Refreshing Blood Orange Vodka Sparkler Cocktail
Enjoy citrus season with this refreshing blood orange vodka sparkler. With its gorgeous color and tart, delicious flavor, this drink is perfect for brightening up a happy hour.
It can feel like winter doesn’t have much to offer when you’re cold, the skies are grey, and the garden is at rest. Fortunately, there are a few bright spots in the dead of winter and one of those bright spots is orange season!
Citrus fruits are the perfect winter delight as they are loaded with vitamin C and taste the sweetest from December – May.
This time of year, I love adding lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit to everything I can! Salads, yogurt, smoothies, and toast are all adorned with orange slices, lime and lemon juice, and more.
Of course, one of my favorite ways to use citrus, especially blood oranges, is making citrus cocktails. The juice of the blood orange has a vibrant color and a sweet yet tart flavor that makes for a well-balanced, beautiful cocktail.
Blood Orange Vodka Cocktail
There are so many amazing ways to use blood oranges in cocktails. You can use any liquor you like, but I personally think blood oranges and vodka go perfectly together.
This blood orange vodka sparkler comes together in just a couple of minutes and has a refreshing, tangy flavor that is sure to satisfy.
Why You’ll Love This Cocktail
- Simple ingredients
- Easy to make
- Perfect for parties and hosting
- Adaptable to any preferences or dietary needs
- Beautiful color
Blood Orange Mocktail
This recipe makes a delicious blood orange mocktail! To make it virgin, simply omit the vodka and add more seltzer water. Sweet, fruity, and refreshing, it’s the perfect alcohol-free beverage!
Ingredients
Fresh blood oranges: The star of the show! Blood oranges have a unique flavor and a deep red color that make this drink a showstopper.
Vodka: You want to use a good vodka in this recipe; quality does matter. Feel free to substitute your favorite liquor instead.
Seltzer water: Plain club soda works great or try it with flavored seltzer water for a twist.
Simple syrup: We will be using honey simple syrup for this recipe because the flavor compliments blood orange juice beautifully. You can also substitute regular simple syrup or maple syrup.
Lime juice: I always recommend fresh juice. The bottled lime juice just doesn’t taste the same.
Variations
Switch up the citrus: This recipe is all about the blood oranges, but you can use another type of orange or even grapefruit instead.
Add a flavored simple syrup: Have some fun with the simple syrup by making it with rosemary, strawberries, raspberries, or another flavor that would go well with blood orange.
Garnishes: Have fun with your garnishes. Use sprigs of fresh herbs like rosemary or mint, a citrus slice, dried oranges, or edible flowers.
Make it a mule: Instead of honey syrup and club soda, use ginger beer to make this recipe a blood orange vodka mule. Serve it in a copper mug for the full effect.
Blood Orange vs. Grapefruit
Blood oranges and grapefruits are often confused, but they are very different from each other. While both fruits are citrus, their flavors, size, and color are unique.
Blood oranges are much smaller than grapefruits and their flavor is sweeter than grapefruit, though generally less sweet than regular oranges. Blood oranges have an orange or redish peel and the flesh is a deep red or purple color.
Grapefruits are very large members of the citrus family and they have a distinctly sour and bitter flavor. Grapefruits have a pale orange-yellow peel with pink flesh on the inside.
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How to Make Honey Simple Syrup
I like using honey simple syrup to avoid refined sugar and add a unique flavor to my cocktails. Honey syrup is the perfect flavor to go with this citrussy, bright cocktail!
Ingredients
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Combine the honey and the water in a small saucepan.
- Heat the mixture on low heat, stirring to help the honey dissolve.
- Once the honey is completely dissolved, remove the syrup from the heat. Don’t cook longer than necessary.
- Allow the syrup to cool completely before using it in a cocktail.
- Store in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.
Equipment
All you really need for this recipe is a measuring cup and a jar to shake it in. If you want to make the process a little easier, though, you may consider this cocktail-making equipment:
More Delicious Cocktails You’ll Love
Refreshing Blood Orange Vodka Sparkler Cocktail
Enjoy citrus season with this refreshing blood orange vodka sparkler. With its gorgeous color and tart, delicious flavor, this drink it perfect for brightening up a happy hour.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces blood orange juice
- 4 ounces vodka
- 1 ounce honey simple syrup
- 2 ounces lime juice
- Seltzer water
- Rosemary for a garnish
- Extra lime juice and sugar for a sugar rim
Instructions
- Gather two glasses, roughly 16 ounces in volume
- Dip the rim of each glass in lime juice, then sugar to create a sugar rim.
- Combine the juices, simple syrup, and vodka in a cocktail shaker with large ice cubes. Shake well.
- Add fresh ice to each glass, then pour the cocktail shaker out into the glasses, straining the ice out with the shaker lid.
- Top each cocktail off with seltzer water to the top.
- Garnish with sprigs of rosemary and a slice of blood orange
