Blood Orange Rosemary Spritz mocktail recipe
Blood orange, a short rosemary syrup and cold soda in a dry, ruby spritz.
Method: Build · Glass: Stemmed wine glass · Time: 5 minutes · Difficulty: Beginner
Ingredients
- 2 oz fresh blood orange juice
- ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz rosemary syrup
- 4 oz chilled club soda
- to fill large ice cubes
How to make it
- Fill a chilled stemmed wine glass with large ice cubes.
- Add blood orange juice, lemon juice and rosemary syrup.
- Top slowly with cold club soda and lift once from the bottom.
- Clap the rosemary once between your palms and tuck it beside the orange wheel.
Garnish
A rosemary sprig and thin blood-orange wheel
Why this balance works
Blood orange can be sweet enough to lose its edge over ice. Lemon keeps the fruit direct, while the rosemary syrup should read as a scent before it reads as sweetness. Start at a half ounce of syrup and add no more unless the oranges are unusually tart. Cold soda is important here: warm bubbles flatten quickly and make the drink feel rounder than intended.
Technique to keep
Treat rosemary as a short infusion, not a long steep. Simmer a small sprig in simple syrup for a few minutes, then remove it and cool the syrup. Leaving the herb in too long makes the flavour woody. In the glass, clapping the garnish opens its aroma without dropping bruised needles into the drink. Build the still ingredients first, then add soda and use one lift rather than a full stir.
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