What’s your favorite brunch cocktail? Perhaps a Bloody Mary? Or maybe Mimosas? I have a new one for you to try… a Ginger Mint Carrot Cooler. Ok, I know what you might be thinking “why on earth would I want a cocktail with carrot juice in it?” Am I right? Don’t click away, stay with me, I promise you’ll really like this drink. Really, I PROMISE! It makes a fantastic brunch cocktail and you don’t have to put alcohol in it if you don’t want to.
At first I thought carrot juice might be weird in a cocktail. But I had a big bottle of it staring at me in the refrigerator and thought what the heck, might as well give it a try. After all, I like tomato juice in Bloody Marys and that’s made with a vegetable juice. I love carrot juice in my smoothies so how bad could it be with a little vodka (or rum) added in? See, now it’s sounding better isn’t it? I told you to stay with me!
Ginger compliments carrots nicely so I muddled some fresh ginger, tossed in a bit of ginger liqueur and topped it off with ginger beer for some fizz action (you could use ginger ale instead if you wanted). I wanted to “lighten” up the carrot juice so this drink wasn’t too “carrot-y” and used some fresh squeezed lemon juice and a little mint for freshness. And, of course, a little simple syrup to balance it all out. I used the same mint simple syrup I used in my yummy Orange Mint Juleps but you could certainly use plain simple syrup. Simple syrup in cocktails to me is like salt & pepper on food…you don’t need a lot, but a little pulls it all together in my opinion.
This Ginger Mint Carrot Cooler might just replace your Bloody Mary at brunch next time. So while you’re at the market, grab some fresh carrot juice and fix yourself one of these babies. Heck, you can almost convince yourself you’re drinking something healthy and good for you!
Move over Mary, here comes Ginger!
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