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Hibiscus Rhubarb Spritz
I love Spritz Cocktails in the summer. The basic ingredients of a Spritz are Prosecco, club soda and one or two additional ingredients for flavor. Since rhubarb season is here, I created this Spritz using rhubarb. Try the recipe below, my Aperol Spritz recipe or just grab a bottle of Prosecco and club soda and create your own Spritz flavors with other liquors or bitters you might have on hand. I’ll be posting more Spritz cocktail recipes throughout the summer.
Hibiscus Rhubarb Concentrate
4 c Rhubarb
1/2 c dried Hibiscus flowers
3 1/2 c Water
2 T Truvia or 1/3 cup sugar
1 lime, use a potato peeler or zester to peel the skin off the lime, try to get as little pith (the white part) as possible (juice the lime and save the juice for a different cocktail)
Before simmering Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Turn the heat down to simmer. Put on the lid and simmer for 30 minutes until the rhubarb is mushy and the water is dark red.
After simmering Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Pour / ladle into a fine mesh strainer to remove the sediment. Store the concentrate in a small covered pitcher or jar. The concentrate is good for two weeks in the fridge.
Note: I don’t really like sweet cocktails, so I tried making my concentrate without sugar and the rhubarb was way too tart. Taste the concentrate before taking it off the heat to see if you need to add more sugar.
Hibiscus Rhubarb Spritz
1 oz Aviation gin or your favorite brand
1 oz Hibiscus Rhubarb Concentrate
4 oz LaMarca Prosecco
2 oz Q club soda
Add all ingredients to a large wine goblet filled with ice. Mix well. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Hibiscus Rhubarb Spritz Non-alcoholic Hibiscus Rhubarb Lemonade
1 oz Hibiscus Rhubarb Concentrate
4 oz lemonade
2 oz club soda
Add all ingredients to a large wine goblet filled with ice. Mix well. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Cheers!
If you have a favorite Spritz cocktail, leave your recipe in the comments below.
Click on the three lines to the left of the word “lifestyle” at the top of this page and enter your email address to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Also, follow me on Instagram at cocktailsandgratitude for photos of cocktails, flowers, my pets and, someday soon, more travel.
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Hibiscus Margarita
It’s almost Cinco de Mayo so get your margarita fixings ready. I’ve already posted three margarita recipes on my blog, click on the links for those recipes and pick the one that appeals to you. My all time favorite Scratch Margarita recipe here, my Refreshing Margarita recipe with Suja juice here and my Grapefruit Margarita recipe here. I love all of these recipes, and you’ll see they all have the same basic ingredients, but I wanted to branch out a little and try something new this year. (Click on any blue words in the post for recipes or more information.)
Hibiscus Margarita Ingredients First, make a hibiscus concentrate. If you can find hibiscus flowers that’s great, (available on Amazon) but if not, just pick up a container of natural hibiscus tea at the grocery store. The Republic of Tea is a good brand.
Boil 1 1/2 cups of water
Add 1/4 cup of hibiscus flowers or several tea bags
Let steep for at least 10 minutes until the concentrate is a dark red.
Strain out the flowers and discard. Refrigerate the concentrated tea for up to one week. (I like to store my fresh juices and concentrates in Mason jars.)
To make your drink extra special you can make a hibiscus rimmer for your glass. Grind equal parts sugar and dried hibiscus flowers together with a mortar and pestle. The sugar will help break down the hibiscus petals. Then add salt to taste.
Pour a little Cointreau in a plate to wet the rim of your glass and then dip the glass in your hibiscus rimmer. Fill your glass with ice and set aside.
Hibiscus Margarita To make the margarita, combine in a cocktail shaker filled with ice:
1 1/2 oz Patron Silver tequila, or your favorite brand of tequila
1 oz Cointreau
2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1 oz hibiscus concentrate
Shake well and strain into your glass with the hibiscus rimmer and ice.
Salud!
For a non-alcoholic drink with the hibiscus concentrate try: 1 oz fresh lemon juice, 1 oz Hibiscus concentrate and 5 ounces of club soda over ice.
Click on the three lines to the left of the word “lifestyle” at the top of this page and enter your email address to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Also, follow me on Instagram at cocktailsandgratitude for photos of cocktails, flowers, my pets and, someday soon, more travel.
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Bramble
The Bramble was created in London in the 1980s. It’s a refreshing spring cocktail that basically tastes like a blackberry lemonade. Enjoy this as the weather starts to warm up.
Bramble Ingredients 1 1/2 oz Nolet Silver Gin
.75 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
.75 oz simple syrup
.5 oz Chamboard or Creme de Cassis
To make simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Chill. This will keep in the fridge for one month.
Add gin, lemon juice and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well.
Fill a glass with crushed ice and pour in gin mixture.
Top with Chambord or Creme de Cassis. Garnish with lemon and a blackberry.
Cheers!
Bramble -
Suja Margarita
I had trouble coming up with a name for this margarita… “Yummy Margarita” seemed a little subjective. I’m pretty sure the alcohol offsets any of the probiotic properties of the Suja, but trust me when I say it’s too tasty to care.
1 1/2 ounces Patron Silver or tequila of your choice
1 ounce Cointreau
1 ounce fresh lime juice (If I’m juicing multiple limes, I’ll juice 1 lemon as well to make an unsweetened sour mix.)
2 – 3 ounces Suja Vibrant Probiotic (Ingredients include strawberry, raspberry, tart cherry and lemon juice.)
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. Salt the rim (if desired) of a tall glass and fill with crushed ice. Strain over the crushed ice.
For those of you who haven’t discovered Suja juices yet, you can find them in the refrigerated fresh juice section / produce area of Target or Whole Foods.
Cheers!
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Dark & Stormy
Several years ago we were lucky enough to visit a friend in Bermuda. In the time share lounge, they had an honor bar with ingredients and recipes for several cocktails. I mixed myself a Dark & Stormy. Whenever I drink one, I think of sunshine and pink sand beaches.
We’re currently on Anna Maria Island for six weeks and I recently had a Dark & Stormy. It tastes just as good on white sand beaches!
Dark & Stormy (photo bomb by Sylvia, the flamingo) 2 ounces Dark Rum (I used Goslings)
5 ounces Goslings Ginger Beer (regular or diet)
Lime wedge
Add ingredients to a glass filled with ice. Stir gently to mix.
Enjoy while thinking of your favorite sandy beach.
Cheers!
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Grapefruit – Lychee Fizz*
I discovered this light refreshing cocktail in Alys Beach, Florida.
1 1/2 oz St. George Botanivore Gin
1 oz Giffard Lichi-Li
1/2 oz fresh Ruby Red Grapefruit juice
1/4 oz fresh Lime juice
Club soda
Combine first four ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a tall glass filled with crushed ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with grapefruit, if desired.
*cocktail recipe from Neat at Alys Beach
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Rhubarb Gimlet
It’s rhubarb season! Instead of baking with it, I suggest making a cocktail. This is a French Gimlet with rhubarb and Aperol.
Rhubarb Simple Syrup
Combine 1 – 1 ½ cups of chopped red rhubarb, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stir until all sugar is dissolved, simmer for 15 more minutes until rhubarb has broken down and the sauce has started to thicken. Turn off the burner and let cool. After I turned off the burner, I added in several strips of lemon peel. Once cool, pour the simple syrup through a mesh strainer, discard the rhubarb pulp and lemon peel. Refrigerate the simple syrup for up to 1 week.Cocktail
2 oz gin (I used Dampfwerk Barreled Gin again)
2 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1 oz Aperol
2 oz fresh lime juice
2 oz rhubarb syrup
Combine in shaker. Shake well. Pour over ice in a rocks glass or serve up in a coupe.
Garnish with a lime twist.
Cheers!
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Strawberry Rosé Cocktail
Saturday is National Rosé Day, so I’m posting a simple Rosé cocktail.Use your favorite Rosé (still or sparkling) or buy one from this list of The 25 Best Rosé Wines of 2018.
Make your ice cubes and strawberry simple syrup on Thursday or Friday, so all you have to do on Saturday is combine.
Strawberry Ice cubes
Slice 2 – 3 strawberries and place in an empty ice cube tray. Fill with water and freeze.
Strawberry Simple Syrup
Combine 1 cup of sliced strawberries, 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a low simmer and stir until all the sugar is dissolved, simmer for 10 more minutes to extract the strawberries juices. Turn off the stove and let cool. Pour the simple syrup through a fine mesh strainer, (the left over strawberries don’t look great, but they taste delicious. Add them to a smoothie, or on top of oatmeal or ice cream.) Refrigerate the strawberry simple syrup for up to 1 week.
Cocktail
Fill a goblet with strawberry ice cubes.
Fill 3/4 of the glass with Rosé and 1 ounce (or a splash, if you don’t want to measure) of strawberry simple syrup. Stir.
Garnish with a fresh strawberry.
Cheers!
If you have any strawberry simple syrup left over, add a splash to a glass of fresh lemonade.
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Vodka Sour
I’ve been trying to cut out refined sugar so I did some experimenting with this cocktail. I tried three different sweeteners. The first one was organic coconut sugar, the second was organic cane sugar and the third was raw honey. I made simple syrups with the sugars using a 1:1 ratio with water. (Heat and stir until the
sugar crystals completely dissolve.) The coconut sugar made a gross brown simple syrup that turned me off, but the awful taste sealed the deal. That one was out. The cane sugar simple syrup and honey were actually very similar in taste, so whichever you have on hand or prefer to use will work. Note that I did use less honey than simple syrup.2 oz vodka
3/4 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz organic cane sugar simple syrup OR 1/2 oz raw honey
Lemon twist
If you use honey, stir or shake your liquids well before adding ice or the honey will firm up and be more difficult to incorprate.
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake well. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Cheers!
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Raspberry Bellini
This is a great brunch cocktail.
12 oz raspberries, frozen
1 peach, sliced and frozen
2 cups peach puree, chilled
1.5L bottle of Prosecco, chilled
Slice peach and freeze. Wash raspberries and freeze. (If peaches and raspberries aren’t in season, buy frozen.) Combine all ingredients in a pitcher or punch bowl. If you don’t have peaches, make ice cubes from additional peach puree and add to the pitcher or punch bowl to keep the Bellinis chilled.
Cheers! (and Happy 23rd Birthday, Nathan!)