Danielle Nguyen - Beverage Director, Ironbound Farm

“Teaching people new things without being overwhelming is really rewarding to me,” says Danielle Nguyen, who in many ways has become a teacher since being named beverage director of Ironbound Farm in 2022. The cocktail program she has created invites customers to enjoy straightforward, accessible cocktails and mocktails—and to learn that a drink is about far more than just the alcohol (or its absence). It’s about the flavor.

Ironbound Farm is a cidery as well as a working farm, market and eatery. Under Nguyen’s direction, its drink menus are steeped in an understanding of how the tastes of fresh ingredients work together to create a great drink.

Case in point: the Berry Beet Cooler, crafted using a shrub made with a sweetened vinegar infusion including beets and spices that “sit for a long time to make a flavorful elixir.” Sparkling soda is added and the result is a nonalcoholic drink possessing “a sweetness from the beets, but with a very beautiful earthiness,” says Nguyen.

Or take the Not-a-Rita. Described by Nguyen as a “surprisingly passable facsimile of a margarita”, the cocktail is crafted with Ironbound’s Orange Blossom Imperial Cider, lime, and simple syrup. Take a sip. It tastes like a margarita but without the tequila.

Nguyen grew up in New Jersey and spent most of her 20s in Boston, where she worked in a number of restaurants, moving from the back of the house to the front and eventually into management. It was in Boston where she first took note of the changing craft cocktail scene. Moving back to New Jersey in 2019, she took a bartending stint and gained a quick comfort with the role. “It’s fast, and there is a lot to learn,” she says.

During the pandemic, a friend introduced her to Ironbound Farm and she became a fan of their ciders and hard seltzers. She was considering getting out of the restaurant industry entirely due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and had taken a “desk job” when she heard Ironbound had an opening for a kitchen manager. She signed on and, as the farm became busier, soon started helping to manage the dining room as well. It was then that she began to give the cocktail program a closer look, and felt the options were rudimentary.

“I thought, ‘If we just do a few things differently, it would be a whole different type of animal: a developed cocktail program,’” she recalls. Soon, the farm’s drink offerings began to blossom. “Danielle’s cocktails just blow me away!,” says Ironbound Farm founder Charles Rosen. “Somehow she is able showcase some of the most interesting subtle flavors of our wines and ciders by marrying them with weird and unique ingredients from the farm. Some of these things just don’t belong together. Yet, each cocktail is perfectly balanced, complex, and seasonal every time.”

Of course, therein lies the program’s unique advantage: It’s inspired by the seasonality of what is happening on the farm. Ingredients are sourced right at Ironbound or neighboring farms, and Nguyen believes her customers appreciate that advantage. Ironbound does not have a full liquor bar and so understanding the nuances of fresh flavors is key and Nguyen credits her beverage-savvy bar crew for helping to meet the demand.

“Because we’re not a typical bar, customers have a different set of expectations. If you’re coming to Ironbound, you’re coming to a farm where we will be serving farm-related things. People are excited to try new things, and that means there are so many avenues we can go down.”

IRONBOUND FARM
360 County Road 579, Asbury
908.940.4115
ironboundfarm.com