Challenged by Nandini Khaund of the app Craft Cocktail to make a drink with dandelion, Burlington bartender Sean Patrick Riley got, in his words, “esoteric,” perusing Ray Bradbury’s novel Dandelion Wine. It’s a “great book about summer,” Riley said, and that, in combination with the “soul-crushing winter” we’ve had, inspired him to shoot for something in between. He was after “a springlike cocktail, earthy, with lots of botanicals.”
He kept things simple at the end as well, garnishing with a lemon peel and, in lieu of a dandelion head, a flower petal. The result is a light and refreshing cocktail with a dose of optimism—hence the name.
Riley, who plays guitar in the septet Bloodiest, has challenged Big Star bartender (and Bloodiest drummer) Cayce Key to make a drink with smoke.
