One thing that I’ve found with being allergenic and having spent years healing my gut, I tend to not drink alcohol much. For years I had an undiagnosed yeast allergy that would double me over in pain if I ever drank any alcohol. So, I don’t have all that much experience with living the party life. Not to mention I’m a dyed-in-the-wool introvert so the party life really holds no appeal for me.
But, pretty drinks? I’m all about that! When my daughter suggested we do a series of mixed drinks for the blog I jumped on it. My son-in-law came along for the day of the shoot and I think we surprised him with how delicious our creations turned out to be.
So, welcome to the Spring Drink Series. We’ll be shooting to post a mixed drink recipe every couple weeks, always on Friday. This first one really jumps off the screen with the colors! I chose blood oranges because they’re nearly at the end of their season but I’m not ready to let them go. Also, the grapefruit and the lavender infused gin really taste amazing. I used dried lavender to make the gin but in the summer, when lavender is blooming, I’d love to try it with fresh lavender!
A couple notes:
• I squeezed a few of the blood oranges to get the juice. This is what makes such a magical color. If you use regular oranges, the shade will be more orange.
• We used Izze’s Grapefruit Soda.
• We used Fever Tree’s Tonic Water
• Check out the recipe for instructions on infusing the gin with lavender. You will need dried lavender flowers.
- Recipe is for one drink.
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- Orange slices, sprinkled with fine sugar and carefully broiled.
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- 1 shot (1 ½ oz.) Lavender Infused Gin*
- 1 shot (1 ½ oz.) Blood Orange juice, fresh-squeezed
- 7 oz. (1 bottle) Tonic Water – Fever Tree brand
- *To infuse the alcohol, combine ½ cup of gin (warmed to about 130˚) and 1 tsp. dried lavender flowers in a tea ball or loose tea filter bag. Allow to steep until room temperature. Remove lavender flowers.
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- Mix the liquids in a shaker with ice and shake well.
- Pour into glass and garnish with a sprig of lavender and a broiled orange slice.