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4 Spring Cocktails That Will Change Everything
As the temperatures have risen, people have left their offices, homes and gym caves to turn terraces, bars, rooftops, balconies and cafes into bee hives, buzzing with friends who are soaking up all the vitamin D they can and catching up after months of darkness and isolation.
The season of change, adventures, and falling in love might have taken over our days, but it's nowhere to be found in the glasses of same old beer, wine, prosecco or Cuba Libre. We're sure you'll agree - our drinks menu needs to be shaked up a little bit (not stirred).
Luckily, switching to dazzling spring cocktails is pretty easy - if you have a couple of bottles of the basics in your home bar, something in your fridge, and the Luscious Spring Cocktail Refill Mix with thyme, lavender and peppermint in your Smart Herb Garden, you're good to go. When making drinks at home, we like to keep it very simple, quick and fabulous, so that's exactly what these spring cocktails are all about. It's basically all just smash and pour.
Berry Ginger Beer Smash With Thyme
This is one of those spring cocktails that will look like you've spent a lot of money and time on making it (hence, perfect for impressing others), when in reality it takes close to no time to prepare, and requires things that are most likely in your fridge already. And, if you're feeling like skipping the buzz tonight, the ginger beer can be easily replaced with the non-alcoholic version.
Here's what you need for 1 serving:
25g of blackberries (or any berries you have or prefer - go wild)
1.5 teaspoons of sugar (we're really liking brown sugar or coconut sugar in this one)
1/4 of lemon or lime, cut in wedges
1 sprig of fresh thyme from your Smart Herb Garden + extra for garnish
90ml of ginger beer (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
90ml of carbonated water
Ice
Here's what you do:
1. Put the berries, sugar, lemon wedges and thyme in your prep container/glass/mug/pitcher and muddle it all - kinda like when making a Mojito.
2. Add the ginger beer and carbonated water, and stir it all together.
3. Fill the serving glass almost full of ice, and pour the drink over it. That's it!
Citrusy Beer Cocktail With Fresh Thyme And Lavender
While we're on the topic of beer spring cocktails, here's one that will let you use your Luscious Spring Cocktail Refill Mix from your Smart Herb Garden to an even fuller extent - the thyme and the lavender in combination with the grapefruit really bring the beer to the next level.
We can totally see this badboy being the star of the show on weekend brunches or chilled hangouts in the garden, on a rooftop or terrace. Thanks to Pang from Circa Happy for the base idea!
Here's what you need for 1 serving:
150ml of any cold Belgian Wit beer (we're liking Blue Moon for this, but the Allagash White is pretty awesome too)
60ml of fresh grapefruit juice (chill it in the fridge a bit for a more refreshing drink)
A couple of sprigs of fresh thyme from your Smart Herb Garden
3 stems of fresh lavender from your Smart Herb Garden
A couple of sprigs of basil from your Smart Herb Garden for garnish
*if you're in for a little bit of a kick, throw in a bit of freshly grated ginger to the list as well
Here's what you do:
1. Put the grapefruit juice, lavender and thyme in your prep container/glass/mug/pitcher and smash it all together - as if you'd be making a Mojito.
2. Strain the mixture in your serving glass, add the basil stems (or you can go for lavender or thyme as well) for good looks, and pour the bear over all of it. Cheers!
Lavender Gin Collins
If your craving for spring cocktails usually ends with gin and tonic, we dare you to try and take it one step further...to the world where bitter, sour and herbal meet and make a beautiful, beautiful baby.
We stumbled upon a recipe of Lavender Sapphire Collins that Colleen posted on About Food, but...it included lavender syrup. And as we mentioned before, we like to keep things super simple and super fresh. So, drink by drink, adjustment by adjustment, the sophisticated yet playful 3-minute Lavender Gin Collins was born.
Here's what you need:
50ml of gin (we reeeally like the blue Crafters gin for this with its rosemary flavor, which goes perfectly with lavender)
20ml of fresh lemon juice
A couple sprigs of fresh lavender from your Smart Herb Garden
90ml of carbonated water
Here's what you do:
1. Put the lemon juice and lavender in your prep container/glass/mug/pitcher and muddle the lavender until the juice/essential oil starts coming out and mixes with the lemon juice.
2. Fill a serving glass with ice and strain the mixture in it.
3. Add gin and carbonated water to the serving glass and garnish with a sprig of lavender or a lemon peel...if you wish (we left it au naturale).
Raspberry Limoncello Prosecco With Peppermint
Big thanks to Chungah from Damn Delicious
for the cocktail inspiration and the picture!
If you're tired of sipping the classic Mojito party in party out, try this Raspberry Limoncello Prosecco with Peppermint. It's one of the rare spring cocktails that combines absolutely everything "spring" - color, freshness, lightness, fizz, sun, and flirt.
Originally, this cocktail is basically just a mix of two beautiful drinks - prosecco and limoncello, with a raspberry and peppermint garnish. But we decided to bring it a step further...
Here's what you need for 1 serving:
115ml of chilled prosecco
35ml of chilled limoncello (we keeps ours in the freezer constantly, so it's as cold and thick as possible)
25g of raspberries
2 sprigs of fresh peppermint from your Smart Herb Garden + for garnish
Here's what you do:
1. Take the leaves off the peppermint sprigs and put them together with raspberries in your prep container/glass/mug/pitcher and smash it all together (like when making Mojito!).
2. Add prosecco and limoncello, and stir everything together.
3. Pour the mixture in the serving glass and top off with some fresh peppermint if you wish!
What are you waiting for? Call up your friends, book an evening at your place (or anywhere, really) and try out these spring cocktails! Trust us, it's going to be much, much more exciting than sipping on the same beer all over again. But let's first take care of the ingredients...