Establishment: Current — 279 E. 300 South, SLC
Bartender: Karissa Kermode
Cocktail Name: Sporeplay
Karissa Kermode’s concept of local ingredients takes an unexpected turn: mushrooms. That’s right, her cocktail, “Sporeplay,” finishes with a surprising note of locally foraged oyster mushrooms. Yes. Mushrooms.
She shrugs: “What can I say, there are a lot of people who like to forage in Utah, so I wanted to bring that to light.”
Photography by Natalie Simpson, Beehive Photography.
The drink is a Beehive Jack Rabbit Gin-based trip, to say the least. Combining local peaches from Burgess Orchards in Alpine and locally sourced mushrooms delivered in a butter wash, it sounds like a dare. But early tastings indicate that this cocktail is definitely one to watch in this year’s contest.
“There’s definitely a lot going on,” she winks. “Bartending in Utah has made me very creative. I’m from Connecticut and there’s no restrictions, so using splits (combinations of base spirits and flavoring spirits) is new to me.” Umm, yeah.
Sporeplay
1.5 oz Beehive Jack Rabbit Gin
1 oz lemon
1 egg white
.5 oz habanero simple
1.5 oz brown butter washed oyster mushroom simple
Muddled peaches
Dry shake, wet shake, double strain and top with five drops of sage oil and a pinned sage leaf
Explore the cocktail trail and vote for your favorite cocktail in the 2024 Salt Lake Magazine Farm-To-Glass Cocktail Contest.
About the 2025 Salt Lake Magazine Farm-To-Glass Cocktail Contest
23 bars from across the state present delicious cocktail creations and compete for the best in Utah. This year’s contest cocktails shine with all Utah has to offer, embodying the farm-to-glass ethos by incorporating the bountiful range of Utah’s native herbs, homegrown produce and locally distilled spirits. Celebrate the bartenders’ hard work throughout from Sept. 1–Oct. 1 by visiting participating bars, trying their unique cocktail concoctions and voting for your favorite on saltlakemagazine.com.
