I shamelessly serve fig cocktails every year on the sole basis of how pretty they look as a garnish. But I don’t have to be all that ashamed, since they provide such a wonderfully unique seasonal flavor. Most people are familiar with the taste of dried figs: highly sweet, caramelized, and jammy. Fresh figs retain a bit of that jamminess, but with a more delicate, almost floral, vaguely vegetal bent.