"A great cocktail can transport you. It can invoke memories from your past and create a fuller tasting experience,” says Joe Choiniere, bar manager of Forage in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Foraging for your own ingredients enhances this experience, connecting taste buds to location. Finding and using local wild berries, herbs, bark, and more also opens your mixology up to new, surprising flavors, Choiniere adds. Try these forest-to-table drinks for a true taste of the outdoors.

A Walk in the Weeds

Stinging nettle adds some zing to your favorite bourbon.

Get the Recipe: A Walk in the Weeds

Three Trees

A chocolaty rye whiskey and black birch-infused cognac are the base for this "weighty" Sazerac.

Get the Recipe: Three Trees

Six Shilling

Mulberries and Laphroaig create a fruity and smoky spin on a Whisky Sour.

Get the Recipe: Six Shilling

Florida Fashioned

A fresh take on an Old Fashioned created using lemongrass and Irish whiskey.

Get the Recipe: Florida Fashioned

Forage, Substitute, or Buy

Black BirchForage: From southern Maine west to southern Ontario, and south through the Appalachian region into Georgia; most abundant in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and PennsylvaniaSubstitute: Birch BarkBuy: Mountain Rose HerbsStinging NettleForage: Throughout eastern U.S.Buy:Mountain Rose HerbsLemongrassForage: Found in the hottest regions of the U.S. Grow your own as a potted plant that can be taken indoors for the winter.Buy: Local grocer, nursery, or AmazonMulberriesForage: Mid-Atlantic to Florida and west to Nebraska and TexasSubstitute: Fresh blackberries or, in a pinch, fresh raspberries