I have a thing for ginger beer. I usually use it in cocktails (see here), and in fairly large quantities.
But for this cocktail right hurr, I prefer just a splash. There is some delicious citrus action going on, and it would be a shame to hide it.
Now, I feel I should warn you: this cocktail is really easy to drink.
Plus, it looks festive and celebrates the arrival of the best part of winter: citrus!
Sounds like a great way to kick off a New Year’s Eve party to me…
Or a Saturday afternoon. Whichever.
This cocktail is like a winter margarita, if that’s a thing. You’ve got your tequila, your citrus… but it’s all fancied up and seasonally appropriate.
Speaking of which, let’s have a quick conversation about tequila. There’s a lesson that I learned well into my love/hate relationship with it: make sure the bottle you’re buying says “100% blue agave” on it. Otherwise your awesome night might lead into a decidedly less awesome morning.
You may see cheaper varieties that say something like “made with blue agave” – no percentage. Stay away! Translation: hangover.
Ok, now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s make some cocktails!
If you want to make these for a large party (or just make life easier), you could scale up the proportions of blood orange juice, tequila and lime juice, combine them in a pitcher, and stir well. Pour 1/2 cup of this mixture into a prepared glass and top off with a splash of ginger beer.
Cheers to 2013!
Ginger Blood Orange Cocktail
From Food Porn Daily
Below is the recipe straight from the book. I add only a splash of ginger beer, since the kind I keep on hand is extraordinarily strong. I would recommend starting there and working your way up to the 3 ounces in the recipe.
Also, while freshly squeezed blood orange juice is super cool, blood oranges can be expensive/hard to find. You can get bottles of blood orange juice at swanky grocery stores like Whole Foods.
Ingredients
For garnishing all drinks:
- 1/4 cup blood orange juice
- zest from one blood orange
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- slices of blood orange for garnish (very optional)
For each individual drink:
- ice
- 2 ounces blood orange juice
- 1.5 ounces tequila
- juice from 1 wedge of lime
- 3 ounces strong ginger beer
Method
- Place 1/4 cup blood orange juice into a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine blood orange zest and sugar.
- Dip the rim of a glass into juice first and then into the sugar mixture to coat the rim evenly. Fill the glass with ice.
- In a cocktail shaker, combine 1 cup of ice with 2 ounces blood orange juice, 1.5 ounces tequila, and the juice from a lime wedge. Shake vigorously. Pour into the prepared glass and top off with desired amount of ginger beer (see above). Stir and enjoy!
