I’m a girlfriends kinda gal. Don’t get me wrong, I love the men in my life, but I cherish the company of other women. I love lady dates, lunching, shopping with a trusted ally, and, probably most of all, chatting the day away. I talk a lot, wonder out loud, take and give advice, muse about whatever, gossip about celebs and the like…etc. I tend to be a shy, awkward, weirdo upon first meeting, but my true nature is talker….not to be confused with walker.
If you give me a cocktail and pair me up a lady friend…before you know it, hours will have gone by and we will have covered a range of topics and bonded over rambling hours of conversation. This is exactly what happens anytime I get together with my pal, Megan. We happen to talk A LOT about blogging, drinks, pretty things, cupcakes, whether Ryan Gosling is hanging out around Detroit, puppy love, and pizza/burgers/tacos/food. It’s just what happens.
A few weekends ago we found ourselves snacking on charcuterie and chatting over cocktails. I was drinking Rose Lemonade with vodka. It was floral, refreshing, slightly boozy, and about the most romantic lemonade I’ve ever had. I told Megan I wanted to recreate it but it needed to be pink. She agreed. We share a lot of things in common and have similar personalities (friendly-awkward with a side of snark), and we both–unashamedly–love pink. So, I knew that if I was going to remake the prettiest tasting cocktail I’d ever had, I needed to make it pink and I wanted it to be a natural pink beauty. This cocktail gets it’s pink hue, naturally, from a few crushed raspberries in the syrup–not enough to impart a berry flavor, just enough to make this drink the rose-toned beauty of my dreams. There’s gin or vodka for a boozy kick, fresh lemon juice for tang, and a touch of rosewater for that floral, romantic something else. These drinks mix up perfectly in a pitcher and would be the best foil for an evening of patio-sitting and girl talk.
Rose Lemonade Cocktails
Makes about 4 large cocktails.
Feel free to leave out the booze and make these drinks friendly for everyone. As for the Rose Water the floral sweetness can quickly become soapy. A little bit goes a long way, so I suggest 2-4 teaspoons–depending on your taste. I found the bottle pictured above at my local Asian market in the Indian foods section. I don’t always love buying a specialty item for a single recipe and though I only used the teeniest bit, the bottle was under $2, so it was worth it. PLUS…I now have a whole bottle of rose water to play with in other recipes.
For the pink syrup:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
a handful of raspberries, about 10 (fresh or frozen)–crushed
2-4 teaspoons rose water
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, and raspberries. Heat over medium high to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute, remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature before straining through a fine mesh sieve. Discard any raspberry seeds and solids. Stir the rose water into the cooled syrup. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Makes about 1 1/2 cups syrup.
For the Lemonade:
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (I used about 8 lemons)
3 cups water
1 cup rose water syrup (use more to taste as desired)
Gin or Vodka
In a pitcher mix together lemon juice, water, and rose syrup. Stir well to combine. Best served with 1-2 ounces of gin or vodka (per drink) over ice.
This might be my most favorite post EVER. And I’m so glad you recreated this beauty! It totally is way prettier now that it’s pink and ladylike. And I’m totally going to go on a search for rose water! It’s a potion.
P.S. Does Sean like this lady drink?
Yes! You need some rosewater in yo life girl! Sean did like it, I just don’t think he loves it like I do. ha!
I love that you made these pink just for the sake of being pink! 🙂
I’m totally the same way. Looks delish!
Yes! I’m glad you’re on board with pink lemonade for the sake of pink 🙂
I’ve got boozy, floral lemonade on my mind (and on my blog) too! And I know what you mean by girl time… though I’m a man’s woman at heart.
yum! I like the way you think 🙂
This drink’s got my name all over it.
Such a beautiful cocktail!
I love this post! Sometimes I’ll hear a girl say that she doesn’t get along with other girls, or prefers her dude friends…and I just don’t get it. I love my guy friends, but they’re not the ones I can spend hours and hours talking to.
This drink is so pretty, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the rest of the rose water!
omg…friendly-awkward with a side of snark…we would get along soooo well!
haha, awesome!