2 Unique Valentine’s Day Cocktails

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!! For those looking for something new, fresh, different, or special to imbibe on today, I present you with 2 Valentine’s Day cocktails sure to get the good times rolling with whomever you choose the spend this special day with. One is a recipe I created myself: I call it Love’s Holiday; the other: The Sweetie Patootie, which I got from a collection of forgotten cocktails.

Valentine’s Day Cocktails:

Love’s Holiday

This beverage, concocted on my recent trip to Seattle, was named after an Earth, Wind, & Fire song. I will spare you all the details on exactly how or why it came to be (trust me on this one 😀 ), but it is super delicious. For this recipe, you’ll need some sorrel (dried hibiscus flowers). Sorrel is enjoyed in primarily in Jamaica & throughout the Caribbean during the holiday season, and also in parts of Africa.

It’s a beautiful, deep red, flavorful drink that’s a bit sour, a bit sweet, and a bit spicy. It’s delicious, trust me. And full of vitamins A, C, and other good stuff.

If you have a Jamaican restaurant in your city, pop on over and grab a cup.  If not, you’ll need to make a batch. There are several recipes out there and a Google search will yield you a bevy to choose from. Since each person makes sorrel different, there is no definitive “right way” to make it, it’s made according to family tradition and personal tastes. Now, it takes at least a day to make, so be sure to factor that in if you have to make it from scratch, which, by the way, is my preferred way to make it.

Ingredients

• 1/2 oz – 1 oz of Sorrel
• Champagne or Sparkling Wine

Directions:

1. Add anywhere from 1/2 oz to 1 oz (depending on your taste perferences) of sorrel to a wine glass
2. Top off with your favorite sparkling wine or champagne
3. Enjoy!

This is a pretty simple cocktail, but it is so flavorful.  The usual way to enjoy sorrel is to add overproof Jamaican rum to it.  This results in a delicious, yet potent drink.  However, I love how different flavors bloom when it’s combined with the sparkling wine.  This is seriously my new favorite cocktail.

Sweet Patootie

I discovered this cocktail book called “Let’s Bring Back–The Cocktail Edition” on recent travels. This cool little book is a collection of old & historic cocktails that have fallen by the way side for whatever reason.  I love this book, each entry includes a little insight into something about the drink, the recipe, and the reason for drinking that particular drink.  It’s a fun book and I plan to do an ongoing series this year featuring some of it’s recipes.

Now, back to the Sweet Patootie, according to the guide, this book is to be drank in order “to express nourishing affection”.  😊  That, along with it’s very simple list of ingredients, made it a perfect choice for a Valentine’s Day cocktail.

Ingredients

• 1 oz vodka
  • the recipe actually calls for gin, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I went with what I had
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
  • since I was experimenting, I decided to go with my Blood Orange Cointreau
• 1/2 oz of fresh orange juice
• Ice cubes

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker
2. Shake over ice and strain into a glass
3. Add a rose garnish
4. Enjoy!

Notes/Additions to Recipe:

So, WOW!!!  This drink is tiny, but my goodness it will knock you off your feet if you’re not careful. 🙃🙂 After one tiny sip, I can see why one would drink this to “express their feelings”.  After just one, you’re sure to be extremely chatty. 🤣

Since I was out of gin the day I made this, I decided to experiment and used the Peach & Orange Blossom vodka by Ketel One & Blood Orange Cointreau, instead of the regular version, to add additional depth of flavor. Let me tell you, this cocktail is NOT for the feint of heart. I ended up adding in an additional 1/2 oz of orange juice and an ounce or so of ginger ale. This softened this cocktail up just enough for me to comfortably enjoy it.

I consider this feisty little lady a sipper. You’ve been warned, don’t hurt yourself. 😄

My Sorrel Recipe

Because I just know you want to know exactly how I make my sorrel in general, and the tweak I made for this cocktail, here it goes:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (or so) of sorrel
  • or one package from this brand:

• 2 cinnamon sticks
  • For the Love’s Holiday batch, I used 4 sticks to really impart the cinnamon flavor
  • I also left 1 cinnamon stick in serving container that day, and then stored it in there over night before removing it the next day
• 8 cloves
• 4 pimento seeds (allspice)
• 2 inches of fresh ginger grated
  • disclaimer: I LOVE ginger and have been eating and juicing with it for over 15 years now.  So I have quite the tolerance and palate for it. Adjust the amount according to your taste, but I’d say at least an inch is a good starting place
• 8 cups of water
•  1 cup of sugar (more or less to taste) –or– 1 cup (more or less to taste) of simple syrup

Directions:

1. heat 8 cups of water in a nice size pot
2. Add in all ingredients and allow to warm/heat up thoroughly, but be careful to not let mixture come to a full boil
3. Once hot and heated through, turn off heat and let mixture cool to room temperature
4. Let mixture sit anywhere from 8 hours to overnight in the fridge
5. Once mixture has steeped (I let mine go overnight at least), put it back on the stove and turn the burner on. Get it warm, not hot, and definitely do not bring it to a boil
6. Strain all of the solids out of the sorrel
7. Sweeten it up to your liking with either sugar or simple syrup. I usually end up with between 3/4 to 1 full cup of sugar in mine. Just depends on the final blend of flavor from the spices and how sweet I’m feeling that day. 🙂

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