Author interview: Slow Drinks’ Danny Childs
An exclusive interview with Danny Childs, author of Slow Drinks, discussing ethnobotany and tips for beginner foragers:
• You studied anthropology but ended up a leader in the “garden-to-glass” movement. How did cocktails become your focus?
My interest in the garden predated my interest in the glass. After spending years learning to think like an anthropologist and studying people's relationship to plants, I couldn't help but look at beverages and cocktails through an ethnobotanical lens once I stepped behind the bar. Now, my restaurant job combines anthropology, biology, botany, and Spanish, which were all subjects I studied in school. I even have a fieldwork component that allows me to collect and document ingredients from the forest, garden, and field. College me would be very proud.
• The stunning photography in the book was taken by your wife, Katie. What was it like working together on this project?
It was one of the most simultaneously rewarding and challenging things we've ever accomplished as a couple. We worked tirelessly on the book proposal during most of the first year of our oldest son's life and signed our contract with Hardie Grant weeks after our second son was born. Katie and I have always been such a great team, though, that we still found our rhythm and workflow even amidst the madness of the "two under 2" club. Now that we're on the other side of it, the reward is so much sweeter because we know how much we sacrificed to make it happen.
• At any given moment, we know you have a few different jars of foraged or grown ingredients macerating. What DIY projects do you have in the works right now?
In addition to my usual yearly staples (nocino, last season's amaro, elderflower kombucha, and spruce beer), I'm really excited about this plum project I've got going at the moment. Someone contacted me on Instagram because of a surplus of plums from a tree in their yard. I got probably 10 gallons of them and made a plum shrub with ume (plum) vinegar, a lacto-ferment of the pomace leftover from processing the shrub, a noyau made by macerating the baked pits in Slivovitz (damson plum brandy), and umeshu, made by steeping unripe ume plums in Yokka Koji awamori. It's the nose-to-tail equivalent of the beverage world.
• What advice do you have for someone who is just starting to forage or grow botanical ingredients for their cocktails?
For the forager - The first thing you should do is download a plant ID app. Then, start simple and nearby. Many delicious ingredients can likely be found in your yard or not far beyond it.
For the gardener - try growing ingredients that are regional heirlooms to where you live. Not only are you helping preserve diversity, but you're doing so with varietals that have adapted to the growing conditions in your area.
• What are some good beginner recipes in the book? And as an expert, what’s your favorite?
La Poblanita is my favorite recipe in the book. It's very beginner friendly and so perfect during the peak of pepper season. Katie's favorite is the spruce beer, which takes a little more time and dedication but can conveniently be made year-round.