Refreshing non-alcoholic blood orange spritzers are an ideal sip for dry January or a new year reset. With fresh-squeezed blood orange juice and rosemary simple syrup, blood orange spritzer mocktails are a sunny counterpoint to January’s chill.
Like many, I see January as a month for resetting. Time to get back to work, salads, sleep, and all the other things the holiday season pushed aside. My approach is a gentle one focused on eating more of the foods that make me feel good, cutting back on sweets, and avoiding alcohol.
Taking Better Care
If you choose to realign your habits in January, please do not make them a penance. Cycles of over-indulgence followed by guilt and strict limitations are not the best way to set ourselves up for healthier habits year-round. Try to frame a reset around taking better care rather than giving things up. Find the things that nourish your mind and body. Sleep, hydration, movement, and nurturing relationships are all part of being our best selves.
Blood Orange Spritzers for Dry January
After months of butter, sugar, and rich foods, I’m happy to refocus on eating plants. Embracing a dry January is a little harder – a glass of wine at the end of a long day is something I savor. So instead of spending time missing wine, I’ve been getting creative with fizzy mocktails like these simple blood orange spritzers.
These non-alcoholic blood orange spritzers are refreshing, celebratory, and perfectly seasonal. Fresh squeezed blood orange juice has a wonderfully complex flavor – at once delicately sweet and just the right kind of bitter. Fresh rosemary syrup, infused with blood orange zest and a pinch of sea salt, is herbaceous and balancing. Blood orange spritzer mocktails are just right for a seasonal brunch or a festive sip.
If you’d prefer something without refined sugar, sub maple syrup for the sugar and infuse the rosemary and blood orange zest over low heat. (Since this will add maple flavor into the mix, use a little less syrup than the recipe calls for.) If you’d prefer an alcoholic cocktail, sub the seltzer for sparkling wine.
Refreshing non-alcoholic blood orange spritzers are an ideal sip for dry January or a new year reset. With fresh squeezed blood orange juice and rosemary simple syrup, blood orange spritzer mocktails are a sunny counterpoint to January's chill.
- 2 ounces fresh squeezed blood orange juice (If desired, blood orange juice can be strained, but I like the pulp)
- 1 tablespoon rosemary syrup (recipe below)
- Squeeze of lime juice
- 3 dashes orange bitters (or regular bitters)
- tiny pinch flaky sea salt
- Seltzer to top off
- Rosemary sprig and blood orange slice for garnish
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Pour blood orange juice and simple syrup into an Old Fashioned and stir. Fill glass with ice. Top with seltzer. Finish a squeeze of lime, several dashed orange bitters and a pinch of sea salt. Garnish with a rosemary sprig and blood orange slice.
A quick recipe for rosemary simple syrup.
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 spring rosemary
- Zest of 1 blood orange, peeled in strips
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Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
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When sugar has dissolved and mixture just starts to bubble, remove from heat, add rosemary and blood orange zest and set aside to steep for 20 minutes.
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Strain into a clean jar with a tight fitting lid. Mixture will keep in the fridge for a month.
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