Rosé. It’s for bros, it’s #allday, it’s for white girls. Whatever—it’s good, anytime and all the time, and we have finally come to appreciate that. In fact, maybe a little too much—consumption of rosé has soared, up 15 percent over the last decade. We’ve learned to love the nuances of pink wine, and how well it pairs with lunch. And as a result, there are now three bottles of rosé taking up space in your fridge, right?
Good thing for you, rosé is an excellent base for cocktails! Lightly fruity but brightened by acidity, rosé is an ideal ingredient for making refreshing drinks to serve as an aperitif before the night gets going. Or, fine—for sipping on a patio at 3pm because, Saturday.
We collected some creative and simple rosé wine-based cocktail recipes from top bartenders around the country. Try these, and leftover rosé might become your favorite new cocktail ingredient.
Rosé Cobbler
From Jad Kamal, bartender at Hearth, a restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village
This is a simple variation on a the classic Sherry Cobbler cocktail. Kamal says that it is it is “not meant to be an intellectual exercise,” and he loves it because “it tastes like a Capri Sun pouch for adults.”
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces crisp rosé wine
- ½ ounce Lustau Pedro Ximénez San Emilio (or any high-quality sweet sherry)
- 1 half-moon slice of orange, about ½-inch thick
Instructions:
Place orange, sherry, and rose in a cocktail shaker. Muddle orange well, making sure to extract oil from pith; it will add a nice touch of bitterness. Add ice, shake, and strain over ice. Garnish with a bundle of mint top-leaves.
Cool Breeze
From Justin Lew, partner at brand-new San Francisco bar, Horsefeather
This is a batch cocktail, perfect for a summertime party.
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces vodka
- .75 ounce honey-rosé syrup (recipe below)
- 1 ounce lime juice
- .25 ounce Creme de Noyaux, .
- .75 ounce soda
Instructions:
Make the syrup with the recipe below–it’s enough for about 40 drinks worth. For the individual drinks, use the above proportions. Combine in a shaker with ice, and strain into a coupe, served up. Garnish with lime twist, lavender stem or thyme sprig.
Honey Rosé Syrup:
- 5 Rosemary sprigs
- 15 thyme sprigs
- 5 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon lavender
- 5 sprigs marjoram
- 2 cups rose
- 3 cups honey
Reduce wine for 6 min w/ Herbs. Add honey and dissolve.
Summer Water Roségroni
From Cari Hah, Bar Manager at Alcove’s Big Bar, in Los Feliz, CA
For this drink, Hah is a fan of using the berry-hued Summer Water Rosé, a Syrah-Grenache blend from Santa Barbara County bottled by Nikki Huganir and Erica Blumenthal of Yes Way Rosé.
Ingredients:
- 3 ounces Summer Water Rosé
- 1 ounce Cocchi Americano
- ¾ ounce Campari
Instructions:
In a double old fashioned glass (12-16 oz), add all the ingredients. Add ice—one big rock is ideal—and stir until cold. Take a big peel of grapefruit—peel only, no pith—and distribute the grapefruit oils over the top of the drink.
Rosé Colored Glasses
From Ginger Warburton, bartender at NYC cocktail bar Lantern’s Keep
Warburton is a fan of using light-colored rosé in this drink to create a refreshing, but fortified spritzer.
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces pale rosé
- 1 ounce Lillet rosé
- Seltzer or sparkling wine
- Lemon twist
Instructions:
Blend the rosé and the Lillet in a tall glass. Add seltzer or (for extra booze) sparkling wine, like Prosecco or Crémant. Garnish with a classic lemon twist, or rose petals to be extra pretty.
Migration Wind
Colin Carroll, Bar Manager of Trifecta tavern in Portland, OR
This Pisco-based frothy drink is a sneak preview of a cocktail that will be on the menu this summer! A bonus of shaken drinks is that you develop sexy, strong bartender’s arms.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 ounces pisco
- 1 ounce rosé
- ¼ ounce fresh lemon juice
- ¼ ounce simple syrup
- 1 egg white
- Peychaud’s Bitters for garnish
Instructions:
Combine ingredients into a cocktail shaker and “dry shake” first. Add ice and shake again. Strain into a coupe, garnish with a few drops of Peychaud’s Bitters.
