Stop and Drink the Roses

But first a quick recipe assignment so you can drink with us all month.

Free Recipe Cards inspired by my 2022 Rose Prints coming next week.

Rose Month is becoming sort of an annual celebration for us at Ron Nicole. Last year you might recall we brought you a month of Rose Prints.

This year we thought we’d do something a little more fun and combine two of our favorite things - flowers and booze!

We are super excited to be pairing with Chris and Carlene Thomas from Clever Beast Botanicals on weekly Rose-inspired cocktails to coincide with Rose Month.

“Each of the cocktails this month pairs botanical rose with aperitifs and spirits to support, but not overwhelm, rose as an ingredient. Roses can be a tricky. Used incorrectly and “it can feel like you’ve over applied every item in a Bath and Body Works store.”

The hubby and I have already tried all the drinks, and I can tell you they are perfectly balanced and delicious. Maybe too delicious.

First up for you we have a little prep work…

This the recipe for rose-infused dry vermouth. This is what will give all the drinks their floral aroma and flavor, and it’s a key ingredient in the four cocktail recipes that we’re going to be featuring this month.

You’ll want to make this as soon as possible. This is super easy to prepare, but it will take a week of sitting in your fridge before it will be ready to use.

Photos by Clever Beast

Rose Infused Vermouth Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Bottle (750 ml) Dolin Dry Vermouth

12 g dry, food grade rose petals (about 3/4 cup)

Directions:

Add 1 bottle of Dolin Dry Vermouth to a clean jar with a lid. Add dry rose petals. Close jar and shake to disperse rose petals. Store in the fridge for one week, shaking daily. Your infusion will be ready once the petals lose their color. Strain through cheese cloth or a nut milk bag to remove spent rose petals. Store infused vermouth in the fridge for up to a month.

*** When sourcing rose for food or beverage purposes, make sure you’re purchasing ‘food grade’ or from a trusted source. Roses can be highly sprayed with pesticides when grown for floral arrangements or aesthetic purposes, so we want to make sure we’re keeping chemicals out of your drink. ***

We found our rose petals on Amazon and were able to get them delivered the same day.

Here’s a link for organic food grade Rose Petals

Lastly, ‘is there a way to make these cocktails without this infusion’? Sure. We want you to make these drinks! We recommend continuing to use the Dolin Dry in the ratio noted for each recipe, but you could add a commercially available rose infused simple syrup if you don’t mind adding a little sweetness to the drinks. Rose water is another option, although it’s easy to over do it. At the end of the day, the most important thing is experimentation. We encourage you to try something new, and of course, enjoy these drinks al fresco.”

Next Week’s Drink:

The “Reverse Bensonhurst”