While we’ve been stuck inside for many months now, summer has officially arrived. With the summer season comes requisite heat, sun, summer fruits, and summer cocktails. Almost like nothing’s changed, even though the world has been upended–with each sunny day, we dream of beach trips, late sticky nights, and happy hours spent in garden bars and rooftops. And even though we can’t yet go out to our favorite summer locales, as states slowly reopen, we can at least celebrate the summer’s return from home.
While we at DuJour always welcome chilled rosés and seasonal mojitos, we also like to indulge in new recipes like the Mezza Summer Sparkler. Best sipped on a hot day, the cocktail–created by Colleen Jeffers–is light, cold, sparkling, and contains only two ingredients. Tasting of ripe berries, elderflower, and yuzu, this drink is sure to become a favorite to add to your mixologist repertoire. Tend bar with the recipe below.
MEZZA SUMMER SPARKLER:
1 ½ oz. Berry-Infused St. Germain
Chilled Mezza di Mezzacorona to top, about 4 oz. per cocktail
Preparation: To infuse the St. Germain, add ¾ cup fresh mixed berries (such as strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries) and one cup St. Germain to a blender. Blend on high speed for about ten seconds, until the fruit is pulverized. Let stand for at least ten minutes or up to an hour. Strain through a fine mesh sieve or nut milk bag (the bag will be faster), and store, covered, in the refrigerator. Depending on the ripeness of the berries, each batch will make about six servings.
For each cocktail, pour 1 ½ oz. of the infused St. Germain into a chilled rocks glass filled with ice, then carefully top with the chilled Mezza di Mezzacorona Rose. Optional: garnish with skewered mixed berries and a sprig of rosemary.
