What to Drink While Viewing the Jeff Sessions Testimony? Start with an Alabama Slammer!

Washington has become a kind of running reality show or a series … It’s all too Game of Thrones.

While today’s testimony from the Attorney General Jeff Sessions, may not have the celebrity accorded to last week’s James Comey media event and it’s party-like halo that prompted me to write a pertinent post about Cofveve Cocktails - today is still a must-see TV day to watch or listen -- to the proceedings.

You can watch or listen today as Sessions testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee at 2:30 ET on all major media, including PBS.

Because Mr. Sessions hails from the Camellia state or the Yellowhammer state (so named for the state bird, a type of woodpecker), an Alabama Slammer seems most appropriate.

The Alabama Slammer’s history stems from the 1970s and was developed near the University of Alabama to celebrate the Crimson Tide.

The Alabama Slammer is a cocktail made with amaretto - this is key, Southern Comfort, sloe gin, and orange juice. It is served in a Collins glass. It is also sometimes known as a Southern Slammer. This is a sweet, fruity drink.

And Mr. Sessions is hoping he doesn’t end up in the slammer! See, you can have some fun with this…



Ingredients:

3/4 oz Sloe Gin, 3/4 oz Southern Comfort, 3/4 oz Amaretto, Orange juice

Method:

Pour Amaretto, sloe gin, and Southern Comfort into glass of ice. Fill with orange juice and stir.

Serve, on the rocks; poured over ice into a Tom Collins glass.

Garnish:

Maraschino Cherry, slice of Orange, or Lemon Wheel -- or all three!

You can substitute Jack Daniels for Southern Comfort and add in lime or lemon, and add Grenadine -- the main point is to make you see Red!
(In keeping with all the fury on both sides of the issue…. Ha!) 

How about watching the news with a new drink: The Recuser?!





This cocktail is from my upcoming book, Finishing Touches the Art of Garnishing the Cocktail - and it’s called the Mediterranean “Sunrise” in the book. But I thought it looks a bit like the Slammer. And besides, it’s delicious.

Ingredients:

1 jigger ouzo

1 jigger tequila

8-12 ounces orange (or other fruit juice)

A few dashes of peach bitters or grenadine

Method:

Pour the juice into a tall glass over ice, top with the liquor so they float like some drifting iridescent Aegean sea plankton, followed by the bitters.

Garnish:

With speared fruit wedges and a red swizzle licorice stick! The licorice flavor complements ouzo’s anise for a pretty and fun presentation. Place the licorice swizzle sticks in a red glass for a shot of color to boost the cocktail composition, adding red and white or blue and white striped cocktail napkins. Stretches the American-ness of the proceedings, don’t you think?

Try ouzo with Kahlua for a wicked take on a “Fireball.”

Need a drink to celebrate bailing out the boat? Then there’s the Dark & Stormy made with dark rum and ginger beer - I very much like the Gosling’s brand of ginger beer.


And because all this hubbub is supposed to be about Russian spying or interference, after all, you can always soothe your anxieties with the classic cocktails: White or Black Russian (I’m calling this one, Glasnost). They are easy to make, quite luxurious and offer a lot of comfort. Interestingly, the White Russian made its way West in the 1930s with the proliferation of vodka’s appeal; the Black “Glasnost” sibling didn’t follow until 1949. Can’t go wrong with either drink.

White Russian

Ingredients:

2/3 oz (2 parts) Coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua or --

1 2/3 oz (5 parts) Vodka - I suggest Royal Elite, or LIV , Tito's or Belvedere. I sampled the handcrafted 1857 Vodka last week at the Greenmarket - bought a bottle, too. But it doesn’t taste good… has a kind of cosmetic aftertaste that took over a martini - disrupting a prime feature of vodka - meaning it plays well with other flavors. Try the recommended vodkas - you won’t be disappointed.

1 oz (3 parts) Fresh cream or milk

Method:

Pour coffee liqueur and vodka into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice. Pour the mix and float fresh cream -- or milk - on top and stir slowly. You can do this layering using the back of a spoon over the drink and slowly pouring the cream over the “sled” of the spoon.

Garnish:

What could be better than whipped cream? Well, topping the froth with fresh, shaved chocolate! Or a toasted marshmallow!








Black Russian or Glasnost

Ingredients:

⅔ ounces or 2 parts Coffee liqueur - Kahlua or… 1 ⅔ (5 parts) vodka (see above recommendations)

Method:

Mix the ingredients into an old-fashioned glass, poured over ice cubes

Pour the ingredients into an old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes. Stir gently.

You can also add a splash of cola - to make it a kind of

Garnish:

Maraschino Cherry skewered on a diamond hat pin or similar-looking Shashka Sabre!

Cheers! 

Ultimate Cocktail Recipes & Food Pairings to Mark James Comey's Senate Testimony Media Viewing: Covfefe Cocktails!

No matter one’s politics - there’s no denying that today’s drama surrounding the the former director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey Testimony is a media event rivaling anything a former media star might have dreamed up. This is like a reality show - or a spy novel in the John le Carré tradition.

Adding to the serious gravitas this investigation deserves - there is an undeniable American entertainment spectacle that has blossomed around this surreal state of affairs of late.

I’ve read of D.C. bars that are offering special cocktails made with Russian vodka - and free cocktails every time the president tweets about the proceedings. Oh what a holy series of Lemony Snickets... Here’s a quote for you from just such a take on the Absurdity of the Human Experience:

“They didn’t understand it, but like so many unfortunate events in life, just because you don’t understand doesn’t mean it isn’t so.” or “The best way to keep a secret is to tell it to everyone you know, but pretend you are kidding.”

Kidding aside - I’m offering up a series of cocktails today - to help you embrace and remember this auspicious day in American history. We’ll get through this. Stay calm - and carry on. Wait - who says that?!

I’ll start with a few cocktails here - and update as the day unfolds. Covfefe Cocktail Cheers!

Heart of Gold

I chose this cocktail from my soon to be released cocktail book: Finishing Touches: The Art of Garnishing the Cocktail.

The gold glitter seems fitting for such a sparkly kind of media star event we’re witnessing. The pretzels can help keep you nourished! And the gold jewelry pin gilds the gold “star” quality of the garnish. Plus, if things get dodgy - that pin can come can come to a defense - or employed as a rapier!




Ingredients

2 jiggers Goldschlager - German Cinnamon Schnapps Liqueur

3-4 jiggers cold Ginger Beer - homemade or hand-crafted artisanal, such as Reed’s: sparkling, filtered water sweetened by a blend of cane sugar, pineapple juice, honey, fresh ginger root, lemon & lime juices and spices.

The cinnamon of the schnapps harmonizes with the spices in the ginger beer.

2-3 dashes Cherry Bitters - Fee Brothers

Method

Put ice cubes in goblet

Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker

Remove ice from goblet. Pour strained cocktail into iced goblet glass.

Garnish with crystallized ginger - highlights ginger beer/ginger root ingredients (or maraschino or orange rind studded with cloves) clipped on with gold jewelry pins.

Can also pour cocktail into old-fashioned glasses with ice and garnish

Posh Pretzels & Piglets

Serve with classic cocktail party, German hot dog-inspired favorites: pigs in a blanket, artisanal pretzels and hearty mustard.

Galaxy Negroni Sbagliato

Keeping with the sparkly theme this morning, this negroni recipe includes edible silver glitter! I tasted this at the Negroni Week kickoff at Monday’s rooftop event and it is spectacularly delicious and refreshing. Imbibing during the testimony can bring a smile - albeit a tight one - but the sparkling water adds to a sense of celebration. After all, we live in a democracy where all this can take place.

Created by Naren Young, Dante (NYC)

1 oz. Campari

1 oz. Cinzano 1757

Cinzano Prosecco to top

Pour Campari and Cinzano 1757 over ice in a collins glass that has been sprayed with a chamomile tincture. Add 3 dashes of chamomile tincture and a pinch of edible silver glitter. Top with Prosecco.



Photo courtesy Campari



Bloody Beef Stew: 

Tom Sebazco, Bartender/Entrepreneur, Fitzgerald’s Pub, NYC

Every morning event can be enhanced with a Bloody Mary -- or a Bull Shot.


Photo courtesy of Tom Sebazco

Ingredients

2 ounce vodka, recommend a potato vodka: LiV, an artisan distilled craft vodka from Long Island, or for today: Russian vodka!

2 ounce tomato juice, preferably fresh-made from locally-grown tomatoes, cooked for 30 minutes, cool - seeds removed via food mill and blended.

Lemon juice (1/4 lemon)

Worcestershire sauce (dash)

Tabasco sauce (splash)

Salt (1/4 teaspoon or to taste)

Fresh cracked pepper (¼ teaspoon or to taste)

Method

Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker, shake hard, pour over ice in 16 ounce pilsner glass - without curves.

Garnish

Salt rim on a pint/pilsner glass.

Float 1 ounce sirloin Au Jus on top of drink

Skewer cocktail pick with cooked sirloin beef chip; add on the same pick or additional cocktail pick: cut cubes of celery, baby carrots, pearl onion, baby potato and a lemon twist

Food Pairing & Cocktail Composition

Serve the muscular Bloody Beef Stew with potato latkes, Greek yogurt or sour cream, topped with caviar dollop along with a side serving topping of chunky, homemade applesauce & quince & apple or pear preserves with dried figs.

Serve mini or petite potatoes filled with creme fraiche and caviar.

Potato latkes can be secured from a local gourmet food store, a prepared mix or made from any number of recipes.

Make the serving-sized mini potatoes by boiling the potatoes until semi soft - approximately 8-10 minutes. Scoop out the centers. (Use in other recipes).

Using a pastry bag/pouch to fill the petite potatoes with piped creme fraiche. 

Top with dollop of caviar.

Serve the latkes and petite potatoes hot or cold, on silver trays. There is a plethora of faux silver party platters of all sizes available at local party store sources to add a touch of elegance to most every composition.

Bull Shot




Ingredients

(for one drink)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
Tomato balsamic sea salt from Keith Luce NoFo Kitchen - or local sea salt

Fresh, ground black pepper

2 dash Black Walnut Bitters

1/4 cup vodka
3/4 cup chilled double-rich, double-strength beef broth or beef bouillon

Method

Mix all ingredients together - shake. Pour over flavored ice cubes and serve in an old fashion glass. Bull Shots can be served hot in glass mugs, too.

Ice cubes - to make the seasoned ice cubes, puree celery, fennel, add Sazon - or spice of choice - with a few drops fresh lemon juice and seasoned salt - I used tomato salt. Freeze in cube trays.

Garnish

Lemon or lime wedge on edge of glass, with celery and fennel tops from the ice recipe.

2 pinch Sazon - Annatto Sazon dusted on top of drink

Food Pairing with Bullshot Brunch

Hard boiled eggs with a swoosh of Thai chili aioli.

Dust with Sazon spice powder -- Sazon is a mix of garlic, cumin, and has a slightly peppery with hint of nutty nutmeg taste.
Annatto and its “color of fire” was once used to control fevers, dysentery and kidney disease - so ideal for what ails you the morning after - or as a wake up drink.

From the Cabot Creamery cookbook - the valentine-red peppers stuffed with eggs and cheese heart Cabot “is a cooperative of 1,200 dairy farm families located throughout New York and New England. It’s

Add a mint julep / love cup filled with fresh crudite: carrots, celery, peppers.

Melba toast points or blue corn chips offer a crunchy, somewhat salty, balance.




Cocktail Composition

The Bullshot and its decorative ice cubes make a handsome display, along with the colorful food pairings. Add some eye-catching straws and cocktail stirrers and napkins, plated with a variety of colorful peppers.

Garden to Glass Spring Cocktail Recipes

Garden to Glass Cocktails 

Cherry Blossom Cocktail

This recipe is from a vintage 1952 Japanese pocket-sized recipe book I inherited when the couple we purchased our country house from left it behind the bar. The recipes are printed in both English and Japanese Kanji. The Bartender's Guide to the Best Mixed Drinks, by “Kappa” Kasuga Boeki KK, Tokyo, Japan, and distributed by Charles E. Tuttle Co.

After some sleuthing, I found out Mr. Tuttle was one of the great characters of the international book trade. Stationed in Japan during the occupation, he was a scholar of American and Japanese literature, a successful businessman, and husband to Reiko Chiba, a beautiful woman from the wealthy, Japanese Hokkaido family, who he married right after World War II. Tuttle was also known to be a prodigious drinker and it is written he “was not infrequently tossed out of, and off, bars and restaurants, golf courses and tennis courts, on six continents - unabashedly, and not without some élan.”

My own experience with all things Japanese has been much more artful - though while visiting Japan on numerous business trips, we did enjoy a fair share of spirits – usually sake. Over the years, I toured throughout many beautiful regions in Japan visiting gardens and shrines – the clouds even parted as we traveled past the venerable Mt. Fuji. Later, working at New York’s best botanical gardens, I celebrated the spring season of Hanami, brimming with the ephemeral beauty of the sakura matsuri culture.





Ingredients:

1 oz. Cherry Brandy

1 oz. Brandy

¼ Teaspoon Curacao

¼ Teaspoon Lemon Juice

¼ Teaspoon Grenadine


Method:

Shake Well with Cracked Ice (sic) and strain into 3 oz. Cocktail Glass


Sakura Garnish:

No garnish is noted in the vintage cocktail recipe. Perhaps such accessories so soon after a tragic war were too luxurious and frivolous. In fact the entire Bartender’s Guide offers virtually no garnish suggestion.  Today, we use fresh cherry blossoms as garnish.

Wrap a pickled cherry blossom in its own leaf, spear onto a cocktail pick with a cleaned lime rind “knot” at the far end. The cherry blossom and leaf can be eaten.

Cocktail Composition and Food Pairing

Serve with pretty green matcha tea bean cakes and wagashi, the traditional Japanese sweet that is made in a breathtaking variety of decorated confections.




Or make some sakura cookies.

Add simple cotton cocktail napkins.

Decorate the setting with cherry blossoms placed in sake pitchers or the organic stoneware or earthenware vases. Throughout the tablescape, sprinkle pretty pink cherry blossoms -- referred to as “pink snow” and is believed to bring good luck.

Sakura cherry blossoms are one of the best-known symbols of Japan. Sakura are not only beautiful, but they also have a subtle flowery or nutty flavor. Sakura flowers are used as a decoration for sweets or are cooked and served with rice. You can eat the blossoms and the leaves, pickling them in salt and umeboshi vinegar

The sakura leaves have the most intense aroma and are used therefore used as powder or as a whole to enhance the flavor of cookies or Japanese style sweets.

KOSAKA

Keeping with the Hanami and cherry blossom viewing seasonal experiences, I just got word from my dear friend, the talented artist and horticulturist, EunYoung Sebazco, KOSAKA Art Curator, that the exquisite restaurant is celebrating the Cherry Blossom Season with Japanese culinary culture.

Please join KOSAKA’s exclusive master sushi chef Yoshihiko Kousaka in a special event on 30th April. The seats are very limited, please reserve your tickets at Eventbrite. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chirashi-sushi-making-tasting-tickets-33729776670

Chef Yoshihiro Kousaka is as an exclusive master sushi chef at KOSAKA will host an exclusive Japanese culinary experience in this Hanami season at KOSAKA.

The guests will learn how to make colorful Chirashi Sushi from fresh ingredients.

Photo courtesy: KOSAKA

At the end, the guests will be seated and tasted. Chirashi Sushi will be paired with sakes which is specially selected by KOSAKA sake sommelier.

Kanpai!

More Garden to Glass Cocktails

Photo courtesy of Conor Harrigan

Bittersweet Boba - Created by Pamela Wiznitzer, Seamstress

Ingredients:

.5 oz Campari

2.5 oz Strong Brewed Black Tea

1 oz Milk

1 oz Vanilla Syrup

.5 oz Grand Marnier

Campari-infused Tapioca Boba*

Edible Red Glitter for glass rim (Try Disco Dust from NY Cake)

Method:

Rim glass with edible red glitter and fill with Campari-infused boba. Shake all ingredients and strain over the boba.

*Campari-infused Tapioca Boba

Purchase plain boba (available online or at specialty grocery stores) and boil for about 30 minutes. Drain boba from pot and let steep in a mixture of 1 cup Campari and 1/3 cup sugar.





Photo courtesy of Montelobos Mezcal


Smoking Rose Paloma - Recipe by Ashley Conway

Ingredients:

5 parts Q Drinks Grapefruit Soda

2 parts Montelobos Mezcal

¾ part fresh lime juice

½ part rose simple syrup

For the flower ice: Fill a glass 1/4 the way full with water. Add rose petals. Prop on it’s side in the freezer, making sure it doesn’t spill. Let freeze completely before using. This is an optional step, if you are looking to make a drink ASAP, just add regular ice to the glass. But if you do take the time for this step, it makes one pretty cocktail!

Method:

Add all liquid ingredients except Q Drinks Grapefruit Soda into a shaker. Shake well to help dilute the cocktail a bit since the ice in the glass won’t melt as fast. Remove the glass from the freezer. Strain into the glass. Top with the Grapefruit Soda and stir. Garnish with grapefruit slice.

Photo courtesy of Nolet's 

NOLET’S Silver Basil Smash

Ingredients:

2 oz. NOLET'S Silver Gin


12 Fresh Basil Leaves


0.75 oz. Lemon Juice


0.33 oz. Simple Syrup

Method:

Muddle basil leaves with simple syrup and lemon juice in a mixing tin. Add NOLET'S Silver, ice and shake well. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass.

Garnish:

Perch a homegrown or market-fresh washed basil leaf and lemon wedge. You can insert the basil stem into the wedge or position the stem side down and leave up so that every sip imparts the aromatic, garden-to-glass bliss.




Photo courtesy of Reyka

Reyka Southside

Ingredients:

2 parts Reyka vodka

1 part fresh lime juice

¾ part simple syrup (1:1)

4-6 Mint leaves

Method:

Combine all ingredients together in cocktail shaker and double strain and garnish with mint leaves.

Reyka Vodka is an Icelandic born vodka and provides a smooth and crisp base for both complex and simple cocktails.




Photo courtesy of Sailor Jerry


Sailor Jerry Ginger Apple Cooler

Ingredients:

1 part Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

½ part ginger syrup

¾ part apple juice

¼ part fresh lemon juice

1 ½ parts Q Club Soda

Method:

In empty mixing glass, measure Sailor Jerry. Add ginger syrup, apple juice and fresh lemon juice. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into chilled highball glass and fill with ice. Top with soda water and garnish with candied ginger.

Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is a Caribbean Rum blended with 100% natural spices and flavors.





Photo courtesy of Ancho Reyes

Ancho Verde Margarita

Ingredients:

1 part Milagro Silver Tequila

1 part Ancho Reyes Verde

1 part Fresh Lime Juice

1/3 part Agave Nectar

Method:

Add all ingredients to a shaker, add ice, shake hard and strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass with half its rim salted. Garnish with a lime wheel.





Photo courtesy Montelobos Mezcal

Dances With the Wolves

Ingredients:

2 parts Montelobos Mezcal

1 part Lime juice

¾ part Pineapple gum

2 parts Sparkling water

Dehydrated pineapple slice and hoja santa leaf for garnish


Method:

Combine ingredients in a shaker and shake. Strain over fresh ice cubes in a stemless wineglass. Top with soda. Garnish with pineapple slice and hoja santa leaf





Photo courtesy of Drambuie


Drambuie’s Frozen Sangria

Ingredients:

3 parts Drambuie

1 ½ parts Q Soda

1 part Triple sec

1 Cup White Wine (Chardonnay is perfect)

1 part OJ

1 part Fresh Lime Juice

1 part Honey

2 cups Frozen Berries

10 Dashes Cherry Bitters

Method:

Add all Ingredients to a Blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with skewered berries with basil sprig.

Drambuie is made from a delightful combination of scotch whisky, heather honey, herbs and spices.





Photo courtesy of Q Soda


Blood Orange Soda by Colleen Jeffers

1 part syrup*

5 parts Q Club Soda

Lime

Rub the inside of the glass with whatever herb you have on hand such as mint. Combine ingredient and stir. Finish with a hearty squeeze of fresh lime

*Syrup Recipe: Equal parts squeezed/strained blood orange juice with sugar in a blender. Blend on high just until combined.





Photo courtesy of Hudson Whiskey


New York Manhattan

Ingredients:

2 parts Hudson Whiskey Manhattan Rye

¾ part Sweet Vermouth

1 dash each of aromatic and orange bitters

Method:

Add ingredients to a mixing glass and stir (don’t shake!) until well-chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass. Peel a silver dollar-sized twist of orange peel and express oils from the twist onto the surface of the drink and discard. Garnish with a cocktail cherry or two.

Hudson Whiskey, the first legal pot-stilled whiskey distilled in New York state since prohibition, sources 90% of its grains from within 40 miles of the distillery.




Photo courtesy of Drambuie


Honey Sour

Ingredients:

1 ½ parts Drambuie

¾ parts Monkey Shoulder

¾ part Lemon Juice

3 slices Ginger

Egg White

Method:

Muddle Ginger with Drambuie, then add the other ingredients. Dry shake, then add ice and shake again. Fine strain out the ginger and garnish with Angostura bitters

A riff on the popular Sour and the oft-copied neo-classic Penicillin, Drambuie’s honey & spices complement the silky mouth feel from the egg white.


Rider + National Sawdust

Under-the-radar Williamsburg gem National Sawdust is an artist-led non-profit venue that attracts and fosters emerging talent like violinist and violist Miranda Cuckson and Icelandic quartet The Nordic Affect. Designed by Bureau V, the stunning space shares a building and a mutually supportive relationship with Rider, a contemporary American bistro dishing up globally-inspired cuisine and laid-back sophistication under the helm of James Beard Award-winning Chef Patrick Connolly.

Both a destination eatery and a neighborhood favorite, Rider serves elevated concessions to concertgoers--think duck confit wrapped in chard, fried chicken nuggets with whole grain mustard and griddled mortadella--and stays open late for those hungry for more. Guests are welcome to pop in before or after a show for a dinner off Rider’s dynamic and tightly curated menu, plus a full bar program with cocktails like the Mister Rogers Flavorhood, made with vodka, hibiscus syrup, all-spice dram and lemon.

Cheers!



Dinner at Rider - photo courtesy of Rider


Brooklyn Bazaar

Located in Greenpoint’s land-marked Polonaise building, Brooklyn Bazaar wears an array of hats from weekend flea market, karaoke bar and arcade to comedy stage and live music venue with headliners like Black Marble and Princess Nokia. It’s also home to a busy outpost by well-loved Williamsburg restaurant The Brooklyn Star, so patrons can pair their punk rock and ping pong games with Texas-style Chicken & Waffles, Catfish and Grits or Crispy Brussels Sprouts and wash it all down with a Kelvin Slush Guava Margarita.

Baby’s All Right

Everybody’s favorite indie haunt, Baby’s All Right keeps South Williamsburg energized with frequent live sets by underground favorites like Chairlift and Monogold and themed DJ nights like Drake Night. The venue’s attached restaurant keeps music lovers and barflys well-fed with an eclectic menu full of dishes that crisscross the globe, from The Risky Chicken, a Thai fried chicken and papaya salad, to Swagoo Poutine, a Green-Curry Fried Rice Burrito and a classic mushroom burger.

Award-Winning Plant-a-Bar Celebrates Garden-to-Glass Cocktail Culture

If there was ever a product that so directly appeals to my twin passions of homegrown garden art and cocktail culture - it’s this snazzy number - an award-winning bar cum herb planter! As soon as I received this news I knew I had to share with you. It’s perfect for a true “Garden-to-Glass” cocktail experience. Order now for spring - just in time for the launch of my next book, Finishing Touches: The Art of Garnishing the Cocktail  So Cheers! To the garden creatives that dreamed up this cutie pie. I might get two and arrange them as mirror decor - across from one another -- with garden and bar accessories framing the bar decor. Gardener’s Supply Company is being honored with a national, “Green Thumb,” award by the Direct Gardener’s Association for its innovative new product, “Plant-A-Bar.” Plant-a-Bar, one of only five winners, is an elevated cedar planter box with an integrated bar shelf so you can grow herbs for your favorite cocktails and then harvest a fresh sprig as you relax at the bar. The DGA Green Thumb Awards recognize outstanding new garden products available by mail or online. The awards are sponsored by the Direct Gardening Association, the world's largest non-profit association of companies that sell garden products directly to consumers. Plant-a-Bar is made in the USA and it’s ‘green,’ because it’s crafted from reclaimed wood. Only the best reclaimed pieces are selected to form strong, solid panels which are planed smooth to highlight the attractive variations in color and grain. The skilled craftsmen in the Vermont factory transform the panels into a uniquely beautiful combination of planter and furniture. Durable butcher-block cedar sides are crafted from reclaimed wood, with rustproof aluminum corners and trim. Bar shelf folds down when not in use. To make the most of our precious forest resources, Gardener’s Supply uses reclaimed pieces of high-quality North American cedar from lumber mill trimmings and give them new life in the butcher-block planters. Only the best reclaimed pieces are selected and glued together to form strong, solid panels, which are planed smooth to highlight the attractive variations in color and grain. The skilled craftsmen in their Vermont factory transform the panels into these uniquely beautiful planters. Product Details Assembly required ​Butcher-block cedar, aluminum 4' L x 39-1/4" W (including shelf) x 42" H 9-3/4" planting depth Holds 180 quarts of potting mix Weighs 123 lbs. Ships in two 60-70 lb. boxes “Plant-a-Bar has been a real hit with our customers,” says Gardener’s Supply spokesperson Claudia Marshall, “so we’re delighted to see this product getting the industry recognition it deserves.” Plant-A-Bars are available in 2 sizes. The 2x4 bar is $549 and the 2x8 bar is $699. For more details and to make a purchase, call 1-800-427-3363 or visit www.gardeners.com. About Gardener's Supply Company Gardener’s Supply Company is a 100% employee-owned company of avid gardeners providing garden-tested, earth-friendly products combined with practical information. Located in Burlington, Vermont, the company has won many awards for its innovative gardening products, online gardening content and progressive management style. Gardener's Supply is also a Certified B Corporation and donates 8-percent of its profits to charity. www.gardeners.com