Driveway Drinks: Blood Orange & Rosemary Gimlet
Somebody order a pizza and crank up the Christmas tunes. It's Friday in December, there's (a dusting of) snow in the forecast, the house is glittering with Christmas lights and bottle brush trees, and I'm finally feeling like I'm caught up with the rest of the world after being in and out of real life while traveling for awhile (I know, poor me. Just had to go to Mexico and San Francisco and then New York). Anyway seeing as how I've pretty much been non stop celebrating since October, seems like a good time to have a festive cocktail! Is there anything better? This Friday I'm kicking off my Christmasy weekend with this delicious Blood Orange & Rosemary Gimlet. Let's get mixing.
A gimlet by definition is gin, simple syrup and lime juice. Delicious, don't get me wrong- but something about this time of year just calls for a little flourish. Tis the season to NOT be a minimalist, amirite? I've got weird decorations placed all over my house to add a little festive touch to the house-- and so clearly I'm not gonna stop at my cocktail.
It's still a little early for Blood Oranges to show up in the grocery store, but Italian blood orange soda is a year round commodity, which not only makes this a seasonal cocktail, but also a year round one! I picked some up at the store last week and I just knew it was destined for a drink. Gin and rosemary play really well together plus-- gin reminds me of Christmas time (thanks to the piney juniper berry and perhaps also my families proclivity to drink them during the season), and I somehow even after some frigid mornings still have rosemary living in my garden. What I mean to say is, this drink practically fell into my lap! All I had to do was look around. I also added just a few dashes of orange bitters to accentuate the somewhat bitter blood orange juice that might get lost in sweet Italian-soda form but adds a lot of complexity to a cocktail. It almost (almost) takes on the vibe of an aperitif. Just a little boozier.
This one is easy to make for guests at a party because it doesn't have a million ingredients, but is festive and flavorful. Who wouldn't like to mingle with guests while sipping a delicious red and green and christmasy cocktail?
Blood Orange & Rosemary Gimlet
Ingredients
1.5 oz of your favorite gin
3 oz cold Italian blood orange soda (look for it near the perrier or san pelligrino!)
2-3 dashes of orange bitters (optional but encouraged!)
Sprig of rosemary for garnish, festivity and good cheer!
Method
I like all the ingredients to be super cold in this one. If you are using regular blood orange juice instead of soda, you can mix everything in the shaker, if you're using soda-- I would strongly recommend not to shake that. Been there, done it. Wasn't thinking. Soda EVERYWHERE.
Fill a rocks glass with clear ice, and add 3 oz blood orange Italian soda and bitters.
Place a few cubes of ice and gin in a cocktail shaker and shake until nice and frosty. Pour into glass with soda and stir carefully to combine. Garnish with rosemary!
