{"id":4194,"date":"2015-03-24T10:53:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T14:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/newsroom\/?post_type=fdoc-news-item&p=666"},"modified":"2015-03-24T10:53:49","modified_gmt":"2015-03-24T14:53:49","slug":"farm-to-glass-concept-brings-fresh-florida-grapefruit-to-cocktails-in-central-florida","status":"publish","type":"fdoc-news-item","link":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/fr\/fdoc-news-item\/farm-to-glass-concept-brings-fresh-florida-grapefruit-to-cocktails-in-central-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm-to-Glass concept brings fresh Florida Grapefruit to cocktails in Central Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a new movement to bring local flavor to cocktails, fresh-squeezed Florida Grapefruit becomes a star ingredient.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BARTOW, Fla. \u2013 In a new movement to bring local flavor to cocktails in Central Florida, fresh-squeezed Florida Grapefruit becomes a star ingredient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driven by the popularity of the farm-to-table concept \u2013 which highlights the importance of local ingredients \u2013 a Lakeland restaurant kicked off a similar program this month featuring locally-inspired cocktails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first cocktail of the Farm-to-Glass campaign at Frescos <\/a>is a salty dog made with fresh Florida Grapefruit and gin distilled in St. Augustine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help launch the new cocktail, the owners of Frescos tapped David Steele, director of public relations at the Florida Department of Citrus, to be featured in advertisements for the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPolk County has long been the epicenter of the Florida Citrus industry and we wanted to capitalize on the connections in our own backyard \u2013 truly making this a local program,\u201d said Tim Calhoon, owner of Frescos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now at season\u2019s peak<\/a>, Florida Grapefruit  is known for its sweet taste, thanks to time spent growing in Florida\u2019s sub-tropical climate. It is primarily grown in the Indian River region, which stretches 200 miles along the East Coast of the state from Daytona to West Palm Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steele praised Calhoon for leveraging a regional treasure: \u201cFrescos is supporting the state\u2019s flagship agricultural industry \u2013 Florida Citrus \u2013 and providing patrons with a tasty option for the palette. It\u2019s a win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long a staple bar ingredient, grapefruit has enjoyed resurgence as of late with bartenders using it to create specialty craft cocktails. The farm-to-glass concept pushes that one step further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whole movement is about the idea of bringing something different to the menu,\u201d Calhoon said. \u201cWe started with Florida Grapefruit because it\u2019s local and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calhoon first learned of the farm-to-glass concept from Florida\u2019s St. Augustine Distillery, which offers classes on which fresh ingredients pair well with the company\u2019s spirits. The distillery produces small batch spirits using locally-produced sugar cane and citrus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frescos plans to roll out several farm-to-glass cocktails throughout the year based on season, including one featuring Florida Oranges.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a new movement to bring local flavor to cocktails, fresh-squeezed Florida Grapefruit becomes a star ingredient. BARTOW, Fla. \u2013 In a new movement to bring local flavor to cocktails […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":667,"template":"","fdoc_news_item_category":[],"fdoc_citrus_type":[],"fdoc_health_category":[],"class_list":["post-4194","fdoc-news-item","type-fdoc-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t