Rougey Cheeks

This cocktail is right in season and the perfect hue for Valentine’s Day. We don’t really celebrate the holiday at all, but we figured it was a good excuse to use some seasonal fruit to make a rosy cocktail. Blood oranges are usually available and in season from December through about early May. If you aren’t familiar with blood oranges, their flavor is a bit sweeter than a navel orange and they are fantastic in salads (such as with some raw shaved fennel, grapefruit segments, fresh feta, and lemon vinaigrette).

We went through a lot of iterations in naming this cocktail as we were trying to perfect it (we’re in the trenches here, folks…these drinks require trial and error to make!). Among the top of the list: “Aperalways,” “Blood Orange You Glad I Didn’t Say Banana,” “Aperalways Have to Steal My Kisses From You,” “Aper-outta My Dreams and Gin to My Car.” Ok, so we went a little off track… We settled on “Rougey Cheeks” because that was the color of our faces after all our taste testing. Hope you enjoy this McZ original!

Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz. gin

• 1 oz. sweet vermouth (preferably, La Quintyne Vermouth Royal Rouge)*

• 0.75 oz. fresh squeezed blood orange juice

• 0.5 oz. Aperol

• 0.25 oz. simple syrup

• 0.25 oz. fresh lemon juice

• Shaker

• Ice

• Cocktail Glass

• Mesh strainer

• Hawthorne strainer (if your shaker doesn’t have a built in strainer)

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and top with ice. Shake vigorously for about 10 seconds. Double strain the cocktail through the Hawthorne strainer (or top of the shaker) and a mesh strainer into your cocktail glass.

Notes

*We strongly recommend that you use the La Quintyne sweet vermouth if you can find it. The flavor is quite unique, with strong and smooth fruit and herb notes. If you can’t track it down, you can also use Lillet Rouge or Dubonnet Rouge.