Cranberry juice, orange, a rosemary syrup, bubbles and a sugared rim: red, sparkling, and without a drop of alcohol.
This is the glass you raise at aperitif time when you're not drinking alcohol, and it's nothing like a consolation prize: ruby red, sparkling and tangy, with a sprig of rosemary standing in it like a little Christmas tree and cranberries floating between the ice cubes.
What makes it really good is the homemade rosemary syrup: two minutes on the stove, and the drink gains a woody, resinous note that smells like a winter forest. You make it ahead, and at serving time all that's left is to mix and add the bubbles.
In the small saucepan, put the sugar, water and the 2 sprigs of rosemary. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then simmer for 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the rosemary infuse in the syrup until it's completely cold, about 30 minutes. Then remove the sprigs.
Pour the sugar onto the plate. Run the lime wedge all around the rim of each glass, then dip it upside down in the sugar, turning slightly. Let the glasses dry upright for a few minutes.
In the jug, pour the cranberry juice, orange juice, lime juice and cooled syrup. Stir well and taste: add a little syrup if it's too tart. Keep chilled until serving.
Just before serving, pour the very cold sparkling water into the jug, letting it run down the side, then stir once, gently, with the long spoon.
Put ice and a few cranberries in each sugared glass, pour in the mocktail without wetting the sugar rim, and stand a small sprig of rosemary in each glass.
Check off every step to celebrate.
The rosemary syrup keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge, in a closed jar. The juice mix (step 4) can be made up to the day before and kept chilled. Once the sparkling water is in, drink it within the hour.
Yes, almost entirely: the syrup up to two weeks before, the juice mix the day before, the sugared glasses an hour before. Only the sparkling water goes in at serving time.
Pomegranate, cherry or red grape juice. Pomegranate keeps the color and tartness best; with grape juice, add a little more lime.
Yes, it only contains juice, sparkling water and a homemade syrup. With lemonade instead of sparkling water, it's sweeter, the way they often like it.
Add this recipe to your meal, then come back for appetizers, a drink, cookies with coffee: Popotam brings them together, with the shopping for your whole table and the timeline up to dessert. Free, no account.
