“Cocktail Hour” is a monthly series in which I try my hand at making simple yet impressive cocktails at home.
When brainstorming cocktail recipes, herbs are often my favorite place to start. Herbs can act as that essential base note in a cocktail, and I just love figuring out what other flavors to pair them with. For this month’s Cocktail Hour, I wanted to start with wintery rosemary. It has an irresistible piney aroma and is so pretty, it can make a glass of water look elegant.
Scotch whisky possesses a wonderful (well, if you’re into whisky to begin with) warming woody aroma that pairs perfectly with rosemary. To balance all that woodyness, I decided to go with the summery flavor of apricot, and to top it all off with some sparkle, Sanpallegrino Aranciata - a classy Italian cross between seltzer and orange soda.
Christmas in July (Apricot-Rosemary Cocktail)
(Yield: 2 cocktails)
Ingredients:
- 3 oz Scotch whisky
- 4 oz apricot nectar
- Sanpallegrino Aranciata
- 2 sprigs rosemary
Procedure: Combine whisky and apricot nectar in a shaker with ice. Shake for several seconds and pour into two 6-ounce glasses. Top with Aranciata. To make the rosemary garnish, take a sprig of rosemary between your thumb and pointer finger and hold it over a lit match, turning it to warm the whole sprig (this releases rosemary’s essential oils). Swirl the cocktail with warmed rosemary before dropping it into the glass; repeat with second sprig.
love the ingredients of this cocktail! will have to give it a try!