Light and exciting this blood orange sparkler is as beautiful as it is delicious!
Here is my confession. I love Valentine’s Day. I don’t care it’s been commercialised because to me it’s not about gifts or special deals but ALL about the man I love.
We celebrate every year and it’s always something we look forward to. Last year I made a special dinner that re-created our 10th wedding anniversary in Paris and for dessert I baked one of my favourite Russian cakes.
Today I want to talk about drinks. Nothing takes a regular dinner to a special occasion better than a bit of fizz. I love sparkling wines-Champagne, Prosecco, Cava. I love them all, so no wonder that French 75 is my favourite cocktail.
What is French 75?
I am not a big cocktail drinker, they are always too sweet for me but this one is perfect. Classic French 75 is a gin based drink mixed with simple syrup and freshly squeezed lemon juice, then topped with Champagne. It’s truly delicious and refreshing!
I thought I would be so beautiful to use blood oranges instead of lemons for Valentine’s Day. What a gorgeous colour those cocktails turned out! How could they not, would you please look at those oranges!
Making those drinks takes about 5 minutes and tastes miles better than pre-mixed stuff that is sold everywhere.
More gin based cocktails:
Blood Orange Sparkler (French 75)
Ingredients
- Gin- 1.5 oz
- Simple Syrup- 0.5 oz -1 oz depending how sweet you like it
- Blood orange juice- 1 orange
- Sparkling wine chilled- 1 bottle
- Orange slices for decorating
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker combine gin, simple syrup, freshly squeezed blood orange juice and shake it with 3-4 ice cubes.
- Strain (or leave pulp in if you like) into two champagne flutes and top with chilled sparkling wine.
- Decorate with orange slices.
- Add more ice if desired.
