Cool Off With a Bird-Inspired Cocktail
What better way to celebrate summer than with a drink that helps raise awareness for threatened birds?
Fancy summer cocktails—with their array of colors and elaborate garnishes—frequently resemble the birds that we at Audubon love and strive to protect.
And now that the season for outdoor imbibing is upon us, we couldn’t help ourselves. We had to come up with our very own selection of avian-inspired drinks. These three cocktails—the American Redstart, the Purple Finch, and the Roseate Spoonbill—all represent bird species that, according to Audubon research, are climate-threatened.
Learn more about the threat these birds face at climate.audubon.org, and sign up to join our climate community to learn how you can help.
In the meantime, don’t let the bird (or the drink) go extinct. Set up a bird bar in your home and get mixing.
The American Redstart
2 oz Leblon Cachaça
2 mashed blackberries
1 oz of ginger simple syrup
0.5 oz of fresh lime juice
Mix together, and serve on the rocks with rosemary garnish in a Collins mason jar.
— Created by Roni Hickerson, Harlem Public, New York City
The Roseate Spoonbill
2 parts silver tequila
2 parts Aperol
3 parts grapefruit juice
Shake with ice, pour into a martini glass, and top with 1 part seltzer and 3 drops Angostura bitters
— Created by Liza Schoenfein
The Purple Finch
Muddle one strawberry and a few basil leaves.
Add 2 oz vodka of your choice, 3/4 oz of fresh lemon juice, 3/4 oz honey syrup.
Shake with ice.
Spray fresh glass of ice with Pastis, then pour the cocktail over the ice.
Top with soda water and garnish with a sprig of basil.
— Created by Charlie Dargan, Hogshead Tavern, New York City