Even in winter, at a certain hour of the evening I feel drawn to the garden to check on things and putter about, snipping a few stems of chard and some herbs for dinner, watering this, weeding that. There’s very little that could improve a peaceful half hour of puttering in the garden.
You know what could make it nicer, though? A cocktail in the garden, with fresh herbs scenting it. If you agree, the Fiskars Cuts + More is the tool for you.
Fiskars (their Facebook page is here) was kind enough to send Amy Stewart and I a pair of them to try out, so we got together to test them and see what the Cuts + More scissors are all about:
You can see they’re pretty multi-purpose, with a wire-cutter, rope-cutter, and bottle opener. The scissors work surprisingly well for nipping deadheads and cutting herbs or flowers. And they come apart to go in the dishwasher! No worrying about rust or sap gumming up your scissors.
I was so stoked on mine that a few days later, I decided to have a little cocktail party in my garden:
My drink:
- Reed’s Extra-Spicy Ginger Brew (a spicy ginger ale)
- Angostura bitters
- Brandy
- Squeeze of fresh lemon
- Rosemary to garnish
Would you like to join me in my cocktail hour? Fiskars has a Cuts + More to give away to two lucky readers – one here at North Coast Gardening and one over at Garden Rant.
To enter here, just leave a comment with the name of your favorite cocktail – extra bonus points given if you share how to make it! I’ll choose a commenter Wednesday 2/9 to win.
Want another crack at one? Go on over to Garden Rant and see what manner of contest Amy’s cooked up. Good luck!
24 responses to “Fiskars Cuts + More Scissors: For Gardeners Who Enjoy a Cocktail”
Hi Gen, I love the way you’re able to tie gardening and drinking together! Seriously, being able to take apart the scissors apart and wash them is ingenious.
OK, here’s my recipe for a drink called a Southern Nut that won me the award for best new drink in a mixology class in college. ( I went to a New England College in NH and we had a January Term (JT) where you took one 3-week course where you were immersed in one subject. As you can imagine, the mixology course was very popular. It also happened to be one of the hardest JT classes you could take, much harder than the microbiology one I took the year before.) A Southern Nut is made with southern comfort, amaretto, OJ and vanilla ice cream. Put them all in a blender and blend until combined. It’s delicious!
There is almost nothing I enjoy more than an entire day of working in the garden capped off with an icy cold beer at about 4:30. I can finish up my last bits of clean up one handed. A Peroni, Corona or Stella Artois is called for at that time of day, but if it’s a summer day and it’s time for cocktails in the garden, nothing beats either a G&T or a Mount Gay rum and tonic.
What a fantastic blog post. Thanks for sharing! I love reed’s extra spicy, so I’ll have to try this cocktail some time (probably after it warms up a bit here in Michigan). I am definitely more of a microbrew lady, but the occasional cocktail sneaks into my hand especially if I can use things from my garden.
One that I managed to try last summer uses fresh lavender as an overtone to a lemon base. Lavender makes a great addition since it’s not as in-your-face-flowery as rose, but it still adds some of that great earthy green overtone. Basically this tastes like an alcoholic lavender lemonade. I know lavender isn’t for everybody, but if you like it, this one’s a winner!
The recipe I followed loosely was:
Ingredients
– 3-4 wedges lemon
– a handful of fresh lavender blossoms (remove the stems ahead of time)
– 2 ounces vodka (you can use citrus-flavored or not)
– 2 tbsp. lavender simple syrup
Prep
1. Muddle lemon and lavender together. Add ice, vodka, and simple syrup.
2. Shake to mix and strain (or not, depending on taste) into chilled martini glass.
3. Garnish with a sprig of lavender.
Simple syrup is made by boiling fresh lavender blossoms and then removing from heat and adding 2 parts sugar to your already boiling 1 part water. The syrup that it makes ends up being useful in all sorts of things, and you’ll probably end up with considerably more than you need. I’m not sure what the long-term qualities of this syrup are but I’d love to learn to preserve is so that I could have it on hand for quick spur-of-the-moment cocktails.
While trying to find the recipe I used before, I stumbled across a recipe for lavender infused vodka that I will definitely have to try as well. http://bit.ly/ff5uO9
Not really big on cocktails – more of a beer/wine/scotch guy myself. That being said, I’ve been known to enjoy a margarita now and then (especially my friend Joseph’s – not sure what his trick is, but DAMN they’re good)
If it’s a really hot summer day, I usually prefer frozen drinks to beer. In college my friends & I came up with the Lemon Icebox Pie : vanilla ice cream, vodka, sweet-&-sour mix (as for margaritas or tom colinses), and lots of lemon zest. Blend, pour into a frosted mug, sip & cool down.
Those scissors look cool. No favorite cocktail here, since I don’t drink alcohol.
A mocktail or favorite frosty beverage would do, Liz?
Still just a water girl. Way boring, but can’t go wrong with water.
Now this is a garden blog I can wrap my arms around. A favorite of mine is a Meyer Lemondrop.
Make up a batch of Vivian’s Lemonade
1 cup fresh Meyer Lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 quarts water
Put equal parts lemonade and vodka in a shaker full of ice and pour into a sugar rimmed martini glass. Garnish with a slice of fresh lemon. The key is the fresh juice – YUM!
oooh, tho I already entered at Gardenrant, and its really the scissors i’m all about, I’ll take anything else to try. My favorite coctail. A margarita with some heat. Just take an old canning jar or something, throw in a cut-in-half jalapeno, and fill halfway with tequila of your choice and let sit for a day or 2. If your feeling friskier, do a habanero for a little less time, mix with sec and margarita mix (I prefer homemade) and enjoy. On the rocks of course.
Not sure what it’s called but had it on a plane on the way
to Mexico. Simply Captain Mogans run in Dole pineapple/ orange/banana juice.
Simple but yummy tropical drink.
I love peach bellinis…not sure if that’s a cocktail…
Love the idea of combining gardening and cocktails–not necessarily in that order!
My wife and I love pear brandy sidecars. Here’s how we make them:
1 oz. pear brandy
1 oz. pear nectar
1/2 oz. lemon juice (fresh is best)
1/2 oz. simple syrup
Pour over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake, pour, drink. Repeat!
Thanks,
Van
@tactileplants
I’ve been pleased with most of the Fiskars gardening tools I’ve purchased over the years. It looks like they’ve got another winner with these scissors.
A cocktail? I’m not much of a drinker, and brewing my own iced tea probably doesn’t count, eh? If I want an exotic drink, cranberry juice with a squirt of lime does it for me.
Ahhh, nothing says gardening more than a cold drink! Personally, I’m all about the ice cold brew (preferably an Alaskan Amber or a Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat), but I do make a mean Old Fashioned.
1 tsp. sugar in the bottom of a glass
5 drops angostura bitters
pour 1″ of club soda in the glass
add some ice cubes
pour half a bottle of bourbon whiskey, I mean, 1 or 2 fingers of said beverage in glass
splash of water
spoonful of maraschino cherry juice and 1 cherry
Always looking for more excellent tools to add to my collection!
And always, ALWAYS have a chicken or two wandering around in the background whenever you’re demo’ing a tool. 🙂
Really don’t drink alcohol much, but when I do a margarita is my first choice. A virgin margarita works, too. Love the versatility of the Cuts + More. The pictures/videos in the garden with the chickens are great.
I’m just a simple girl… an ice-cold Diet Mountain Dew tastes really good after a hot day in the garden!
At Christmas we served a lovely warming cocktail that still works for early spring gardeners in the Pacific Northwest. Must be made with BC’s own Victoria Gin, of course. (Full disclosure: I’m a partner!) This has all kids of ways to use your Fiskar’s: what with snipping off fir branches and all.
GINgle bell martini
2 oz Vic Gin
1/2 oz grand fir syrup, or to taste*
sweet fir rim
Dampen the rim of a martini glass with a lemon wedge / Put sweet rim mix (see below) on a saucer and roll the damp rim to coat
Gently shake Vic Gin and fir syrup (see below) on ice / Strain into martini glass & enjoy!
Grand Fir* syrup
1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
10 grams or approx 30 cm fresh fir bow*
Steep ingredients over medium heat for approx 15 mins (to dissolve sugar) / Shut off heat, allow to cool, then strain
Rim
Dry some fir bows (you won’t need much) in the oven for 45 mins at 250 / Allow to cool / Pick needles off branch and pulverize them either with a mortar & pestle or coffee grinder / Mix 1 part fir to 4.5 parts sugar
* Works only for fir, NOT pine, yew or deadly hemlock.
Not really big on cocktails—that being said—I LOVE the scissors for all my
garden work—easier on my arthritic hands!
It’s not exactly a cocktail, but in the winter I’m fond of hot chocolate with a shot of rum and a dash of mace or nutmeg. It’s lovely to drink out on the porch in the winter when I can’t bear to be inside another minute.
I’m not much of a drinker, but I do appreciate an ice cold Beck’s after mowing the lawn. A shot of peach brandy is mighty fine, too.
Great post, Gen – and I LOVE your videos! As part of the Fiskars blogging team, I must say I’m a huge fan of you taking it to the next level and combining their tools with booze – genius! You’ve given me tons to think about for my next posts….wondering how I can use extendable loppers or that reel mower. Hmmmm….
(p.s. hope your cold’s better!)
Gardening and Cocktails………Thinking that maybe in early spring while getting beds all “springed” up that some soft and mildly sweet would do……….yes my favorite wine, Riverboat Red made right here in Missouri at Les Bourgeois Vineyard. Very refreshing with a lingering mild fruit and oak taste. MmmmmmmYum If it was hot summer, easy, ice cold Bud Light right out of the bottle Thanks
I bet that bottle opener would work well on opening paint cans. I’ve often found myself using a screwdriver for that task. Of course, I am not often painting when I’m gardening but it’s been known to happen a time or two;-) Such as…deck work, fence work, trellis, arbor, etc…even signs/labels in the veggie garden and garden ‘touch ups’ on garden decor.