When I entertain, especially for a smaller gathering like brunch or a dinner party, I prefer to have one signature cocktail, such as this Blue Bumble Bee Cocktail, rather than setting up a whole bar.
This pretty little cocktail is fun and fresh and perfect for spring and summer meals.
I start off by making a thick blueberry and honey concoction, almost like a quick jam. It adds great flavor, a lovely color and just the right amount of sweetness to this drink. All you need to do is boil blueberries and organic honey together with a few sprigs of fresh thyme until it gets nice and thick. You can make the honey blueberry mixture up to a week ahead of time—just store, covered, in the fridge.
This recipe makes one good sized cocktail. You can double, triple or quadruple the recipe. Put about a half teaspoon of the blueberry honey in the bottom of each glass, shake more blueberry honey, lemon juice and vodka together in a large shaker with ice, distribute in your glasses and top off with some prosecco. I think the drink looks so pretty in those old-fashioned champagne coupe glasses but flutes or even wine glasses work great, too. And I love to garnish the drink with just a few sprigs of thyme—it looks so fresh and is just a little unexpected.
Blue Bumble Bee Cocktail
Ingredients
2 Tbsp, plus ½ tsp blueberry honey, divided (recipe follows)
2 oz fresh lemon juice
2 oz gluten-free vodka
2-3 oz cold prosecco
2-3 fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish
Blueberry honey:
1 c blueberries
1 c organic honey
1 c water
4 fresh thyme sprigs
(about three inches long)
Directions
Place ½ tsp of the blueberry honey in the bottom of the glass.
In a cocktail shaker (or even a mason jar) filled with ice, add the remaining 2 Tbsp blueberry honey, lemon juice and vodka. Shake until cold.
Pour into the glass and top off with a little prosecco. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.
Blueberry Honey:
Combine all the ingredients in a deep saucepan. Bring to a boil. Let boil, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until the mixture has reduced in size by at least half and is the consistency of syrup. Mixture will thicken more as it cools. Strain the mixture into a bowl and let cool. When cooled, refrigerate until cold.
