Love Potion for Valentine’s Day

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Going through my recipes looking for ideas for Valentine’s Day I realized one thing.   Apparently I make tons and tons of desserts for Valentine’s Day but I never make any drinks!   I realize we probably drink wine or champagne but sometimes it’s nice to have a pretty cocktail with a nice meal.

I wanted to make something red or pink for the holiday but I was having a hard time coming up with something.  My first thought was to add some type of berry to champagne and call it a day but we already do that sometimes so I wanted something different.

After looking in the pantry and the refrigerator I came up with a game plan.  I was going to start with a blackberry simple syrup, figuring it would either be a nice purple color or more of a red after adding other ingredients.  I wanted to add sparkling water to the syrup as the base of the drink.

My problem came when I needed to choose a liquor to add to the drink.  My first thought was orange liqueur because I love blackberries and oranges together but that didn’t seem very Valentine’s Day-ish.  Then I thought maybe vodka would be good because it wouldn’t really add any additional flavor and the blackberry could shine through.

While checking out my mini bottles in the pantry I came across hibiscus vodka.  I thought the floral hibiscus would pair nicely with the blackberries and would add a bit of romance to the cocktail.  I mean, who doesn’t want flowers on Valentine’s Day so why not drink them?

The cocktail ended up being a beautiful bright pink color and I sugared the rim of the glass with pink sugar.   I added some blackberries to the drink and I was finished!   I really liked the flavor of the cocktail.   It wasn’t very sweet which was nice.  The blackberry syrup adds a bit of a tart and sweet flavor and the hibiscus vodka added a floral note.  It was actually a nice, light cocktail perfect to serve with dinner.

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Love Potion for Valentine's Day

Yield: serves 1

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

A light and gorgeous cocktail that has fruity and floral notes but isn't too sweet.

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Ingredients

For the blackberry simple syrup:

• 3/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. blackberries

For the cocktail:

• 1 1/2 oz. hibiscus vodka
• 1 oz. blackberry syrup
• seltzer water
• blackberries

Instructions

1. To make the simple syrup place the water, sugar, and blackberries in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
3. To make the cocktail rim a tall glass with pink sugar (optional).
4. Then fill the glass with ice. Add in the vodka and syrup and mix well. Pour in seltzer water, filling to the top. Add a few blackberries to the glass and serve with a straw.

Notes

A Hezzi-D Original