Workshop 9/28 – Colorful Centerpieces and Fiery Sips!

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We’re excited to announce our next workshop Colorful Centerpieces and Fiery Sips celebrating Fall Equinox with Weatherlow Florals at Weatherlow Farms on September 28th, 5-7pm

Join us in the barn to build your own bouquet & learn how to make 2 new signatures featuring autumnal ingredients from the harvest. Both the arrangements and drinks will feature edible flowers and herbs, all grown and foraged at the farm, including dahlias and amaranths and ornamental herbs. $75 includes all materials, drinks, and bites.

Register Here

đź’Ž@christinechitnis

 Little Bitte 

This Aperol Cocktail is Perfect for Spring!

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The Aperature – a cocktail made from Aperol, gin, and blood oranges – helps usher in spring while saying goodbye to citrus season.

In my early twenties, I lived in Florence for a year on a street called Via degli Artisti with a wonderful painter named Fiorella, a sandy blonde with a scratchy voice and a deep affection for card games, rum, and cigars. We were a 10-minute ride on our rusty bicycles from the heart of city, and a brisk five-minute walk from the main market near Santa Maria Novella. The first warm sunny days of spring always remind me of Fiorella and how she would wake up each morning, fling open the kitchen doors, and step onto our tiny terrazza to water the scented geraniums on the railing. She’d come back into the kitchen and fresh squeeze two glasses of blood orange juice by hand, one for each of us.

The fruits Fiorella juiced were called Moro oranges. Grown in Sicily, they tasted more like fresh raspberries than any kind of orange I had ever tasted, with flesh ranging from deep orange to dark burgundy. I lived for these oranges and those mornings when Fiorella made me sit down with her for breakfast.

As I wait here at home for the flora of the season to pop, I scan my imagination for ways to conjure spring. I keep a keen eye on the oily green rhubarb leaves peeking out of the soil in my raised bed. I visit the micro clusters of lemon balm daily – but it’s still too soon to pick it. And the asparagus nowhere in sight. And so I find solace in fresh oranges at this time of year – so sweet and so abundant – though I know that the harvest must be on its last legs. Clementines and minneolas will slowly but surely trickle out of season, soon to be replaced with the awe of artichokes, fiddleheads, and fresh nettles.


One of my favorite epiphanies from my time in Florence came in the form of a cocktail. I call it the Aperture, as it’s proverbial widening of the lens, if you will. It’s a marriage of two of my favorite classic drinks, the Aperol spritz (a quaffable mix of the bitter aperitif, prosecco, and soda water) and the Negroni (equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth). Every café in Florence serves their own version of a Negroni during aperitivo (cocktail hour), complemented by a bowl of olives or nuts, or sometimes a bigger spread of cured meats, cheese, and crostini topped with anything from fresh seafood to tiny slices of hotdog. (During aperitivo, anything is possible.)3-blood-orange..jpg

The Aperture’s soft, fruity notes come from the blood orange juice, which adds a lush texture and depth to the spritz, mellowing any sharp edges from the gin and fortifying the citrusy notes of the Aperol….

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The Aperture Recipe

<3 Little Bitte

For Fiorella, my Italian queen.

Spring Cocktail Workshop

March 16th | Floral Necklaces + Cocktail Workshop

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The Local Bouquet Studio

Thurs. March 16, 2017 | 6:00-8:00 PM | $75.00

Floral Necklaces + Cocktail Workshop

Join Willa Van Nostrand from Little Bitte & Mary Kate Kinnane from The Local Bouquet for a evening filled with spring blooms + botanical craft cocktails.

Learn how to design a floral necklace filled with locally grown flowers, foliage and plants, the perfect accessory for a girl’s night out! While at our studio, freshen up your cocktail skills with a hands on tutorial with Little Bitte! Learn 2 new botanical cocktail recipes and the best ways to garnish them— the perfect addition to any upcoming dinner party!

Light refreshments will be served throughout the class and all materials and supplies will be provided. Each attendee will be able to take home their own floral necklace as well as the cocktail recipes.

#ohyesitsladiesnight

Craft Cocktails + Floral Crown Workshop Tonight

We’re so excited for our Craft Cocktail + Floral Crown Workshop this evening!

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A few spots opened up for tonights workshop in Marshfield, Massachusetts – give us a call if you’d like to join us tonight. Learn how to build 2 delicious artisanal cocktails featuring fresh, edible blossoms and herbs! Jillian from Beach Plum Floral will teach us how to use fresh herbs and blossoms to create our very own hand-crafted floral crowns to wear & take home.

Craft Cocktail + Floral Crown Workshop

Friday, February 10th, 2017 (7-10PM)
Class Fee – $55.00
Includes all materials, cocktails and small bites


For signups, please email beachplumfloraldesign@gmail.com or call (781) 738-7787

*Limited slots available, do not wait to book!

Little Bitte Sunshine

This Turmeric and Gin Cocktail Is Like Sipping Liquid Sunshine

 Turmeric, honey, and grapefruit add a sweet, earthy flavor to Little Miss Sunshine, which uses a botanical gin as its base spirit.

I crave sunshine in the winter. No matter how many hikes in the woods, walks on the beach, trips to the park, prances through the snow – I still want that placating light and heat of the sun… How does one truly sip in the sun during winter, despite the grey skies and winter blues? Fresh citrus and turmeric help immensely, and Little Miss Sunshine, our latest cocktail concoction, is an homage to the sun when we need her most.

It’s no coincidence that the Latin name for grapefruit is citrus x paradisi, or rather,

citrus = paradise, delivered as it is in a lovely yellow-orange rind. Broiling grapefruit is an exciting way to add a bit of caramelized sweetness to the fruit. I coat the flesh with a teaspoon of honey (instead of sugar) for added floral notes and broil it until I see a bit of char for visual drama and smoky notes, about 5–8 minutes depending on your oven.

Little Miss Sunshine deserves an aromatic, woodsy gin like St. George Terroir, which is infused with Douglas fir, bay laurel, wok-roasted coriander, and a hint of citrus. Solo, Terroir feels like sipping in a verdant forest, then discovering a sunny clearing full of wildflowers. Yes, this gin is that botanical. I round it out with turmeric-honey syrup for another dash of spicy, earthy sweetness…

Read the Full Story and Recipe Here

Our New Favorite Fall Cocktail

Every November, during the calm before the storm of the holidays, I start scheming the cocktail recipes that will carry me through the season from party to party and cheers to cheers. I make a list of all of the beautiful treasures of the fall harvest for inspiration – the sweet-savory juice of fresh beets and carrots that shine in a sour; the pineapple sage that I’ve packed into raw honey to make syrup; and the seemingly bottomless basket of apples that I will savor into the new year with countless pies, spiced old-fashioneds and compotes.

I’m a huge fan of sparkling cocktails for the holidays. They’re light and effervescent and evoke a certain twinkle in the eye and glow of the cheeks. In addition to bubbles, spritzes can include a base spirit, a cordial, fresh juice, or any combination of the three.

My favorite sparkling cocktail right now is The Orchard Spritz. The base is Thomas Tew dark rum (made by Newport Distilling Co.), with its amber notes of vanilla, caramel, oak, and just enough pepper to drive a bit of heat into the bones. St.George spiced pear liqueur adds some sweetness along with hints of cinnamon and clove. I also include fresh lemon juice, which animates the cordial with a lively zest. Rhody Coyote cider adds….

Visit Puddingstone Post for the recipe & the rest of the story!

<3 Little Bitte

The Grade A Pisco Sour: A Classic Updated for Maple Syrup Season

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The traditional pisco sour gets updated with maple syrup, a nod to sugaring season across New England. 

In 1641, King Philip IV of Spain sanctioned heavy taxes on all wine produced in Peru. Instead of revolting, his indignant overseas subjects evaded the burden by distilling their grape harvest into booze. Talk about the mother of invention.

Pisco (which means “bird” in the indigenous Quechua language) remains a popular spirit today. The clear brandy-like libation is named for the Peruvian port from where it was first exported. Made from grapes fermented with their skins still on, it goes through a single distillation, meaning there’s no water added; each batch is pure and unaltered…

This is culinary alchemy: The culmination is light but rich, tart and ambrosial.

Visit  Puddingstone Post for the full story & the Grade A Pisco Sour recipe.