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Valentine’s Day Cocktails
For Valentine’s Day, I’m thinking either champagne or red cocktails… or red champagne cocktails. 🙂 Here’s a round-up of some of my favorites. (Click on the blue words below for more information or to purchase.)
Sorbet Champagne Float Sorbet Champagne Float
Raspberries
Place a ball of sorbet in a chilled coupe, top with champagne and berries. Serve with a spoon. You could even serve this for dessert, just use a chilled dessert dish and increase the size of the sorbet scoop.
Cherry Champagne Cocktail Cherry Champagne Cocktail
Luxardo cherries (do not refrigerate or the syrup will crystalize – speaking from experience)
1 oz Cherry liqueur (I used Heering)
Fresh lemon juice
Drop a Luxardo cherry in the bottom of a chilled champagne coupe or flute. Use a spoon to drizzle a tablespoon of Luxardo syrup in the glass. Top with 1 oz cherry liqueur and a few drops of fresh squeezed lemon juice (this will enhance the cherry), then top with Champagne or Prosecco. Garnish with a lemon peel.
Below are two Hibiscus Cocktails. Make the hibiscus concentrate in advance so it has time to chill.
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, remove from heat
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 in a sealed container for up to one week. (I like to store my concentrate in Mason jars.)
Hibiscus Gin Spritz Hibiscus Gin Spritz
1 oz Aviation gin or your favorite brand
1 oz Hibiscus Concentrate
4 oz LaMarca Prosecco
2 oz Q club soda
Add all ingredients to a large wine goblet filled with ice. Stir gently. If you’d like, garnish with a lime wheel.
Hibiscus Margarita To make your Hibiscus Margarita extra special, make a hibiscus rimmer for your glass. Grind equal parts sugar and dried hibiscus flowers together with a mortar and pestle until you have a fine pink powder. (The sugar helps 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, 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.
For a non-alcoholic hibiscus cocktail, I love the hibiscus concentrate with lemonade and a splash of club soda.
Cheers!
What are you drinking on Valentine’s Day?
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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, eventually, more travel.
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Rosemary Hibiscus Gin Spritz
I had leftover Hibiscus Rosemary Concentrate from my New Year’s Eve Hibiscus champagne cocktail, so I created this new Spritz. Remember, there are three basic ingredients for a spritz: liquor / liqueur, bubbles and soda. You can always add additional ingredients to create more complex flavors, as I’ve done below. (Click blue words for more recipes or additional information.)
Add to a cocktail shaker:
2 oz of your favorite herbal gin (I used The Botanist)
1 oz Rosemary Hibiscus Concentrate (recipe below photo) If you’re not a fan of hibiscus or just don’t want to make the concentrate, try the cocktail without the concentrate. I bet it’s delicious!
1 1/2 oz St Germain Elderflower Liqueur (this liqueur compliments gin nicely, add a splash to your gin and tonic or gin and soda)
Fill shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a large wine or water goblet with fresh ice cubes, then top with:
4 oz Prosecco (I used LaMarca)
2 oz club soda
Stir gently. Garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary. (Rub the rosemary between your fingers before adding to release the oils.)
Cheers!
Hibiscus Gin Spritz Hibiscus Rosemary 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 and a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary
Let steep for at least 10 minutes until the concentrate is a dark red.
Strain out the flowers and rosemary, discard. Refrigerate the concentrated tea for up to one week. (If you have any leftover concentrate, try it in the Hibiscus margarita or the Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail.)
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.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn money from qualifying purchases.
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, eventually, more travel.