This Vodka Citrus Sparkler—sponsored by Wheatley Vodka—is a fresh, vibrant cocktail that I'll be drinking all winter long.
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The pairing here is a simple one: exceptionally smooth Wheatley Vodka and juicy, in-season clementines. Simple syrup, lemon juice and Angostura bitters are stirred into the mix to enhance, but not overpower the flavor of the clementine. Effervescent soda water is added at the end to give this cocktail a bit of sparkle and fizz. This cocktail is light, approachable and so darn refreshing. Each sip is like biting into the perfect clementine. Continue reading for the recipe.
Buffalo Trace is one of my favorite bourbons, so I was excited to hear that the distillery also produces Wheatley Vodka! Wheatley is distilled TEN times in a unique copper micro still and then triple filtered, resulting in an incredibly smooth vodka. In 2019, this Award Winning Vodka took home a number of golden medals here in the US and on the international stage.
In this recipe, Wheatley is a pleasant base spirit that lets all of the bright citrus flavors shine. I can have a couple of these during cocktail hour and feel 100% fine the next day. The price point is quite approachable too, so I plan on having a bottle of Wheatley on my bar cart from now on! You can Get Wheatley Vodka Here.
Now, let's talk citrus. You can certainly get clementines year-round, but they are in season now in California and Florida, so it's a lot easier to find delicious clementines at the grocery store. You'll need to juice about six clementines to get the two ounces of juice needed for this cocktail.
If you can't find good clementines at the market, then feel free to use any sweet, ripe orange available to you. Navel oranges, Mandarin oranges or even blood oranges would work well here. Keep in mind that you may need to adjust the amount of simple syrup and lemon juice if you use a different type of orange.
Vodka Citrus Sparkler
Ingredients
- 2 ounces freshly squeezed clementine juice (from about 6 clementines)*
- 1 ½ ounces Wheatley Vodka
- 1 ounce simple syrup
- ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 2 ounces chilled sparkling water
Clementine slices and rosemary springs, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Add clementine juice, vodka, simple syrup, lemon juice and bitters to a collins glass. Add ice, top off with sparkling water and stir gently to combine.
- Garnish with a few slices of clementine and a sprig of rosemary.
Notes
I’m Brandon: food explorer, recipe curator, cocktail shaker, dessert lover. Kitchen Konfidence is how I document my time spent in my favorite space, the kitchen. Did you make a recipe? Tag @brandiego on Instagram so I can see the how it went!
Sabrina says
nice cocktail, thank you, interesting about Wheatley vodka, had never heard of it but need to give a vodka gift, this will work! And a sparkler with bitters, so much more sophisticated than my typical mixers, much appreciated