Are you just about ready to set fire to this can’t-stop, won’t-stop winter? Boy oh boy, are we.
Not that we’re advocating for arson, but just a little warmth and blazing sunshine would go a really, really long way right about now. And today IS the first day of spring. It’s true! Mother Nature can mess with us all she likes, but the facts are the facts, and vernal equinox is here, friends. No denying the calendar.
When we saw this tropical-leaning, spice trail kicked cocktail from Renaissance woman Erika Flowers — a Bronx-born bar maven who now calls New Orleans home and composes and performs her own music, dabbles in photography and videography, and is making waves in the cocktail creating realm — it sounded like just the right serve for this moment in time.
If the components seem familiar, it is indeed a bit of a riff on the classic Margarita, but it swaps blank-canvas vodka (wheat-based Ketel One in this instance) for the standard tequila; a good choice because it plays well with her addition of tropical-spiced hibiscus tea, with its lovely Tiki-esque notes of cinnamon and clove.
Lucky for you, Ketel One will be pretty easy to procure around these parts — from Shelter Island Wine & Spirits to Park Place Wines in East Hampton to Hamptons Wine Shoppe in Westhampton Beach. To make the hibiscus tea, however, head straight to Southampton’s Plain-T for excellent quality dried hibiscus petals to make the recipe below.
Happy Spring in The Hamptons — it’s here. It’s really here.
The Blaze
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz Ketel One Vodka
- 3/4 oz Cointreau or orange curaçao
- 3/4 oz blod orange and lime juice blend*
- 3/4 oz spiced hibiscus tea**
- 1 rosemary sprig, torched
Spiced Hibiscus Tea
- 16 oz water
- 10 grams dried hibiscus flowers
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 whole clove buds
- 1 pinch dried lavender buds
- 65 grams cane sugar
Directions
- Combine vodka, Cointreau, citrus blend and spiced hibiscus tea in a shaker with ice.
- Shake well, for about 10 to 15 seconds, until well chilled and a little frothy.
- Strain into a double-rocks glass over a large format ice cube.
- Carefully torch the fronds on a rosemary sprig and garnish. Cheers!
*For the blood orange and lime juice blend
- Combine equal parts Natalie's Blood Orange Juice and fresh squeezed lime juice.
For the spiced hibiscus tea
- Combine all ingredients except cane sugar in a small pot over low heat.
- Bring to a gentle boil for 5 minutes and remove from heat.
- Add in cane sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Allow to cool, about 30 minutes. Store in an airtight vessel and keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.
