Some welcome Valentine’s Day with heart eyes while others celebrate with dread and an early bedtime. Either way, a boozy cocktail will be sure to sweeten up your night. Whether you’re having a Galentine’s Day party, need a drink while waiting for a late night dinner reservation or looking for an easy way to make a quiet dinner at home look like you’ve been planning it for weeks, take your hand at these rose-colored cocktails.
Instead of your classic box of chocolates, give the gift of a Bezotted — because who doesn’t love a little bit of chocolate in their alcohol? “The only thing more bittersweet than romance might be this cocktail, where the sweet and bitter liqueurs pair wonderfully with the botanicals in Copperworks Gin,” says Kathy Humphrey, Copperworks Distilling Co.‘s marketing manager. “It’s a lovely shade of red and even offers a hint of chocolate.”
Bezotted
Recipe courtesy Copperworks Distilling, Seattle
Makes 1 cocktail
1 1/2 ounces Copperworks Gin
1/2 ounces Ramazzotti liqueur
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/4 ounce creme de cassis
Dash of chocolate bitters
Pour all ingredients into a shake, add ice and shake. Strain into a stemmed cocktail glass.
If you’re looking for classic but bold, try this Amarena Cherry Old Fashioned. It’s a lovely sipper to end a perfect night and comes in a recipe for two. And what’s more fitting for Valentine’s Day than a red cocktail? “We chose this cocktail for our V-day menu because it’s a classic, made a little sexier with delicious Italian cherry syrup,” says Shan Wickham, Rally Pizza general manager.
Amarena Cherry Old Fashioned
Recipe courtesy Rally Pizza, Vancouver, WA
Makes 2 cocktails
4 ounces NW rye whiskey
1 ounce Amarena cherry syrup, like Toschi
4 dashes Angostura bitters
Garnish: 2 Amarena cherries, 2 orange slices
Stir together the whiskey, cherry syrup and bitters then divide between two rocks glasses. Add a big ice cube to each glass, and garnish with a cherry and orange slice.
Tired of buying the same bouquet of roses every year? Get creative with a cocktail and top off this sweet drink with an edible rose petal. “It’s a simple and obvious garnish but trust me when I say that people get really excited about it,” says The Station Public House pub manager Jacob Bradley.
Heart Full of Roses
Recipe courtesy The Station Public House, Portland
Makes 1 cocktail
1 lemon wedge
Sugar, to rim
1 1/2 ounces vanilla vodka
1/2 ounce rose syrup, like Monin
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce demerara syrup*
Garnish: 1 edible rose petal
Use a lemon wedge to sugar rim of a martini glass. Combine vodka, rose syrup, lemon juice and Demerara syrup in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake and strain into the martini glass and garnish with one edible rose petal (you can substitute a few small dried rose tea leaves if preferred).
*To make demerara syrup, combine 1 cup of demerara or turbinado sugar with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan, bringing to a low boil and stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature before use.
