This vibrant blood orange cocktail is a tangy partnership of fresh blood orange juice and gin. Boldly coloured, with a smooth finish, this easy-drinking blood orange drink is citrus forward with delicate herbal undertones.

If you enjoy citrus-based cocktails try a rum sour or a negroni sour.

A blood orange cocktail garnished with fresh rosemary with blood orange segments and rosemary on a plate.

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Why You'll Love this Blood Orange Drink

Flavour: It's fresh, bright, & citrusy with herbal undertones supplied by homemade rosmary syrup.
Colour: This gin-based blood orange sour is beautifully bold in colour. It is a libation to catch the eye.
Seasonal Ingredients: Blood oranges are in season for such a short period so it's great to make the most of them.
Customisable: Vary the sweetness, drop the herbal element, switch the spirit, serve it with or without the egg white foam.

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Why You'll Love this Blood Orange Drink
Ingredients Notes
How to Make a Blood Orange Cocktail (Step-by-Step)
Garnishes
Expert Tips
Variations
More zesty cocktails
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💬 Comments

I've also made great use of this fruit in blood orange drizzle muffins and to pair with a cinnamon chocolate mousse cake.

Ingredients Notes

Labelled ingredients for a blood orange drink with gin and rosemary syrup.

Blood oranges: If in season, fresh blood oranges are the best option for this drink. Blood oranges are typically slightly sweeter and less acidic than ordinary oranges. If they are out of season you can make this drink with regular oranges and it will still be delicious.
Gin: This blood orange cocktail have been devised using London Dry gin. My favourites include Opihr, King Soho and Hendricks.
Simple syrup: Use rosemary simple syrup to introduce a herbal element to this vibrant blood orange sour cocktail. Alternatively, use simple syrup for a simpler version of this recipe.
Campari: A small splash of Campari adds a bittersweet edge to this drink to balance out the flavours.
Egg white: To give this blood orange gin drink an air of old fashioned grandeur, I couldn't resist adding an egg white foam. It ransforms the liquid into something creamy and silky to sip on and creates a pretty foam top.

How to Make a Blood Orange Cocktail (Step-by-Step)

Blood oranges cut, squeezed and the juice being strained through a sieve.

Step 1: Cut the oranges in half and juice them. Strain the liquid through a fine meshed sieve to remove all flesh and pith.

Juice being poured into a cocktail shaker for a blood orange and rosemary syrup cocktail.

Step 2: Measure the ingredients into the base of a cocktail shaker.

A person holding an embossed copper cocktail shaker.

Step 3: Secure the lid and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. (This is the dry shake).

Ice being addd to an embossed copper cocktail shaker with cocktail ingredients in the background.

Step 4: Add a large handful of ice to the shaker. Secure the lid again.

Step 5: Shake hard for a further 30-40 seconds until well-chilled. (This is the wet shake).

A blood orange martini being poured into a gold-rimmed cocktail glass.

Step 6: Strain the tdrink into your cocktail glasses then garnish and serve immediately.

Garnishes

Obvious garnishes for this blood orange sour include a sprig of fresh rosemary and some zest. You could laso go with a wheel of fresh blood orange.

Expert Tips

Use freshly squeezed juice: This gives the best flavour. Cartoned juice can be a bit too overpowering.
Taste and adjust the sweetness before serving:
- Add more syrup to make your drink sweeter.
- Increase the Campari to tone down sweetness and make it more bittersweet.
Do the double shake: It is essential to perform the dry shake (without ice) and wet shake (with ice) to create a smooth foam top and silky texture to your blood orange cocktail.

Variations

Sparkling blood orange drink: Omit the egg white and instead top your glass with 75ml Prosecco or other dry sparkling wine.
Vodka blood orange sour: Replace the gin with vodka.
Tequila blood orange drink: Swap the gin for tequila.
Blood orange mocktail: Omit the Campari and swap the gin for an alcohol-free spirit such as Lyres non-alcoholic dry London spirit.
Swap the herb: Replace the rosemary syrup with fresh mint syrup or thyme syrup.

Blood orange sour cocktail with egg white top and rosemary garnish with rosemary and blood orange on a plate.

More zesty cocktails

Have you made this blood orange gin sour? If so, I'd love to know if you enjoyed it - drop me a line in the comment section.

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