As the cocktail scene continues to bloom (pun intended) in L.A.’s trendiest bars and restaurants, there’s no better time to try some of the best drinks around. This season in particular focuses on the freshest ingredients and tantalizing flavor combinations for extremely satisfying outcomes.
The cocktails below are easy to make at home and perfect for your monthly dinner parties, a night in with your significant other or simply treating yourself to a delicious grown-up drink.
Lillet Rose Spring Cocktail
INGREDIENTS
2 oz Lillet Rose
2 oz Ruby Red grapefruit juice
1 oz gin
1 edible flower blossom (optional)
MAKE IT:
Combine 2 ounces Lillet, 2 ounces grapefruit juice, 1 ounce gin and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until well chilled. Strain into a glass, such as a Champagne coupe. Garnish with flower.
Gracias Madre’s “La Purista Margarita”
INGREDIENTS
2 oz organic reposado tequila
1 oz fresh-pressed lime juice
1/2 oz organic agave nectar
3 dashes homemade orange bitters
lime peel
housemade sweet orange salt (see below)
Housemade Sweet Orange Salt Rim
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch sugar
orange zest
lime wedge
MAKE IT:
Combine sea salt, sugar and orange zest. Rub orange zest into the salt-sugar mixture. Use the lime wedge to moisten the rim of double rocks glass, then dip the rim into the mixture to coat.
In a cocktail shaker, combine tequila, lime juice, agave nectar, and orange bitters. Shake and strain into the glass. Add fresh rocks and a lime peel.
Tuscan Pear
INGREDIENTS
1 part Grey Goose La Poire Flavored Vodka
1/2 part limoncello liqueur
1/2 part premium ginger liqueur
3/4 part blood orange juice
1/4 part simple syrup
MAKE IT:
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, and strain into a rocks glass rimmed with sugar and filled with crushed ice. Garnish with mint leaves, dried pears or lemon confit.
Elderflower Gin And Tonic
INGREDIENTS
2 oz St. George Botanivore Gin
6 oz Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic
2 pink grapefruit slices
a few juniper berries
a rosemary sprig
MAKE IT:
Chill the drinking glass for a half hour. Add ice to the glass. Squeeze one slice of grapefruit into the glass and discard. Add the other grapefruit slice, the juniper berries, and rosemary sprig to the glass. Pour gin into the glass. Add the tonic and stir before drinking.
Spicy Pineapple Cocktail
INGREDIENTS
2 oz Bella Mar Orange Basil Vodka
2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz basil simple syrup*
2-3 jalapeno slices
*Basil Simple Syrup Instructions
1:1 sugar and water. Once boiling add basil, then promptly remove from heat and let sit 30 minutes. Cool before adding to cocktail.
MAKE IT: Shake all ingredients well, pour over crushed ice.
