Ruby Red and Rosemary Honey Cocktail

“A beautiful and light winter cocktail made with fresh grapefruit juice, vodka, lemon, rosemary and honey”.

Ingredients:

• Honey simple syrup
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup water

Cocktail Ingredients:

• 2 parts fresh ruby red grapefruit juice
• 1 ½ parts vodka (or gin)
• ½ small lemon, juiced
• ¼ to ½ part honey simple syrup
• 2 inch sprig of rosemary
• tiny dash of sea salt
• 2 to 3 inch sprig of Rosemary

Instructions

First, juice the grapefruits and make the honey simple syrup. I was bringing this to the family on Thanksgiving day and made the simple syrup the night before and stored it in a pint size mason jar (of course I quadrupled the recipe not know how much I would need. Needless to say I have a lot left over). I also juiced the grapefruit and lemons in the morning and stored the grapefruit juice in a pint size jar and the lemon juice in a half pint jar.

To make the simple syrup, pour the honey and water into a small saucepan and warm over medium heat. Use a whisk to blend the honey into the water and remove from heat (there is no need to bring the mixture to a simmer, this process should only take a couple of minutes).

Fill a small cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in the grapefruit juice, vodka, lemon juice and honey simple syrup. Top with a sprig of rosemary and a dash of salt, the salt works. Unless you can’t have salt, I would recommend leaving it in. Just a small dash is sufficient.

Put on the lid and shake until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 20 seconds.

Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a small sprig of rosemary. Serve immediately.

What a wonderful cocktail. It was the hit of Thanksgiving and everyone wanted a bit more just to make the occasion just a bit more merry and bright. I was even sent a message the next day telling me that was the favorite part of Thanksgiving.

Fresh is the way to go. Fresh citrus makes such a difference in a cocktail. To give you an idea, I juiced three grapefruit and it almost filled a pint size mason jar. Two lemons filled the half pint jar almost half way. Quadrupling the simple syrup was way too much. Doubling would have been enough. For me, it yielded about fifteen two ounce cocktails.

Gin would also be lovely in this cocktail.
Leftover honey simple syrup should keep well, refrigerated and covered, for several weeks.
You can use store-bought grapefruit juice if you’d like, but freshly squeezed juice tastes better.

Adapted by Author: Cookie and Kate