Shoot the Moon

Claire Sprouse

Feb 4

I’m enjoying my trip to the moon with another excellent “moon shot” by Brooklyn’s own Claire Sprouse, a bartender who has been a true champion of sustainability in the spirits industry. She received national accolades for her Crown Heights bar program Hunky Dory, where attention was paid to every aspect of the waste process, including “water, electricity, carbon footprint, food, trash”. Her cocktails emphasize reduced waste in many ways, from using syrups and spirits made with low carbon ingredients and farming practices, to eschewing the typical practice of chilling a drink with ice that then gets thrown away.

“Shoot the Moon” is her take on a gin old fashioned and originally featured Ford’s gin, a product created by founder Simon Ford, a legendary cocktail pioneer, in collaboration with bartenders across the globe, to exemplify the perfect “cocktail gin”. Another one of Ford’s missions is to promote social justice and sustainability in the bar world. With that goal in mind they partnered with Sprouse, who created this delicious low waste cocktail which enhances the botanicals in the gin with pear, cinnamon and grapefruit. While the drink was originally created with Ford’s gin in mind and a local New York state pear brandy, it works beautifully well with other brands too. Her drinks are “not-too-fussy” and allow all the listed ingredients to shine. You’ll be mooning over her “improved” gin old fashioned – cheers!