Cranberry ginger rosemary fizz cocktail and mocktail

Mocktails are all too often the afterthoughts of the drink world: watered-down fizzy fruit-juice punches for the designated drivers. So when I needed one for a recent cocktail party I went looking for one with more flavor. This one is steeped with fresh ginger, rosemary and cranberries, and further enriched by orange bitters, pomegranate molasses and tea. I figured it had a least a fighting chance.

This recipe was one of two I contemplated for the party, both of them more seasonal than my usual go-to punch that works well for summer months. In the end I couldn't make up my mind, so I tried both.

This first one takes several steps and you need to allow plenty of time for the flavors to blend, but it’s worth a certain amount of effort.

Festive cranberry fizz

From thekitchn.com

Ingredients

2½ cup fresh cranberries (12-ounce bag)

2 ounces fresh ginger, skin on and sliced (about ½ cup)

½ cup sugar

3 cups cranberry juice cocktail

2 large sprigs fresh rosemary

¼ ounce black tea leaves

4 cups boiling water

¼ cup pomegranate molasses

¼ cup orange bitters

4 to 7 cups tonic water (depending on whether you’re doing the cocktail or mocktail version)

2 cups gin (for cocktail)

Ice cubes

Method

Roughly chop cranberries and ginger in food processor. Mix with sugar and cranberry juice cocktail in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and add rosemary sprigs. Simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool, preferably overnight in the refrigerator to let the flavors blend. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard solids. You can make this syrup up to a week ahead or freeze it.

Brew tea in the 4 cups boiling water, steeping for about three minutes or until desired flavor is reached. (I used Harney’s Paris tea for this.) Strain out tea leaves. Whisk in cranberry syrup, pomegranate molasses and orange bitters. Refrigerator at least four hours, or overnight.

To serve as cocktail: Stir in 2 cups of gin and 4 to 5 cups of tonic water. Serve over ice.

To serve as mocktail: Stir in 6 to 7 cups tonic water. Serve over ice.

Since I wasn’t sure how guest preferences for cocktail vs. mocktail were going to break down, I served this as a base with 5 cups of tonic water stirred in, then let people pour it over ice and either add more tonic water or gin as desired. It made the math more complicated, but it worked OK, and it did give me an excuse to use the giant drink dispenser. I made a double batch, which was overkill, but I’m the queen of that. A single batch allegedly makes 18 6-ounce drink servings.

Rating: This worked well fine enough as a cocktail with gin. Dave preferred it with vodka, and I heartily enjoyed some of the leftovers with bourbon, which surprisingly didn't overwhelm the other flavors. Guests seemed to enjoy it either as a cocktail or mocktail. The threshold for mocktails is higher than cocktails, and often misses the mark. This one has a lot more going on than most, so people are more willing to drink it in mocktail form, which helps with pacing. I’d make this one again, but next time I’d just break down and make it in two large pitchers so self-service is easier for guests.