This easy Rosemary Clementine Cocktail is a spin on the classic screwdriver. It’s lightly sweet, perfectly balanced, and a delicious addition to your brunch menu.
What’s brunch without a good cocktail? When I was dreaming of an Italian-themed brunch, I immediately thought of making a cocktail with the Italian sodas at Trader Joe’s.
I chose the clementine soda to create a Rosemary Clementine Brunch Cocktail—a fun take on a screwdriver!
I teamed up with Kelley from Haviland Events for this brunch. She is the queen of #tablesettingtuesday, and she made the cutest tablesetting for this menu. She was also the lucky recipient of the extra cocktails, and she reports that they’re just as tasty later in the day!
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Combining citrus and rosemary
I’m a huge fan of The Flavor Bible
. The entire book is lists of ingredients and what pairs nicely with them.
For example, almonds pair well with apricots, chocolate, hazelnuts, and honey. Lemons taste nice with basil, blackberries, capers, garlic, and pistachios. Salmon goes well with basil, chives, lime zest, and tarragon—the lists go on and on.
There are thousands of ingredient pairings in the book. I can’t imagine what the authors had to do to dream up all of these combinations!
Did they taste them all? How exactly does one figure out that chickpeas pair well with shrimp? Or that sweet potatoes and red onions are a match made in heaven?
Regardless of how they came up with the pairings, I’m grateful. I’m a better cook as a result of the book.
I had my eye on clementine soda from Trader Joe’s recently. Since we normally drink orange juice with brunch, I thought it would make a delicious brunch cocktail.
But I wasn’t quite sure what else to add. I grabbed The Flavor Bible and landed on the combination of oranges and rosemary.
How to make rosemary simple syrup
Start by combing equal parts sugar and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then stir and remove from the heat. Add two large rosemary sprigs, and allow them to steep in the simple syrup for 15 minutes.
Remove the rosemary sprigs and allow the simple syrup to cool completely. That’s it! You just made rosemary simple syrup.
And it tastes like CHRISTMAS! The flavor of the rosemary definitely pointed my taste memories toward December. I think the smell of fresh pine from the Christmas tree and the taste of sweet Christmas cookies jogged my flavor recall!
How to make the brunch cocktail
The next step is to grab a large pitcher and start pouring.
Add vodka, rosemary simple syrup, clementine soda, club soda, and orange bitters. Stir gently to combine. You’ll want to do this right before you serve the cocktail so the bubbles don’t disappear!
The orange bitters are an optional but excellent addition—they really balance out the whole beverage nicely.
Add sprigs of fresh rosemary to the pitcher, and serve the cocktail over ice.
More brunch ideas
This Rosemary Clementine Brunch Cocktail is the perfect addition to any brunch menu.
When I served the cocktail, I had an Italian-themed menu that included Savory Caprese Bread Pudding and Italian Sausage Breakfast Patties.
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and/or comment below!
📖 Recipe
Rosemary Clementine Brunch Cocktail
Ingredients
Rosemary simple syrup
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Clementine rosemary cocktail
- ¾ cup rosemary simple syrup
- ½ cup vodka
- 3–4 dashes orange bitters
- 2 (25.4 oz) bottles clementine soda (I used Trader Joe’s; see notes for more options)
- 2 cups (16 oz) club soda
- For garnish: fresh rosemary sprigs (one per serving glass, plus a few for the pitcher)
Instructions
Rosemary simple syrup
- Place the sugar with ½ cup of water in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add 2 rosemary sprigs. Allow to steep for 15 minutes. Remove the rosemary sprigs and allow the simple syrup to cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Clementine rosemary cocktail
- Pour ¾ cup simple syrup and ½ cup vodka into a glass pitcher. Sprinkle in the orange bitters.
- Add 2 bottles of clementine soda (about 6 cups). Top off with 2 cups of club soda and stir to combine.
- Pour into glasses with ice. Garnish with additional fresh rosemary sprigs.
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