An Awesome Pomegranate Cocktail with Sparkling Wine!
‘Tis the season for cheers-ing, boozing, eating, and living your best life. There are a few festive cocktails on the blog, but this one is the ultimate holiday cheer of cocktails. There’s pomegranate juice (so it’s clearly healthy, too), gin (or vodka!), grapefruit juice, rosemary maple syrup, and sparkling wine!
You may have a couple of immediate questions. Rosemary maple syrup? Sparkling wine AND booze? Don’t worry. The rosemary maple syrup is insanely easy to make, and you can name-drop it on your guests and they’ll be like “WOW, you’re so creative and festive!”
And if I”m being honest, every holiday cocktail needs a little “oomph” to it. But not enough that it’s intimidating or time consuming. Just enough that it’s creative, festive, and absolutely delicious.
Ingredients for this Festive Drink:
- Gin (or vodka)
- Pomegranate Juice
- Fresh Grapefruit Juice
- Rosemary Maple Syrup
- Grapefruit Bitters
- Sparkling Wine (or sparkling water)
I made this drink with my *incredible* Insta-friend Lauren in mind. She is an awesome Kansas City small business owner who creates gorgeous hand-lettered products! She also teaches virtual hand-lettering classes, so you could learn how to do it yourself! Seriously, if you’ve ever been intrigued by learning how to create your own amazing hand-lettered pieces, Lauren is absolutely your girl. She is not only an incredible human, but she is just an incredible small business owner that makes the days a little brighter with her talent and incredible heart! You can click here to check out her lettering club, virtual hand-lettering workshops, bullet journaling kits, and all of the hand-lettered products she has to offer!
Tips for Making the Best Sparkling Pomegranate Cocktail:
- Use your favorite gin, or a good (clean) vodka. Gin can be a tricky thing. Some gins have a ton of pine flavor, or juniper flavor, or other big flavors. Vodka can sometimes be harsh if it’s not made well, and while it is definitely easier to mask than gin, super cheap vodka can still make a less than desirable cocktail. Hendrick’s gin is a super light, cucumber-y gin that is really good in a lot of cocktails! In Kansas City, I recommend Tom’s Town or Rieger gins (or vodkas!) And vodkas that are clean and nearly tasteless are going to be your best bet it you choose to go that route instead of gin.
- Get the good pomegranate juice. I struggle with splurging on big name brands sometimes, but this one is pretty worth it. The POM Wonderful brand sells a little tiny bottle that is perfect for making a round of these cocktails, and it’s less than $5. Unless you have a pomegranate juice that you absolutely love, I do recommend going with the POM brand!
- Use fresh grapefruit juice. I’m personally just a sucker for fresh grapefruit juice, but it really does make a huge difference in your drinks. It’s tart, acidic, and packed with flavor – all of which is all super important in delivering a balanced holiday drink.
- Do not be intimidated by the rosemary maple syrup. I promise you that I used to be absolutely terrified of making my own simple syrups for whatever reason. Turns out, it’s one of the easiest recipes out there, and this rosemary maple syrup is the exact same process as simple syrup. It is SO easy. You really just need to heat maple syrup and water until they blend together (which takes like 30 seconds), then toss in some fresh rosemary and let it steep. That’s it. I promise. Flavored syrups are a game changer, and they’re a perfect, easy weapon to always keep in your back pocket. All of my syrups are small batch versions, because I don’t use them enough to make a lot!
- Inexpensive bubbles are perfect for this recipe. We are really going more for the sparkling texture than a delicious sparkling wine flavor, so cheap bubbles are perfect for this cocktail. I totally recommend prosecco or cava for this drink. You can find good versions of both for about $10, and save the rest for mimosas the next morning! If you don’t have bubbles on hand, you can use sparkling water or grapefruit flavored sparkling water!
- Grapefruit bitters make a difference! It is a little obscure, but the grapefruit bitters actually do make a big difference! If you don’t have (or can’t find) grapefruit bitters, you could use orange bitters or cherry bitters instead! I have more recipes coming that use grapefruit bitters, so I promise you will have more uses for it if you buy some!
Other Cocktail Recipes to try ::
- Holiday Old Fashioneds
- Spiced Pear and Bourbon Cocktail
- Blackberry, Thyme, and Lemon Bourbon Cocktail
- Skinny Blackberry Margarita
- Blueberry Cilantro Margaritas
- Grilled Pineapple and Jalapeno Margaritas
- Grilled Peaches and Bourbon Cocktail
- Spa Day Cocktail
- Blackberry Bramble
- Blackberry Bourbon Smash
I hope you love this cocktail as much as I do! I’ve made it three times this week, so needless to say I am slightly obsessed. If you make it, I would love it if you tagged me on Instagram so I can see! Feel free to follow me on Pinterest for all of my latest pins, and as always – feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions you may have!
xx Sara
Sparkling Pomegranate Gin and Juice
Ingredients
For Maple Rosemary Syrup ::
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
- 1/2 cup Water
- 3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary
For Fizzy Pomegranate Gin and Juice ::
- 3 ounces Gin Hendrick's, Rieger's, or Tom's Town (in KC)
- 2 ounces Pomegranate Juice
- 2 ounces Fresh Grapefruit Juice
- 1 ounce Maple Rosemary Syrup
- 4 dashes Grapefruit Bitters
- Sparkling Wine or Sparkling Water, to top the cocktails
- 2 sprigs Fresh Rosemary for garnish
Instructions
For Maple Rosemary Syrup ::
- Combine maple syrup and water in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until the maple syrup dissolves into the water, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat, and stir in the fresh rosemary.
- Let the rosemary steep in the syrup for one hour. Strain the syrup through a fine mesh sieve into an airtight container. Discard of the rosemary.
For Sparkling Pomegranate Gin and Juice Cocktails ::
- Fill a cocktail shaker (with a fitted lid) halfway with ice. Pour in gin, pomegranate juice, grapefruit juice, maple rosemary syrup, and grapefruit bitters over the ice. Secure the lid on the shaker, and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds.
- Fill two cocktail glasses halfway with crushed ice. Strain the cocktails through a fine mesh sieve into the glasses. Top each drink with sparkling wine and a sprig of rosemary.
- Serve immediately! Cheers!
Nutrition
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