This post was sponsored by Montellier Sparkling Water. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Grapefruit, lime, rosemary, ginger and vodka with a splash of sparkling water. With those ingredients, I think this drink should be renamed to Winter’s Healing Cocktail!
I have a confession. I was a late bloomer with cocktail consumption. In my twenties when Sex and the City was at its peak, every Generation X’er was drinking Cosmopolitans pre dinner. I however would always order a simple unadulterated glass of red wine. I was a purist when it came to alcohol. Anything mixed with syrups and fruits then shaken with ice and priced over $15 did not rock my boat. I felt I was too “mature” (and perhaps frugal!) to have spiked fruit punch before dinner.
Well the pendulum has definitely swung the other way. Now cocktails are my new obsession. The flavour combos are infinite. The whole shaken or stirred, ice or no ice, to garnish or not, to make it fizz or flat, warm or cold and to find the appropriate glass to reflect the cocktail’s personality are not immature at all. It’s really and truly ART. Or as I like to call it now. Its like cake in a glass!
So back to my Grapefruit Rosemary Vodka Fizz aka “Winter’s Healing Cocktail”….Initially I wanted to make this with blood oranges for a gorgeous ruby hue. But after searching all my local grocers, I realized it’s just a bit too early on in the season. I settled with grapefruit, but after concocting this cocktail, I realized I didn’t settle. This cocktail was meant to be made with grapefruit. The sour, sweet and tart taste of grapefruit mixed with the earthy rosemary and zesty zing of the ginger is sublime. Grapefruit was totally the right choice. But it needed something else. Something to elevate it to give it that festive feel. It needed…fizz…like that tingle you get when you drink champagne. It needed Montelier’s Sparkling Water. That bubbly sensation that essentially tells you it’s time to celebrate. And Montellier Sparkling Water is just that. The perfect Festive fizz. And it’s all sourced in Quebec Canada.
This recipe can easily be made virgin (non-alcoholic). Just swap out the vodka with half grapefruit juice and half Montellier Sparkling Water.
Happy Holidays!
Please Enjoy Alcohol Responsibly!
Visit http://www.montellier.ca/en/ for more information
Follow them on Instagram: @Montelliercanada
- For the Rosemary/Ginger Syrup: (makes about 100 ml)
- 1/2 cup or 125 grams sugar
- 1/2 cup or 125 ml or 4.2 ounces water
- 3 Springs of Rosemary plus more for garnishings
- 20-25 grams (about 2 tablespoons) skin on ginger sliced/chopped
- 1 Cup or 250 ml or 8 ounces of about 1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (works out to 1- 1.5 large grapefruits)
- 2 tablespoons or 30 ml or 1 ounce juice from 1 freshly squeezed lime
- 1/3 cup vodka or 75 ml or 2 1/2 ounces
- 1 1/3 cup or 329 ml or 11 ounces chilled Montellier Sparkling Water
- Cut rosemary up into chunks and hit with back of knife to release some aroma. Set aside
- In saucepan, heat the sugar and water on medium high and stir until sugar has dissolved and comes to a boil.
- Drop rosemary and chopped ginger with skin on in the pot of slightly boiling sugar water and lightly boil for 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce heat and simmer for about 8-10 minutes
- Turn heat off and cover syrup with pot lid for 15 minutes or longer so that it can steep
- Once the syrup has completely cooled, pour through sieve into a small jar and pop into fridge. (save the ginger for cooking or add to a glass of Montelllier Sparkling Water for a simple ginger fizzy drink)
- You will be left with about 100 ml of syrup
- In a measuring cup, with reamer, extract juices from grapefruit and lime.
- Pour into cocktail mixer through sieve and add the vodka
- Add the cooled rosemary/ginger syrup and stir.
- Then add a few ice cubes and shake!
- Pour about 110 ml (a bit less than half a cup) of the juice/syrup/voda cocktail mix into each of the 4 cocktail glasses
- Top up with a generous 1/3 cup fresh cold Montellier Sparkling water in each cocktail glass
- Add ice (optional)
- Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and/or a slice of grapefruit
- Cocktails can be made a couple days ahead. Add Montellier Sparkling water just before serving. Enjoy.