Rosemary-Grapefruit Cocktail

Today’s Mixology Monday theme is Superior Twists. Not twists as in the thing that sits on the rim of your glass as a decorative afterthought, but twists as in what if you threw out your old recipe and made a traditional classic cocktail differently, even if for only one day?

Typically, our adjustments to any drink recipes tend to involve adding bourbon, substituting bourbon or increasing the bourbon-to-everything-else ratio. No surprise, then, that our classic cocktail twist involves bourbon. In this case, we chose to twist the Old Fashioned. Nothing like a little bourbon, bitters, sugar and citrus to raise your spirits and tickle your nipples.

As is usually the case when there is a deadline looming, our new cocktails are based on whatever we can find in the house, in this case, Bookers, a mostly dead rosemary plant and a grapefruit. I know, I know, mixing Bookers with anything other than an ice cube is a mortal sin fit to be punished by a tortuous eternity spent in the fiery bowels of hell. I won’t admit to you that I partook of Bookers mixed with orange juice during my last bout with the common cold. The only other bourbon we had in the house today was Knob Creek infused with rosemary and about a pound too many peppercorns which resulted in me racing around the kitchen in circles with flames blasting out of my face, much to Leah’s amusement. So Bookers it be.

We also violated our “less is more” rule with this cocktail, which contains a whopping eight ingredients. Going through a rebellious stage, perhaps?

Rosemary-Grapefruit Old Fashioned

1 1⁄2 ounce Bookers bourbon
1⁄4 ounce Grand Marnier
1⁄4 ounce sweetened lime juice (two parts lime juice to one part simple syrup)
3 dashes bitters
1 section of pink grapefruit, skin and pith removed
1⁄2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves
1 tsp sugar
splash club soda
grapefruit rind twist

Muddle all ingredients in pint glass except club soda and grapefruit rind twist. Pour into double rocks glass filled with ice. Top with club soda. Toss gently into pint glass and back again. Garnish with grapefruit twist.

Check out everyone else’s Mixology Monday cocktail recipes at this month’s host site, The Wild Drink Blog. Our hosts also asked what song we most like to dance The Twist to. The Twist? Bah, I say. We dance The Frug instead, while drinking old fashioneds and listening to Jaan Pehechaan Ho by Mohammed Rafi.