The Merry Mocktail

December 10, 2021

We’ve come to our senses: what are the holidays without fun festive beverages?!

And so here we are with a special last-minute bonus Holiday Series recipe! This pomegranata spritzy mocktail is keeping us well on the merry side of things. Herby, zingy rosemary-infused simple syrup cutting through the sweet tart pomegranate juice, bubbly fizz, fresh lime squeezes if you’re fancy (lime bubbly water if you’re us) and then it’s just holiday magic from there on out.

There are so many fun things to do to fancy this up if you want to wow them with a Christmas cocktail/mocktail hour or if you just really want to reward yourself after a long day of gift-wrapping because, let’s be real, getting those corners even can be so frustrating and eventually you just give up and wrap the whole thing in scotch tape. Anyway.

A Four-Ingredient Treat

Here are the four things you’ll need to make this happen:

Rosemary simple syrup (rosemary, sugar, water)
Pomegranate juice (cranberry juice works too!)
Soda water or lime-flavored bubbly water
Lime squeezes (optional)

Other than that, there’s not a lot to it. Just mix, sip, toast, enjoy.

Make It Fancy

If you have those ice molds that make a big ice ball (affiliate link), those are so very fun in here. A sprig of fresh rosemary to garnish, some sugar-dusted cranberries, is this all in a fancy glass? WE HOPE SO. Even if it is in a probably-wrong glass like a stemless wine glass, just, you do you.

This also would be great with a splash of your favorite spirit if you’re going that way. Gin might be wintry and nice, but vodka would work too. We like to mix it with straight up lime LaCroix or Spindrift to keep things quick, but soda water and fresh lime is clutch. You can also mix it with ginger beer, which is lovely, but on the sweeter end so that might work better with the alcoholic version.

If you have a day or two, we’d def recommend letting that simple syrup sit in the fridge for a bit so it gets really nice and rosemary-y. It sure is a special treat swimming around in this drink so do yourself that favor. But also still great if you saw this post and you were like “Me. Want. Now.” and you’re already sipping away!

Cheers, frands!

The Merry Mocktail

Author: Lindsay
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: recipe is for a 4 cup batch of simple syrup / ratios for a single mocktail

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Units

Rosemary Simple Syrup

4 cups water
4 cups sugar
(2) .5 oz packages fresh rosemary (basically, a nice big bunch of rosemary)
optional: 4-5 whole cloves

Merry Mocktail

2–3 ounces rosemary simple syrup
2–3 ounces pomegranate juice (cranberry juice is a good sub)
2–3 ounces club soda with a squeeze of fresh lime (OR lime-flavored bubbly water)

Instructions

Heat the water, sugar, rosemary, and cloves in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a low boil and let everything simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sugar has fully dissolved. Pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove the cloves and rogue rosemary leaves. Transfer to glass jars and store in the fridge for 2 weeks. (I often stick a sprig of rosemary in there so it keeps getting more intense.)
Pour your desired ratios of rosemary syrup, pomegranate juice, and limey bubbly water over an ice ball into a glass. Stir gently, taste and adjust, and enjoy.

Notes

Garnish with a rosemary sprig or some fresh cranberries if you want to be fancy!

The rosemary sprig in the simple syrup will drop its leaves – I usually just let them settle to the bottom and then pour slowly so I don’t get rosemary leaves in my drink. (A sprig is easy to drink around – but the single little needles / leaves tend to slip into your mouth more easily when you’re drinking which is not super pleasant.)

We LOVE these ice ball molds (affiliate link) and use them constantly, year-round.