Get Buzzin’ With The Bees With These 5 Spring Drinks
Spring has Sprung and we are in full bloom as we find our days being spent at the park again
Victoria Liotta
Spring has Sprung and we are in full bloom as we find our days being spent at the park again (soon to be the beach), and enjoying the extra hours of sunlight as the day becomes later. And, there’s something about it all that makes us crave a cold and maybe colorful drink. Whether it be a cocktail or a mocktail, we’ve got a list of spring-worthy drinks that we think will be to your liking.
Spring Into Flavor
Courtesy of Empress 1908 Gin
Empress Lavender Haze
“Your favorite childhood treat, reimagined. The freshness of homestyle lemonade sings alongside the lightly floral lavender honey, keeping you coming back for more.”
What you’ll need:
2 oz Empress 1908 Gin
1 oz Lavender Honey Syrup
2 oz Lemonade Lavender Sprig
How To: Fill a stemless wine glass with crushed ice. Shake lemonade and syrup on ice and strain into the glass. Layer Empress 1908 Gin on top and add more crushed ice. Garnish with a lavender sprig.
The unique color comes from Butterfly Pea Blossom which adds to the sensory experience of this cocktail. Empress 1908 Gin rages between beautiful tones of bright lavender, soft pink, or fuschia depending on the mixer.
YoCo Vodka’s “Lavender Haze”
What you’ll need:
- 2oz of YoCo Vodka
- 2oz of Butterfly pea blossom, coconut, lavender syrup*
- 1/2 oz of Lemon juice with a splash of club soda
How To: Combine YoCo Vodka with Butterfly pea blossom, coconut, lavender syrup and shake for 20 seconds and fine strain into glass with ice. In a separate shot glass mix 1/2 oz of Lemon Juice and club soda then top over cocktail to watch the color change due to the pH in the Butterfly pea blossom.
*Directions for the Butterfly Pea Blossom, Coconut, Lavender Syrup: Bring 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup of water to a boil. Add 1/2 cup of Unsweetened Coconut, 1/3 cup Butterfly Pea blossom and 1 1/16th teaspoon of Lavender (Make sure to not let use too much Lavender or it can overwhelm the syrup) Let cool 6 hours or overnight
Recipe Credit: Taylor Cavanaugh
Lemon Blackberry Mocktail
What you’ll need:
- 1/2 cup fresh blackberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup pre-made lemonade
- juice of 1 lemon
- lemon slices
- seltzer/club soda
- mint
How to:
Add the blackberries to a small sauce pan and mash them with a fork or potato masher until broken down into small bits. Add the sugar, water and lemonade and bring to a simmer. Simmer over low-medium heat for about 10 minutes. Strain the mixture to remove the bits of blackberry, add the juice from the lemon and refrigerate the liquid until cooled. Once cooled, pour the liquid evenly among 4 glasses filled with ice cubes. Add seltzer until glass is full. Garnish with lemon slices, mint and extra blackberries.
French Kiss 75 Mocktail
What you’ll need:
For the hibiscus simple syrup:
1/4 cup unsweetened hibiscus tea
1/4 cup Big Tree Farms coconut sugar
For the hibiscus French 75: ***For Each Flute Glass***
3/4 oz fresh orange juice
3-5 oz soda water or champagne
splash of hibiscus simple syrup
orange peel twist garnish
How to: Heat a small sauce pan with the hibiscus tea and coconut sugar on medium heat. Stir and dissolve the sugar in the tea, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Ready your flute glasses, empty and clean. In each glass pour your 3/4 ounce each of orange juice. ***If you are making just 2 mocktails, you can double up on the orange juice. Carefully top each glass with soda water, try to keep the mixture settled at the bottom. Carefully add a splash of hibiscus syrup to each glass and watch the syrup fall to the bottom. Leave it unstirred. Once people pick it up and start drinking, it will slowly mix on its own. Garnish with small orange peel.
Lemon Rasberry Sorbet Prosecco Floats
What you’ll need:
- 4 scoops lemon sorbet
- 4 scoops raspberry sorbet
- 1 standard sized, 750mL bottle prosecco
How to:Scoop the lemon and raspberry sorbet into wine glasses. Top with the prosecco and serve right away.