As part of our final celebration of collards for Collard Week 2020 we are hosting a virtual Collard Happy Hour. You are invited to join a select group of collard loving guests for lively conversation and collard cocktails. The Collard Happy Hour is a chance for you to enjoy collards in community, share thoughts and recipes, and ask questions. The purpose of this blog post is to get you started with some collard inspired drinks!

NOTE/WARNING: We have not road-tested all these options (yet!). Please feel free to leave feedback and new ideas in the comments.

Alcoholic Collard Drink Options….

Potlikker Martini

Ashleigh Shanti, the chef de cuisine at Benne on Eagle in Asheville, needed to make some room in the restaurant’s walk-in refrigerator. So she handed a quart of potlikker—the liquid left over after her team stewed down collard greens—to bar manager Tye Harrison. “Do something with it,” she requested. 

Harrison started playing around that night. He tried it with whiskey, but that did not spark joy. He experimented with a few other variations. Then a customer came in and ordered a martini “porn star”–style—she wanted it “extra, extra, extra dirty,” Harrison recalls, with lots of brine from the olive jar. A light bulb went off. Harrison stepped into the kitchen and told Shanti he needed some smoked turkey neck. Right now. “It was in the middle of service,” she says, “but he had this determination in his eyes.” He got his turkey neck. 

https://gardenandgun.com/recipe/behold-the-potlikker-martini/

Eve’s Pot Liquor 

Collard greens are indigenous to both LaGrange, Georgia, and Monrovia, Liberia—where Keyatta Mincey-Parker’s mother and father were raised, respectively. In this cocktail meant to symbolize their love and blending of cultures, collard greens lend a hearty green base and hue. The drink’s name references the liquid left at the bottom of a pot (a staple of Southern cooking) after cooking the leafy vegetable. Apple juice adds sweetness and texture, while the saline drops and vegetal aloe vera liqueur pull all the elements together.


https://punchdrink.com/recipes/eves-pot-liquor/

Non-Alcoholic Collard Drinks

Avocado Collard Green Smoothie

This avocado collard green smoothie is from Playful Cooking: Food For Every Tastebud. Pretty pictures and looks super healthy!

Collard Juice

Here’s a collard juice option if you have a thirsty 2 year old!