Blood Orange Gin Sparkler
The citrus gin cocktail you want to be drinking. It's bright and beautiful - perfect for winter holidays and New Years Eve.
For a good part of the year I have rosemary floating about the kitchen. It's typically crowded in a wide-mouth jar, standing stick-straight, quietly waiting to be called upon. Sometimes it sits on the windowsill here, other times it migrates to the island, or, on rare occasions, the dinner table. I tend to buy a bunch, then work my way through it little by little (you've likely seen it in the background of photos on previous posts). Said another way - rosemary is often in my line of sight, and I'm always looking for ways to use it. This cocktail caught my attention a couple weeks back, and I've been making my own citrus-spiked riff on it in the days since.
So...my initial idea was that I'd do a winter citrus version using freshly-squeezed pink grapefruit juice, gin, and tonic water or sparkling water. I thought the evergreen notes in the gin would blend nicely with the tart pucker of grapefruit, and I'd take the edge off with a hint of rosemary syrup.
Not meant to be.
I walked into a box of beautiful Moro blood oranges at the store, and here we are. The blood orange juice worked beautifully, it added a lovely burst of color, and generally lent itself agreeably to what ended up being a long, bright, winter-time quencher. One that goes down a bit too easily, in fact. As I mention down below, if blood oranges are hard for you to come by, this drink is great with navel oranges as well. I mean it when I say, I hope you like this one as much as I do.
I kept thinking the gin / citrus combo would make for a striking DIY cocktail set-up at a holiday party, or New Year's brunch /gathering. Particularly if you offered a selection of juice mixers. I'm imagining small glass pitchers of blood orange juice, pink grapefruit juice, orange juice, oro blanco grapefruit juice, and or sweet lime juice? It would be a beautiful spectrum. Let me know if you give it a go.
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Blood Orange Gin Sparkler
You can keep the rosemary simple syrup in the refrigerator for a week or so. You can do this ahead of time. Also, if blood oranges are hard for you to come by - navel oranges are also delicious.
- 2 cups / 480 ml water
- 1 cup / 6.5 oz / 185 g sugar
- 4 tablespoons (~2 sprigs-worth) fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- blood oranges
- gin
- ice cubes
- tonic water (or sparkling water)
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Combine the water, sugar, rosemary, and bay in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer for 3-5 minutes, or long enough for the sugar to dissolve, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let infuse for 10 minutes. Strain into a jar to cool completely.
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In the meantime, juice and strain your oranges, you'll need 3 tablespoons / 1.5 ounces of juice for each drink.
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To make each drink you're going to combine equal parts gin, juice, and tonic water with a bit of syrup and ice. So, its 3 tablespoons / 1 1/2 oz gin, 3 tablespoons / 1 1/2 oz freshly squeezed blood orange juice, and 1-2 teaspoons of the rosemary syrup in each tall glass (I used kolsch glasses here). Stir to combine, fill each glass 2/3 full with ice and top off with 3 tablespoons / 1 1/2 oz tonic water. Stir again and you're set.
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Oh...the rosemary I used - it was a gift from my mother and step-father - from their winter garden.
Just in time! I made this drink for the adults at our Annual Polar Express Party last night. It was a big hit. There weren't any blood oranges at the store, so I mixed grapefruit and orange. The juniper, rosemary, bay combo is delightful This will be our go to cocktail for all the holiday festivities. Best wishes to your neighbors. This time of year should be about cocktails and bells, when tragedy strikes it only accentuates the impact.
Put a slice of orange to top, and make it a real cocktail.
Just in time. I have the gin, I have the rosemary. I'll have to settle for the awkward-to-juice mandarins that are crowding my back door. Thanks!
Beautiful photo and writing on this post. I wonder how this blood orange/rosemary combo would work as a base for champagne around New Year's.
Thanks again for a beautiful post. I'm becoming a regular reader & admirer.
I'm so glad we are finally rolling in to orange season. Here in the midwest, it's the only time of year we can hope to find an orange HALF and delicious as those in your blog post. Looks like such a refreshing recipe.
I love the color on this and I love blood oranges! I just posted a recipe about pretty pink cranberry gin jello shots that would go well with this cocktail for a party. Thanks!
this looks so delicious and refreshing!
Tis the season for rich eggnog and buttery hot toddies, but I love how refreshing and bright (and seasonal) this gin sparkler is. I think it's perfect for a new year celebration. Cheers!
Mmmm, this looks so good. Thanks for the reminder that it's blood orange season!
blood oranges are so gorgeous, and i love the layers of color in the drink! yum :)
Love this! It's so yummy looking!
I made the original version for a cocktail party last weekend and it was a huge hit. Perfect, festive wintertime cocktail! Thanks, Heidi.
Thanks so much for posting a drink recipe. This one is lovely and your photos are really beautiful (as always). Your block will be in our prayers - glad to hear everyone was safe! - what an ordeal to go through at any time of year.
Can you make it without the gin? I don't drink alcohol but would like to try this cocktail in a "dry" version... Peace
Wow, this looks great! I saw that recipe as well and have been enjoying it for the last week or so. This looks like a wonderful variation, and it is beautiful :)
this looks great! I love herbal cocktails, next up I want to try a lavender-inspired drink
How funny, I just came across a fresh peach cocktail a few weeks ago that was garnished with rosemary... I was gonna play around with it, actually adding a rosemary syrup to the peach/vodka combo rather than just using as a garnish. Yours looks beautiful, great colour.
Your sparkler is beautiful. And I love the color gradient. Now if that doesn't scream Drink Me, Drink Me, I don't know what does :)