With Valentine’s Day around the corner (make your dinner reservations now!) we present 7 fun and festive cocktail ideas to help you and your special date celebrate this romantic holiday.
Buy Me Flowers
1 ½ oz. Bombay Sapphire gin
½ oz. Honey
¾ oz. Lemon juice
2 dashes Rose water
1 ½ oz. Martini sparkling rosé
In a shaker, add the Bombay Sapphire, honey, lemon juice and rose water. Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously to chill. Double strain into chilled flute or stemmed cocktail glass and top with Martini sparkling rose. Garnish with a rose petal.
The mixologists at Bombay Sapphire created this recipe.
Budding Rose
1 oz. Suntory Toki whisky
½ oz. Rhine Hall La Normande
½ oz. Rhine Hall oaked apple brandy
¾ oz. Lemon juice
½ oz. Rose green tea syrup
Combine ingredients and short shake. Strain over ice in Collins glass and top with Topo Chico. Garnish with flower.
Dylan Knox, head bartender at Vol. 39 in Chicago, created this recipe
Cupid’s Daiquiri
(pictured at top)
1 ½ oz. Uncle Nearest Whiskey
¾ oz. Lemon juice
¾ oz. Plum maceration
1 dash Tiki bitters
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Combine ingredients and shake. Strain into coupe glass.
Mixologist Kala Ellis at O-Ku in Nashville, TN, created this recipe.
Be Mine
¾ oz. Crème de cacao
¾ oz. Giffard Fraise des Bois
¾ oz. Coconut milk
¾ oz. Simple syrup
¼ oz. Fresh lemon juice
Combine ingredients and shake. Strain into a coup. Garnish with chocolate shavings and strawberry on rim.
Bartender Schyler Isham of Tre Rivali & The Outsider rooftop in Milwaukee, IL.
Honey Rose Margarita
1 oz. Cointreau
2 oz. Blanco tequila
1 oz. Fresh lemon juice
½ oz. Honey water
2 dashes Rose water
Add all ingredients to shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with rose petals (fresh or dried).
The mixologists at Cointreau created this recipe.
Fruity Pebble Colada
1 ½ oz. Beefeater Gin
1 ½ oz. Coconut puree
½ oz. Lime juice
2 dashes Orange flower water
1 Strawberry
Combine ingredients and blend. Fine strain into Collins glass and top with a splash of club soda.
The mixologists at Beefeater created this recipe.
The Ginger Rose
1 ½ oz. Four Roses small batch bourbon
½ oz. Ginger liqueur
2 oz. Red wine
4 oz. Ginger beer
Add all liquid ingredients to an ice filled Collins glass and stir. Garnish with candied ginger wheel and lime wedge.
The mixologists at Four Roses created this recipe.
Melissa Dowling is editor of Cheers magazine, our on-premise sister publication.