Juniper Foraging

Lone Star Legends — A Foraging Trip Reveals How It Takes a Village to Make West Texas Gin Words by Ruvani de SilvaIllustrations by Colette Holston March 19, 2024 “It’s a whole hidden world,” my husband says as we ricochet along the increasingly steep and rocky dirt...

You’re not going to find a more local, more handcrafted gin anywhere, not with UT biology professor and private distiller Molly Cummings out there foraging various species of West Texas junipers herself. And you’re unlikely to find a more palate-pleasing spirit than her WildJune, conjured from red juniper berries and 10 other botanicals, although Cummings’ London dry-style gin called WildBark (which uses alligator juniper) also has its tippling champions.

Molly Cummings is a UT professor by day, and a gin distiller by night. She says she hasn’t had cedar fever in years, and her gin may be the reason.

AUSTIN, Texas – Allergy season is in full swing in Central Texas, and for many of us, cedar fever can be a nightmare. Could a martini or two help relieve it? A University of Texas biology professor—who happens to moonlight as a gin distiller—thinks there might be a connection.

When Molly Cummings first moved to Austin from Wisconsin, her cedar fever was pretty bad.

“I would be horribly congested, it would drip back into my throat, it would be like that for a couple weeks,” said Cummings.

Years later the UT professor followed her siblings into the distilling business, but was especially intrigued by gin—for which juniper is a key ingredient.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you suffer from “cedar fever” each winter, you may want to reconsider your drink order the next time you head to the bar.

A classic drink is actually made from the plant that causes that dreaded allergic response in Central Texas — gin.

“Gin essentially, is a process where you take a vodka and you make it more interesting,” said University of Texas Biology Professor Molly Cummings. She has an interesting side hustle. “I’m a gin entrepreneur and founder and forger for WildGins Co.,” she said.

“What a beauty!” Molly Cummings says with a sparkle in her eye.

She could just as easily be referring to the expansive, cloud-mottled West Texas sky or the undulating purple Davis mountains surrounding us. But she’s gazing directly up at a juniper tree – one she’s named Eve because it was the very first one to give her berries – and she is about to scale the roof of the house right below it to forage some more.

It’s a late October morning in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, and Molly Cummings is atop a scaffold, foraging alligator juniper berries from a wild tree. With her feed bag over her shoulder, she gently grasps the branches, relieving them of their fragrant dusky...

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Juniper is crucial to gin - but would you know what it tastes like? Check out the article here.