For the toast, I wanted to honor the Ukrainian spirit as well, and chose to focus on the sunflower, their national flower. Since the start of the war, the sunflower — soniashnyk in Ukrainian — has become a symbol of solidarity, resilience, resistance, and hope in the world. Searching for sunflower cocktails, I came across this one by Claire Sprouse, bartender and owner of Brooklyn’s Hunky Dory bar, which uses sunflower seeds in the recipe. Sprouse, a Houston native (I had to give that a mention), champions sustainability and fair and equitable employment practices in the spirits industry, along with all sorts of daily activism.

Sprouse espouses sustainability in her cocktails, which manifests in multiple ways. In the Golden Year, for example, she uses a sunflower seed orgeat (a nut syrup), in place of the more traditional almond orgeat. Almonds require gallons of water to grow, while sunflower seeds do not. Nuts in general are some of the most water intensive crops, while seeds have a much low “water footprint” and environmental impact. The cocktail preparation also utilizes a “direct pour”, meaning the ice used to shake the drink with is also poured into the cocktail glass – something that is typically done when shaking cocktails, and which wastes water. Nut syrups are fairly easy to make, by blending toasted nuts with sugar and water, and then straining through a cloth bag. I toasted my sunflower seeds a bit too long, and possibly burnt a few, resulting in a gray and depressing syrup. But I used it, to be sustainable, and because it captured the spirit of this toast so well in the end. The name of the cocktail may also seem inappropriate as a tribute to Ukraine right now, but I think the people of Ukraine are looking to the world for hope, so I’m raising my glass to them, imagining and hoping for a better future while we help them survive the present.

The Golden Year by Claire Sprouse

1 ½ oz bourbon

½ oz Cynar

1 oz sunflower seed orgeat

½ oz lemon

Shake ingredients with pebble ice (or small chunks of ice) and pour everything into a glass packed with more pebble ice. Traditionally served in a white mug and garnished with dried marigold and sunflower petals, I instead made a lemon wheel sunflower.