Blood Orange Gin Sparkler
The citrus gin cocktail you want to be drinking. It's bright and beautiful - perfect for winter holidays and New Years Eve.
For a good part of the year I have rosemary floating about the kitchen. It's typically crowded in a wide-mouth jar, standing stick-straight, quietly waiting to be called upon. Sometimes it sits on the windowsill here, other times it migrates to the island, or, on rare occasions, the dinner table. I tend to buy a bunch, then work my way through it little by little (you've likely seen it in the background of photos on previous posts). Said another way - rosemary is often in my line of sight, and I'm always looking for ways to use it. This cocktail caught my attention a couple weeks back, and I've been making my own citrus-spiked riff on it in the days since.
So...my initial idea was that I'd do a winter citrus version using freshly-squeezed pink grapefruit juice, gin, and tonic water or sparkling water. I thought the evergreen notes in the gin would blend nicely with the tart pucker of grapefruit, and I'd take the edge off with a hint of rosemary syrup.
Not meant to be.
I walked into a box of beautiful Moro blood oranges at the store, and here we are. The blood orange juice worked beautifully, it added a lovely burst of color, and generally lent itself agreeably to what ended up being a long, bright, winter-time quencher. One that goes down a bit too easily, in fact. As I mention down below, if blood oranges are hard for you to come by, this drink is great with navel oranges as well. I mean it when I say, I hope you like this one as much as I do.
I kept thinking the gin / citrus combo would make for a striking DIY cocktail set-up at a holiday party, or New Year's brunch /gathering. Particularly if you offered a selection of juice mixers. I'm imagining small glass pitchers of blood orange juice, pink grapefruit juice, orange juice, oro blanco grapefruit juice, and or sweet lime juice? It would be a beautiful spectrum. Let me know if you give it a go.
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Blood Orange Gin Sparkler
You can keep the rosemary simple syrup in the refrigerator for a week or so. You can do this ahead of time. Also, if blood oranges are hard for you to come by - navel oranges are also delicious.
- 2 cups / 480 ml water
- 1 cup / 6.5 oz / 185 g sugar
- 4 tablespoons (~2 sprigs-worth) fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- blood oranges
- gin
- ice cubes
- tonic water (or sparkling water)
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Combine the water, sugar, rosemary, and bay in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer for 3-5 minutes, or long enough for the sugar to dissolve, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let infuse for 10 minutes. Strain into a jar to cool completely.
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In the meantime, juice and strain your oranges, you'll need 3 tablespoons / 1.5 ounces of juice for each drink.
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To make each drink you're going to combine equal parts gin, juice, and tonic water with a bit of syrup and ice. So, its 3 tablespoons / 1 1/2 oz gin, 3 tablespoons / 1 1/2 oz freshly squeezed blood orange juice, and 1-2 teaspoons of the rosemary syrup in each tall glass (I used kolsch glasses here). Stir to combine, fill each glass 2/3 full with ice and top off with 3 tablespoons / 1 1/2 oz tonic water. Stir again and you're set.
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Lovely cocktail, but you may consider reducing the amount of rosemary sugar syrup recommended in the recipe. It made enough for about 40 cocktails Perfect for a warm summer afternoon.
I didn’t know a drink could make me so happy. Your drink recipes are pure genius. You’ve managed to turn this simple beverage into a work of art. It is truly a taste revelation. Cheers to the perfect blend of flavours!
Beautiful, thank you.
looks delish – i LOVE blood orange.
side note – i’ve been looking for glasses like that for a lllllong time, where did you find them??? 🙂
HS: Hi Nat, I just pick up most of my glassware at flea markets, garage sales, or antiqes shops. These were a recent find.
My husband and I made these together with blood oranges from our neighboorhood’s orchard. The rosemary simple syrup is amazing. I wish my whole house could smell like that. This is a wonderful cocktail, and we can’t wait to bring a pitcher to our next party
We have made it a few times. I found we like to add a sprig of rosemary and a squeeze of lemon into the final product. We juiced the blood oranges ourselves…yum!
We made a batch of this tonight to go with our beans and rice dinner. I think the drinks ended up costing more than the food. A++ would drink again.
This looks amazing! I will have to try it out soon 🙂
I made these for New Years Eve and they were absolutely delish! I found that = parts of the juice, gin and tonic worked great. I did 1/4 cup of each, loaded the glass with ice and used 3 tsp. of the simple syrup…yummy perfect blend and the hint of rosemary was just right. Thanks so much for something different. 🙂
Lovely! Blood oranges are perfect!
As always, you’re photos are so perfect and inviting! My friend and I made a batch of these (with store bought blood orange juice) and loved them!! The rosemary was lovely!
Made these for New Year’s last night. They were stupendous. The rosemary and bay leaf really come through in the syrup and blend gorgeously with the gin and juice. Used some tangerine and some blood orange juice. Thanks for the fantastic recipe.
This is delicious. I made different drinks with grapefruit and oranges. On my second batch of simple syrup. The first lasted fairly well for 5 days.
Thanks so much for the rosemary simple syrup idea! I made some today and had trouble not just drinking down the jar of it when it was finished. Super delicious!
These look so delicious! Here in Vancouver, B.C., we get a variety of orange in Jan or Feb called a Cara Cara…it’s a hybrid between a naval orange and a grapefruit with lovely pink flesh. Do you get them in SF? I bet these would be a good substitute if blood oranges aren’t available. Love the recipes, Heidi. Keep ’em coming:)
I missed farmer’s market this week but noticed at the store there was a blood orange italian soda. So I am going to try that instead. Make the simple syrup with rosemary maybe a little less sugar not sure will have to see how sweet the soda is. Will let you know how it goes. Brining it to our NYE party.
Oooh what better way to enjoy winter than with a citrus cocktail. Looks beautiful!
When I first looked at the photo I thought, “Ooh, a Peanut Brittle plant. What is that?!” Ahh…rosemary. In a recycled jar. haha Perhaps I need more sleep.
it looks fantastic! i will have to make it for my mother and father sometime, i know they will love it!
fantastic idea on mixing blood oranges and gin together, i love it! 🙂
thank you for posting this amazing recipe up!
Where did you find your flute glasses? They’re gorgeous!
Rosemary + Blood Orange = yes, please. Heidi: we must get together for the New Year. I hope you had a wonderful. restful holiday at home. xox
Made these this weekend for the holiday and they were absolutely fantastic! The rosemary/bay leaf simple syrup was amazing and added the perfect layer to the blood orange and gin. Can’t wait to make them again. Thinking about trying it with meyer lemons for an adult lemonade sparkler.
Yum! I *cannot* wait to try this….
What gin do you recommend? and what’s the one featured in the picture?
Thanks!
Look greats!!! We rarely get blood oranges 🙂 but next time i get some i’m gonna give this drink a shot hehe seems really refreshing and I LOVE the long shot classes hehe
Sounds delicious, will have to try it. I’ve been a big fan of Negroni’s this holiday. Equal parts gin, campari and sweet vermouth…
anna x
I couldn’t find blood oranges so I made this with navel oranges and key limes…it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
This sounds great! If only I drank gin… 🙁
Heidi – I’m a new bride-to-be trying to set up my first real kitchen, and you’re one of my greatest inspirations. I’ve scoured the pictures in each of your posts for hints as to what tools you have in your kitchen. I love how you share your favorite items every few months — would you mind sharing your favorite kitchen tools, too? Where did you get your beautiful old wood cutting board or your gorgeous assortment of bowls?
Thanks for the inspiration!
Heaven in a glass!
omg! looks delicious! i love blood orange anything & wow!!! 😀 great photos too!
I also noticed the Rosemary Gin Fizz recipe a couple weeks ago and fired it up last night to poor reviews. Think our club soda was old. I regrouped and improvised my own concoction – 2 parts gin, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part St. Germain, 1 part rosemary simple syrup. We called it “Pulse Points” because is smells good enough to dab on your wrists. Delicious. Now I have another wonderful recipe to use with the rest of my rosemary simple syrup. Thank you!
In the vein of the blood orange sparkler, I had an inspiration yesterday and finally got round to trying it today. I took the following (give or take, to your liking):
juice from 1 1/2 meyer lemons
~2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
~1 tablespoon agave nectar
mix together and add about 4-5 teaspoons to [some] fizzy water. Of course, adding a splash of the alcohol of your choice (vodka? gin?) probably wouldn’t hurt either. It’s very refreshing!
We made these delicious cocktails last night! We couldn’t find blood oranges so used cara cara navel oranges…perfect! We also made up your Carrot Almond Salad. Thank you for the recipes!
This looks absolutely delicious. I’m wild about anything rosemary, gin (esp. locals like No. 209 and Anchor’s Junipero!), and blood orange, so… perfect! I’ve enjoyed rosemary G&Ts from Jerry Traunfeld’s Herbal Cooking; I’d imagine this drink has similarly bitter-sweet-pine flavors. And what a lovely blush color.
My heart goes out to your neighbors, as well!
These cocktails look beautiful. I will try them out when I get home. I just invested in a bottle of Hendrix gin and am excited to play with it.
I hope your neighbours are all right. I’m down in Santa Ana right now and we felt those winds the other day as well.
Nice to see you’re using St. George Spirits gin!! My husband brought me Monkey 47 Schwartzwald Dry Gin from Germany. Will be trying it out in this recipe. Cheers!
Heidi, I have clicked over to this recipe about a dozen times since you’ve posted it. We’re out in the Midwest for the holidays, but I can’t wait to get home and get my hands on some blood oranges. Happy holidays!
This would be good for a summer dessert — a granita or sorbet. Also, a dry version might be useful — more interaction between herbs and citrus.
Oh…the rosemary I used – it was a gift from my mother and step-father – from their winter garden.
Just in time! I made this drink for the adults at our Annual Polar Express Party last night. It was a big hit. There weren’t any blood oranges at the store, so I mixed grapefruit and orange. The juniper, rosemary, bay combo is delightful This will be our go to cocktail for all the holiday festivities.
Best wishes to your neighbors. This time of year should be about cocktails and bells, when tragedy strikes it only accentuates the impact.
Put a slice of orange to top, and make it a real cocktail.
Just in time. I have the gin, I have the rosemary. I’ll have to settle for the awkward-to-juice mandarins that are crowding my back door. Thanks!
Beautiful photo and writing on this post. I wonder how this blood orange/rosemary combo would work as a base for champagne around New Year’s.
Thanks again for a beautiful post. I’m becoming a regular reader & admirer.
I’m so glad we are finally rolling in to orange season. Here in the midwest, it’s the only time of year we can hope to find an orange HALF and delicious as those in your blog post. Looks like such a refreshing recipe.
I love the color on this and I love blood oranges! I just posted a recipe about pretty pink cranberry gin jello shots that would go well with this cocktail for a party. Thanks!
this looks so delicious and refreshing!
Tis the season for rich eggnog and buttery hot toddies, but I love how refreshing and bright (and seasonal) this gin sparkler is. I think it’s perfect for a new year celebration. Cheers!
Mmmm, this looks so good. Thanks for the reminder that it’s blood orange season!
blood oranges are so gorgeous, and i love the layers of color in the drink! yum 🙂
Love this! It’s so yummy looking!
I made the original version for a cocktail party last weekend and it was a huge hit. Perfect, festive wintertime cocktail! Thanks, Heidi.
Thanks so much for posting a drink recipe. This one is lovely and your photos are really beautiful (as always).
Your block will be in our prayers – glad to hear everyone was safe! – what an ordeal to go through at any time of year.
Can you make it without the gin? I don’t drink alcohol but would like to try this cocktail in a “dry” version…
Peace
Wow, this looks great! I saw that recipe as well and have been enjoying it for the last week or so. This looks like a wonderful variation, and it is beautiful 🙂
this looks great! I love herbal cocktails, next up I want to try a lavender-inspired drink
How funny, I just came across a fresh peach cocktail a few weeks ago that was garnished with rosemary… I was gonna play around with it, actually adding a rosemary syrup to the peach/vodka combo rather than just using as a garnish. Yours looks beautiful, great colour.
Your sparkler is beautiful. And I love the color gradient. Now if that doesn’t scream Drink Me, Drink Me, I don’t know what does 🙂
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