rhubarb – cocktails & gratitude

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)

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.

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.

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.

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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!