Continuing the blood orange theme while they’re still in season, we came across this cocktail that includes ginger, which is one of our favorite ingredients with bourbon. We adapted it slightly to suit our tastes and what we had on hand.
Red Rover
2 oz. bourbon
1½ oz. blood orange juice
½ oz. lemon juice
1 oz. rye simple syrup
4 oz. ginger ale
Fresh grated ginger for garnish
Add first four ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake to combine. Strain into a highball glass with ice, add the ginger ale, and stir gently. Grate fresh ginger on top to taste. (We recommend using a liberal hand with the ginger; it’s delicious.)
This drink is really tasty. The ginger adds just enough zing to balance the sweetness of the syrup. We loved the additional smokiness from the rye simple syrup, but if you don’t have that on hand, regular simple syrup would do just fine. Because of its high juice-to-alcohol ratio, we think this would make a great brunch drink.
We are enamored with blood oranges and were really happy to find this cocktail recipe from Domestic Fits combining blood orange, bourbon, and jalapeño.
Hot Blooded
(makes 2)
1 cup blood orange juice (from 3-4 blood oranges)
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
¼ cup bourbon
1 jalapeño, chopped with stem and seeds removed
Place all ingredients except peppers into a cocktail shaker with ice and stir to combine. Add the jalapeño pieces and shake three times, then strain into highball glasses with ice. Garnish with a citrus twist if desired.
This cocktail is really tasty. The agave nectar adds a caramel sweetness that balances the blood orange juice and bourbon really well. The jalapeño spice is noticeable but not overwhelming, and it adds an herbaceousness that takes the drink to the next level.
Even though a pepper recently attacked my eyes, this drink just may force me to get over my fight with jalapeños.
Despite the unappetizing name, this blood orange-bourbon cocktail is quite tasty. We adapted it from Sippity Sup.
Bloody Bourbon
2 oz. bourbon
2 oz. blood orange juice
Club soda
Mint spring
Gently stir bourbon and blood orange juice together. Strain into a lowball glass with ice and top with a little bit of club soda. Garnish with a mint sprig.
If you prefer the texture of fresh-pressed juice, you can skip the strainer. We appreciate that this drink doesn’t include any extra sugar, allowing the pure juice and bourbon flavors to shine. The mint adds a nice freshness to the nose.
It is blood orange season, and what better way to celebrate than by combining it with bourbon? We have been hanging on to a couple of blood orange-bourbon cocktail recipes to share during the season and first up is the one with the best name. I just love the image it conjures.
Old Fashionista
3 oz. bourbon
2 oz. blood orange juice
4 dashes orange bitters (or blood orange bitters if you have them)
Thyme sprig
Ginger ale
Mix the first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a lowball glass and float a little bit of ginger ale on top. Garnish with a sprig of thyme and a blood orange twist.
Blood orange juice has a unique texture, kind of dry and viscous, that makes this cocktail extra special. The herbal note from the garnish and the sparkle of the ginger ale create a complex interplay that is grounded by the spice and sweetness of the bourbon.
I’ve wanted to make some kind of bourbon cocktail inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian ever since I read it about six months ago. I knew pretty much right away I’d have to use blood oranges somehow. Unfortunately, blood oranges haven’t been readily available until recently. In the meantime, I tried substituting Solerno blood orange liqueur for fresh blood orange juice, but that didn’t quite work out. It did lead to a pretty solid white whiskey cocktail, though. I actually had quite a hard time coming up with a tasty blood orange cocktail, mainly because I wasn’t too familiar with blood oranges before. (Seriously, blood oranges are a super weird fruit!)
Blood Orange Meridian:
2 oz. Woodford Reserve
½ oz. blood orange juice
½ tsp. brown sugar
blood orange bitters
Put brown sugar in an lowball glass. Add a few dashes of bitters, just enough to dissolve the sugar, and crush with a muddler. Add bourbon and blood orange juice, stir, and add ice cube. Top with an orange twist.
We used Woodford Reserve for this and feel it’s necessary to the drink. We tried a bunch of other bourbons, but Woodford’s well-rounded, smooth flavor helps to balance out the bitterness of the blood orange. The cocktail still somewhat bitter, but with the right amount of sweetness. Rachel says it reminds her a bit of Campari. Also, the red color taken from the blood orange juice makes this a nice Valentine’s Day cocktail.
