Rachel Marwedel
Website Manager
Each Monday, I gather my roommates and taste-test two mocktails. This time around, it’s the holiday edition! Here’s how this week’s went:
Snowglobe
A tree in a winter landscape… wait, it’s a drink?
A sprig of rosemary
Infused Sparkling water (see below for substitutions)
Fill the glass ⅛ full with water. Place a rosemary sprig inside. You may want to use ribbons taped to the sides to keep it balanced. Freeze. Top with sparkling water.
You may have seen this recipe floating around on TikTok, just as my roommate did – you can find a few different videos. Simply trying to find rosemary was a trial in itself. Eventually, after five different grocery stores, Smith’s came through for me. After filling the glass with enough water to cover the bottom, I propped the rosemary up. How? Sheer luck. I’d recommend some kind of string contraption instead. After freezing, I poured in some blackberry-infused sparkling water. However, you can use any kind of carbonated drink (Sprite, for example) as long as it’s clear. Word to the wise: Ice is buoyant, so after a few minutes, the ice will rise to the top. If you’d like to skip the ice together, the bubbles still cling to the herb and look very cool.
The presentation of this drink is stunning. It really does look like a snowglobe – and it gave me an excuse to use the ISU glass I got at the President’s holiday party years ago. (Thanks, Kevin!). As for taste, though, nothing special. It really depends on what drink you put in it. But for presentation alone, it makes for quite a showstopper.
Rating: 3/3
Holiday Moscow Mule
A drink to warm up the cold nights.
¼ tsp lime juice
Ginger beer
Cranberry juice
1 sprig of mint
2 cinnamon sticks
Optional: Cranberries
Add ice, cinnamon sticks, and lime juice to the glass. Fill ¼ full with ginger beer. Top with cranberry juice. Stir. Chop mint into small pieces and sprinkle on top.
Optional: Freeze cranberries in water to create cranberry ice cubes.
I partially based this recipe on Sweet’s & Thank You’s Cranberry Moscow Mule, with a few changes. I started by freezing my cranberries into ice cubes. The cranberries will float, since they’re naturally buoyant, but it will still look neat even if they’re sticking out of the ice a bit. If you don’t have time to prep, just use regular ice. A day later, I filled the glass with my cranberry ice. I then artfully arranged my cinnamon sticks and filled the glass partway with ginger beer. Warning! Ginger beer can be very strong, so when in doubt, err on the side of less. I added some lime juice to up the acidity, and topped it with cranberry juice to give it a beautiful reddish tint. Then I chopped mint up and sprinkled it on top.
Ginger beer goes down spicy, but stays warm in the belly for a bit. Nothing like a glass of this drink in front of a blazing fireplace, on a snowy night. An ultimate holiday drink to accompany your turkey or ham.
Rating: 3/3
