Fall Cocktail: Blood Orange Habanero

With the elections and Thanksgiving festivities officially behind us and Winter season approaching we all have valid reasons to have a drink and turn up the heat. And that's exactly what I plan to do with this sweet & spicy Fall cocktail. Just call me your friendly mixologist. Lies! I'm definitely not a certified bartender but I do occasionally luck up on creating a bomb cocktail or two. Nonetheless, this one's a keeper and I promise you its just the right amount of heat to get you through your week.

To begin I made my own rosemary simple syrup . Don't worry its called "SIMPLE" for a reason and it's a perfect match for this cocktail's citrus blend. So don't chicken out and skip this step.

1. Put 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a small to medium sauce pan. Put your stove on high heat and let your sugar and water reach a boil. ( I occasionally stirred the syrup so that the sugar did not stick to the bottom of the pan)

2. Once your syrup reaches a boil toss two fresh rosemary sprigs into the pan and bring your heat setting to low. Let this simmer 5 to 7 mins and then let it cool before pouring into a jar. Once the syrup is cooled it will thicken up.

I made approximately 4 oz of rosemary simple syrup. This is way more than this cocktail calls for. I will be making rosemary lemonade with my leftovers.

3. Squeeze 2 oz of fresh lime juice (should be about one whole lime) and use only 2 oz of your rosemary simple syrup.

4. Add 2 oz of blood orange juice.

You can opt for fresh squeezed blood oranges but I picked up a bottle of all natural hand crafted blood orange/mandarin mixer from Williams-Sonoma.

It's just as delicious but with less of a mess to clean up.

Here is the Williams-Sonoma brand I used for my blood orange/ mandarin cocktail mixer. It's SO GOOD!

5. Last but not least we have to add our heat! Add 1 oz of habanero flavored vodka.( Any habanero/ jalapeño flavored vodka will do) However, If you want more heat go for an extra oz but I promise you, you will go from heat to fire! And if you want to make this cocktail stronger just add REGULAR vodka.

6. Mix all your ingredients in a shaker with light ice and strain your cocktail into a chilled glass.

If you would like to get a little fancy like I did garnish your cocktail with a rosemary sprig and hints of cinnamon to bring your flavor up a notch.

Sip Responsibly & Enjoy!

Until We Sip Again,

-EEH