drink. But we'll do our best!
Golden Hillsides
bu•ku Raleigh110 E. Davie St., Raleigh, NC
Inspired by Loie Hollowell’s Yellow Mountains
Andrea Chan, bar manager: “Inspired by Loie Hollowell’s Yellow Mountains work of art, this cocktail is influenced by the large regal curves the painting displays that reminds me of the roaring 20’s driving me to use gin as my base spirit and yellow chartreuse to complement the flavor profile of the Cardinal gin. I wanted to use orange and peach as a fruit aspect to the drink to reflect the orange and yellow tones of the painting.”
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| Several of the bartenders found inspiration in Loie Hollowell’s Yellow Mountains, a work inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe. |
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1oz peach-thyme wheat ale syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
3 cups Allagash White beer
3 sprigs Thyme, do not pick leaves
3 oranges, peel only
2 cups white granulated sugar
5 peaches 1/2 tsp Ascorbic acid
For peach-thyme wheat ale syrup: In a sauce pot, combine Allagash white beer, thyme sprigs, orange peel, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Strain Allagash syrup, reserve orange peels, and throw away the thyme sprigs. Let syrup start cooling. Remove pits from peaches and place into blender with ascorbic acid and the cooked orange peels. Blend until smooth, add some syrup to help shear ability. Strain through fine mesh strainer. Combine with the rest of the Allagash syrup, shake and strain, serve up in a coupe glass, garnish with lemon peel.
Georgia O’Peach
bu•ku Wake Forest1228 Heritage Links Dr., Wake Forest
Inspired by Loie Hollowell’s Yellow Mountains
Theo Lentz, bartender: “This cocktail was inspired by the warm hues, as well as the curvaceous figures in Yellow Mountains, which immediately brought peaches to mind. The desert landscape reminded me of the smokiness found in tequila and mezcal. I chose to grill the peaches and brulee the garnish as if it were baked in the hot sun of New Mexico, where most of Georgia O’Keeffe’s famous paintings were inspired.”
3/4 oz tequila
3/4 oz mescal
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz grilled peach puree
1/2 oz vanilla turbinado syrup
One egg white
Vigorously dry shake in a tin without ice. Add ice and shake again. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with bruleed peach slice.
For peach puree: grill 3 peaches until grill marks form then puree.
For turbinado syrup: use equal parts w
ater and turbinado sugar. Add one vanilla bean sliced open and simmer in a pot on medium-high heat until it comes to a boil.
Secret Garden
Crossroads at Carolina Inn211 Pittsboro St., Chapel Hill
Inspired by O'Keeffe's Petunias
Susan Pizzuti, bartender: “Springtime makes me feel like a happy kid, and I wanted to use a cocktail to inspire that whimsical joy in others, so I created The Secret Garden. Named for the classic novel about the magic of nature and childhood, The Secret Garden blooms as elderflower liqueur, fresh lemon juice, and just a few drops of house-made hibiscus syrup complement a delicate, off-dry Rosé vodka. I garnish the cocktail with fresh, edible flowers and always make sure to remind folks that if they haven’t eaten a flower since preschool, now is the time. I want people to sip this drink and remember the delight of climbing fragrant Magnolia trees or the careless joy of playing tag near thorny rosebushes. I hope those who order it on a dreary January day feel, for a moment, like they’re daydreaming in a sunny garden.”
2 oz Three Olives Rose Vodka
3/4 oz St. Germain
1/4 oz fresh lemon juice
4 drops hibiscus syrup
Edible flowers
Combine all ingredients besides garnish into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with fresh edible flowers.
Black Iris
The Crunkleton320 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill
Inspired by O'Keeffe's Petunias
Colin Williams, bartender: "The Black Iris, a layered painting of Georgia O'Keeffe's, follows in her pattern of enlarged depictions of flowers and petals. With this cocktail, I hope to mirror the complexity and beauty of the original painting. In it's most simplified form, this is a riff on an Aviation, a classic gin cocktail that exudes class and elegance in a bygone era. With a black sesame syrup and Creme de Violette, this cocktail has the seductive floral accents needed to stand up to the brightness of the gin and fresh lemon."
1 oz London Dry Gin
1/2 oz Spanish Gin
1 oz Lemon
1/2 oz Black sesame syrup
1/4 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1/8 oz Creme de Violette
Combine ingredients in shaker with ice and shake well for ten seconds. Double strain into Nick and Nora glass and garnish with rose petal and drop of creme de Violette.
Yellow Valley
Hummingbird1053 E Whitaker Mill Rd, Suite 111, Raleigh
Inspired by Yellow Mountains
Coleen Speaks, bartender: “This cocktail is inspired by Yellow Mountains by Louie Hollowell included in the The Beyond: Georgia O’Keeffe and Contemporary Art. The combination of Reposado tequila, Amontillado sherry, elderflower, agave and grapefruit oils creates an incredibly well-balanced sipper with nutty, floral, and vanilla flavors. Visually, the deep yellow color reflects the yellow mountains in the painting, and the blue space in the middle of the piece – the “valley,” if you will – relates back to the shape of the coup glass the cocktail is served in, and was the inspiration for the drink’s name.”
1 1/2 oz Reposado tequila
1 oz Amontillado sherry
1/2 5 oz St. Elder Liqueur
1 barspoon agave nectar
Grapefruit Peel
Stir all ingredients together with ice, pour into chilled coupe. Express oils on top from grapefruit peel. Garnish with Nasturtium or other edible flower.
Mount Song
Jack Tar & The Colonel’s Daughter202 Cochran St.
Inspired by Yellow Mountains
Justin Sykes, bartender: “Working with the color pallet of Yellow Mountains, and the painting's art deco feel, the drink’s name references one of China's most dramatic peaks. Located in the Yellow Mountain range, it is the birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism and the Shaolin Temple.”
1 1/2oz Vida Mezcal
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz Damn Fine Coffee Liqueur
Add Vida, Benedictine, chartreuse and lemon to a shaker, fill with ice, stir, pour into coupe glass. Sink coffee liqueur.
Garden of Jimson
The Katharine Brasserie & Bar401 N. Main St., Winston-Salem
Inspired by O'Keeffe's Jimson Weed
Levi Fryer, bartender: "'When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment,' Georgia O'Keeffe once said. ‘I want to give that world to someone else.’ I chose the Jimson Weed painting for multiple reasons. O’Keeffe’s arrangement of the flower showcases the unfurling beauty and soft breeze ruffling the petals. The flower grew close to her New Mexico home, which in turn reminds me of the dogwood, our own state flower of North Carolina. The bloom of dogwood and smell thru the fall is what I imagine O'Keeffe experienced in her garden.”
1 1/2 oz Sutler's Gin (local to Winston-Salem)
½ oz hibiscus syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz egg whites
Lillet Rosé to float
Dogwood tree flower
Combine gin, hibiscus syrup, lemon, and egg whites in shaking vessel. Shake vigorously until creamy. Pour contents into small side of shaking container. Dump ice. Prepare dogwood flower inside of large coup. Leave at least 1/2 inch of stem to assure flowers placement. Shake cocktail dry in vessel for 8 seconds. Slowly pour contents into glass around flowers. Gently top with Lillet Rose.
The Sand Hills
Littler110 E. Parrish St., Durham
Inspired by O'Keeffe's Small Purple Hills
Michael Kilbridge, bartender: “Small Purple Hills immediately reminded us of the classic blood and sand cocktail. This is our play on it, with a wink to the Pacific Northwest through the rainier cherries, and a double wink to our North Carolina sand hills home, an ancient beach.”
1 oz Ardbeg 10 Scotch
1 oz Auchentoshen Scotch
1 oz Antica Vermouth
1/4 oz luxardo
1/2 oz cherry syrup
1/2 oz blood orange puree
Brandied rainier cherry
Orange peel
Add all ingredients to a shaker glass with ice. Shake and double strain into a coupe. Garnish with a brandied rainier cherry and orange peel.
Datura
Mandolin2519 Fairview Rd., Raleigh
Inspired by Jimson Weed
Peter Marin, bardtender: “Georgia O’Keefe’s subject matter focused largely on local flora and the landscape, including Jimson weed, Datura stramonium, which grew new her studio and she painted often. In 1932, she was commissioned to make Jimson Weed which became the most expensive painting made by a woman to sell at auction. Datura stramonium is a psychotropic plant. It can be lethal, too. This cocktail explores the botanical nature of the desert with the use of succulents, the white/green color palette, and touches upon the simplicity of form to create its presentation. Mezcal reinforces this botanical narrative, since it is produced from a succulent as well, and peach vodka hints at the iconic fruits of the South East. The cocktail has a fresh, linear profile with hints of smoke and peach. Slight lemon adds the acidity to balance this refreshing, minimal and nuanced cocktail.”
1 1/2 oz Skyy Peach vodka
1/2 oz Vida mescal
1 oz aloe juice
3/4 oz St. Germain
1/2 oz lemon juice
3 dashes Crude bitters grapefruit/peppercorn
Mandolin Farm egg white
Mix all ingredients. Dry shake to emulsify. Add 4 ounces of crushed ice. Shake vigorously. Double strain into coupe. Add aloe garnish.
The Beyond
North Carolina Museum of Art’s Iris after Dark at Iris Restaurant2110 Blue Ridge Rd., Raleigh
Inspired by Petunias
Head Barista Steph Caronna and Food Service Operations Business Manager Rachel Siegel: “Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Petunias, we riffed on a Tom Collins to create 'The Beyond.' We partnered with Durham Distillery, choosing Conniption Gin as the drink's base. Adding sweet lavender syrup gave the Collins a burst of purple, connecting the cocktail to the painting. The tart lemon juice and tangy ginger ale balances out the drink for a refreshing treat. Georgia O’Keeffe’s takes on floral paintings and landscapes are iconic. Just as she took beloved genres of paintings and made them her own, we’ve done the same with our take on a classic Tom Collins to create 'The Beyond.' Visitors can enjoy this cocktail during Iris after Dark, each Friday evening from 5:30 to 8:30 pm in West Building.”
1 1/2 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz homemade lavender syrup
Ginger ale
Garnish: lemon slice or lavender sprigs
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| The rich colors of O’Keeffe’s Petunias found favor with several bartenders. |
Fill a rocks glass with ice. Pour in gin, then lemon juice, then lavender syrup. Top with ginger ale. Garnish with slice of lemon.
Lavender Syrup: ¼ cup dried lavender; ½ cup sugar; ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons water
1. In a small sauce pan, add ½ cup water and lavender. Bring to a boil.
2. Simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 20 minutes. Strain and
discard flowers, leaving a lavender liquid.
3. In a separate saucepan, add sugar and 3 Tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil, stirring until
sugar dissolves.
4. Simmer for 4-5 minutes and then stir in the lavender liquid. Whisk until combined.
5. Remove from heat and transfer to storage container until ready to use.
Sedano Fiore
105 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham
Inspired by Jimson Weed
Joey Allabach, bartender: “This drink was inspired by Jimson Weed.
We knew the simplicity of the subject matter, the colors and the one,
centric flower would translate beautifully into a cocktail. We just love
this drink. Beautiful color and balance, almost as pretty as the
painting itself.”
2 oz Uncle Vals Botanical Gin
1/2 oz celery/pepper juice (blend, run through cheese cloth)
1/2 oz celery/pepper juice (blend, run through cheese cloth)
Capful Chartreuse
Capful of Luxardo
1 oz lime juice
One pretty, edible flower of your choosing
Build in shaker over ice, stir, strain in martini glass, add flower.
Petunia de Santiago
2130 Clark Ave., Raleigh
Inspired by Petunias
Beverage Director Tolson Kenney: “Georgia O’Keeffe’s Petunias piece stood out to me mostly because I really enjoy natural colors of
flowers and foliage. Growing up with a big horticulture background, it’s only natural that I love
flowers. Contrasting shades of purple brought many flowers to mind, daisies, hibiscus, and lavender.
This cocktail focuses on wonderful purple flowers while also embracing acidity, sweetness, and some
herbal notes.”
2 oz white rum
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz hibiscus simple syrup
1/4 oz yellow chartreuse
1/8 oz Tazo ‘Passion’ Tea with
Lavender
Crude ‘Bitterless Marriage’ Bitters
Combine ingredients.
Short shake
(about 7 seconds) with a small
amount of ice. Double strain into
chilled coupe glass. Garnish with
dried rose petals.
