The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks (37 page)

Iris pallida

iridaceae (iris family)

T
he pharmacy and perfumery of Santa Maria Novella, established by Dominican friars in Florence in 1221, gained notoriety for its use of the rhizomes of iris. They were not the first—Greek and Roman writings mention it—but their perfumes, cordials, and powders contained liberal doses of this rare and precious substance.

Orris was popular not so much for its fragrance—although it does contain a compound called irone that gives it a faint violet smell—but as a fixative, holding other fragrances or flavors in place by contributing a missing atom that would otherwise make the fragrance volatile and easily released from the solution it is suspended in.

None of this chemistry was understood at first. Perfumers and distillers would also not have understood why the rhizomes had to dry for two to three years before they become effective as a fixative. We now know that it takes that long for a slow oxidation process to occur, bringing about the chemical change that causes irone to form from other organic compounds present in the rhizome.

Only about 173 acres of orris are cultivated worldwide; most of the orris is either or
I. pallida
‘Dalmatica', grown in Italy, or its descendant
I. germanica
var.
Florentina,
grown in Morocco, China, and India.
I. germanica
‘Albicans' is also used in orris production.

To extract the orris, the rhizome must first be pulverized and steam-distilled to produce a waxy substance called orris butter, or
beurre d'iris.
Then alcohol is used to extract an absolute, which is a perfumer's term for a stronger version of an essential oil.

Orris is found in nearly every gin and in many other spirits. Its popularity in perfume is due to the fact that it not only holds the fragrance in place but clings to the skin as well. It also happens to be a very common allergen, which explains why allergy sufferers might be sensitive to cosmetics and other fragrances—as well as gin.

PINK PEPPERCORN

Schinus molle

anacardiaceae (cashew family)

T
his fruit comes from the Peruvian pepper tree, a member of the most interesting of plant families. Within Anacardiaceae one finds mangoes, cashews, shellac—and poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak. It is, therefore, a family that should be approached with some caution: people who are highly sensitive to poison ivy, for instance, may find that mango rind gives them a rash. Fortunately, mango flesh is perfectly safe, as is the cashew nut itself, minus the shell. And while
Schinus molle,
which grows throughout warmer regions in the United States, is a safe spice, its relative
S. terebinthifolius,
which is found throughout Latin America, can cause a dangerous reaction. (They are easy to tell apart:
S. molle
has long, narrow leaves and
S. terebinthifolius
has glossy oval-shaped leaves.)

The pink peppercorn's history as a drink ingredient begins around 1000 AD, at the remarkable Cerro Baúl brewery in ancient Peru. Archaeological evidence shows that the Wari people settled the area around 600 AD and set up facilities to make corn-based beer flavored with the peppercorns. Women held the high honor of brewmaster. The Wari burned their brewery in 1000 AD—perhaps fleeing the area during warfare—but early Spanish friars reported the use of peppercorn to make wine several centuries later, suggesting that their traditions survived. Today it is used as a flavoring in beer, gin, flavored vodka, and bitters.

SARSAPARILLA

Smilax regelii

smilacaceae (greenbriar family)

M
any people know sarsaparilla as an old-time soda similar to root beer. In fact, the drink called sarsaparilla was made with sassafras, birch bark, and other flavors, but no actual sarsaparilla. The climbing, thorny vine that really is sarsaparilla has been used as traditional medicine in its native Central America and was even championed once as a cure for syphilis. It also played a key role in the development of birth control pills: in 1938, a chemist named Russell Marker discovered that a plant steroid derived from sarsaparilla could be chemically altered to make progesterone. This process was too expensive to implement on a large scale, so he found an easier plant to work with: a wild yam from Mexico. His discoveries helped launch the birth control pill and the sexual revolution that followed. (It also launched rumors that sarsaparilla contained natural testosterone and increased sexual potency, none of which is true.)

The ground, dried root is available from spice suppliers and can be used as an ingredient in liqueurs and other spirits—but the ground root of another vine, Indian sarsaparilla (
Hemidesmus indicus
) is also popular in the spice trade for its sweet, spicy, vanilla flavor. Oregon's Aviation gin relies on Indian sarsaparilla for a rich, deep cola flavor that its distillers believe helps the high notes stand out and makes Aviation distinctive.

SASSAFRAS

Sassafras albidum

lauraceae (laurel family)