Cranberry Orange Rosemary Tonic

This cranberry orange rosemary tonic is a sophisticated alcohol-free drink that packs a lot of flavor into a small glass. Fresh rosemary, orange zest, and sugar are pounded together to release their oils before being mixed with cranberry, orange, and lemon juice, then double-strained over ice with a salt rim and topped with tonic water.

This drink has a bitterness to it that reminds me of a salty dog. The tonic water and cranberry bring a sharp, grapefruit-like edge, and the salt rim does exactly what it does on a salty dog: softens that bitterness and makes the citrus come forward. The rosemary adds something herbal and piney underneath it all, and the trick to getting that flavor into the drink is pounding it with orange zest and sugar before you shake anything. The sugar pulls the oils out of both and infuses them into the base of the drink.

You could also use a rosemary simple syrup instead of the fresh rosemary technique, but I chose not to here. The cranberry and orange juices already bring plenty of sweetness, and a syrup would push it over into too sweet. The pounding method gives you the rosemary flavour with just a teaspoon of sugar, rather than the full sweetness of a syrup.

Key ingredients and why

• Cranberry juice: Use cranberry juice cocktail rather than 100% pure cranberry, which is too tannic and sharp. The juice cocktail has the right balance of tart and sweet.
• Fresh orange juice: I use freshly squeezed orange juice for this.
• Fresh lemon juice: Freshly squeezed here too.
• Fresh rosemary: Just the needles, stripped from the stem. Pounding them with the sugar extracts their piney, herbal oils.
• Orange zest: A small amount goes a long way. The zest holds the fragrant oils of the orange, and pounding it with the sugar is what releases them properly.
• Sugar: This acts as an abrasive to help extract the oils from the rosemary and zest.
• Tonic water: The bitterness of tonic water balances the sweetness of the cranberry and orange.
• Salt (for the rim): A light salt rim softens the tonic’s bitterness and lifts the citrus. It’s optional but I love it.

Method

1. Run an orange wedge around the rim of a rocks glass and dip it into a small plate of salt. Fill the glass with ice.

1. Tuck in a fresh rosemary sprig and an orange wheel to garnish. Serve immediately.

Tips

1. Use a mortar and pestle if you have one. It gives you more control than trying to pound things in the base of a shaker. That said, a muddler and the base of a cocktail shaker works fine.
2. Double straining. You want to catch all the rosemary needles and zest pieces so the drink is clean. Strain once through the shaker strainer and again through a fine mesh strainer.
3. Adjust the tonic to taste. 2.5 oz (70ml) gives a stronger, more juice-forward drink. 3 oz (90ml) is lighter and more refreshing. I usually go somewhere in the middle.
4. To make it a cocktail: Add 1.5 oz (45ml) of gin or vodka to the shaker with the juices. Gin pairs especially well with the rosemary.

More floral and herbal drinks

• My cranberry gin martini is another great way to use cranberry juice in a more spirit-forward cocktail.
• The lavender gin sour is another herbal, aromatic cocktail that uses a similar floral approach.
• If you love rosemary in drinks, the thyme gimlet uses a herb-infused syrup in a similar way with gin and lime.
• For another easy tonic-based drink, the aperol ginger beer fizz is light, refreshing, and comes together in minutes.

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