recipe of the month: blood orange rosemary french 75
plus a cold brew spritz
This weekend is my super bowl: it’s the actual super bowl, but much more importantly, it’s also time for quarterly brunch review with friends. This tradition is quickly becoming one of my favorite things - as one friend put it this morning, it’s one of the few social engagements that feels relaxing – like you can just show up, as you are, and not need to “gear up” to perform.
We divvy up hosting and planning responsibility each time, to ensure that hosting is easy and stress free, and keep one person from doing all the work, forever. Last time I was on food and menu prep (and might have gotten a bit carried away, if I’m honest). This time I took a leisurely back seat and was on point for drinks.
I personally believe that drink options can make or break your brunch experience. Especially if the goal is to sip and eat and catch up for multiple hours (... of course it is?!) you can’t go too sweet. Can’t go too hard on caffeine and you’ll never get any sleep: Can’t go too hard on alcohol or the rest of the day is shot (idk about you but my day drinking brunch days are far behind me).
Ain’t nobody got time for any of that, and no one has time for an extremely long sunday edition on superbowl sunday, so I’ll keep it short and leave you with recipes for the two drinks I made for brunch, which I think are objectively perfect brunch drinks.
Hope your sunday lacks any scaries, and your week gets off to a calm and productive start!
Xx
One of the most common questions I get when I share coffee recipes tends to be about how to make something similar without fancy coffee equipment or machines. I love this recipe for when I’m bringing drinks on the go, because it doesn’t require *anything* special. You can make your own cold brew concentrate, or you can simply pick some up at the grocery store. This recipe is light and spritzy, and can be sweetened up or down to your taste.
For one serving:
1 thin slice of lemon
3 oz cold brew concentrate - I like the pre-made stumptown one,
2 oz Lemon flavored sparkling water
5 oz Topo chico or other tonic water
Optional: vanilla bean paste or other vanilla syrup to taste
To serve: If sweetening, mix vanilla sweetener into cold brew concentrate. Gently pour in 2 oz lemon lacroix and 4-5 oz topo chico. Do this slowly or the drink *will* overflow! Add in a few ice cubes and a thin slice of lemon, serve and enjoy!
I love a french 75 (typically, lemon, sugar, gin, and a sparkling wine) — this update is a fun twist that is perfect for winter citrus and herbs. I made mine less strong, but if you’re looking for something a bit boozier just increase the amount of gin by around 1/2 a cup.
