It’s time to celebrate! The holidays are here and New Year’s Eve is next week! Whaaaat!?! I can’t believe another year has flown by! As we say goodbye to 2014 and “Hello” to 2015…let’s celebrate with homemade cocktails! This Apple Sage Sparkler is simple yet elegant; perfect for a party. Plus, I’ve rounded up 20 other delicious cocktail recipes within 4 categories: herbs, spice, citrus, and punch. Let’s drink!
Freshly juiced apples and homemade sage syrup will take any cocktail to the next level. This Apple Sage Sparkler will impress your friends and family, but it’s super easy to make! There’s no need to peel the apples, just core and quarter them, stick them through a juicer and strain. And if you really want to make it even easier, you can use a good quality store-bought apple cider. For the sage syrup, bring ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water to a boil, remove from heat, add sage leaves and steep for 5 minutes. To make the cocktails, add a bit of sage syrup and 1 1/2 ounces of apple juice to champagne flutes and top off with Prosecco or Champagne. That’s all! Mmmm, bubbly. But wait! Let’s jazz these up even more by rimming the glasses with cinnamon and sugar! Because it’s the holidays and we’re getting fancy. Cheers!
TIP: rim the glasses with softened butter (or vegan butter) instead of lemon or lime juice; the cinnamon-sugar mix sticks much better to the glass!
Holiday Cocktail Roundup
Herbs:
Rosemary Infused Holiday Cocktail from the Flair Exchange
Apple Mojito from Today’s Nest
Cranberry & Rosemary White “Christmas” Sangria from Bay Area Bites
Pear Cilantro Margarita from Food & Wine
Ginger Rosemary Zinger from Coco and Mingo
Spice:
Pumpkin Spice Whisky Cocktail from Dishing Up The Dirt
Ginger & Apple Cider Moscow Mule from Eat. Drink. Savor. Repeat.
Chai Normandy Cocktail from The Framed Table
The Triple GINger from fresh & foodie
Chocolate Peppermint Bark Martini from Waiting On Martha
Citrus:
Blood Orange Rosemary Cocktail from Sweet Remedy
Satsuma Cobbler from Biscuits and Such
The Perfect Lemon Drop Martini from A Southern Fairytale
Mango Coconut and Orange Vodka Crush from Heather Christo
Blood Orange Gin and Tonic from White On Rice Couple
Punch:
Cider Rum Punch from Verses from my Kitchen
Christmas Punch from Martha Stewart
Cranberry Cider Punch from How Sweet It Is
Orange Rosemary Punch from Elephantastic Vegan
Pomegranate Party Punch from Cravings of a Lunatic
Apple Sage Sparkler
1/2 cup water
4 – 5 sage leaves, plus more for garnish
5 apples, cored and quartered (or 1 cup of apple cider), plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon cinnamon
softened butter or vegan butter (for rimming glasses)
Prosecco or other sparkling wine
Make the sage simple syrup: bring 1/2 cup of the sugar and the water to a boil, stirring until all sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add sage leaves. Steep for 5 – 10 minutes, then let cool completely. This recipe makes extra sage syrup; store in the refrigerator.
Juice the apples, then strain through a fine mesh strainer.
On a small plate, mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon. Dab a bit of butter on your fingertip and rim each champagne or cocktail glass, then dip in the cinnamon – sugar mix; with the glass upside down tap it to shake off excess.
To each glass, add 1 – 2 teaspoons of sage syrup and 1 1/2 ounces of apple juice. Top off with Prosecco or sparkling wine. Garnish with an apple slice or sage leaf. Cheers!
Love this new drink and the round-up. Can’t wait to have some new spirits and cocktails to try. Happy Holidays! 🙂
Thanks Annie, happy holidays to you too! And I love your ginger & apple cider moscow mule!!
Wow, this sounds amazing, and the photos are beautifullll!