This Blood Orange Mocktail is refreshing and easy to create. While I was planning a Taylor Swift 1989 (Taylor’s Version) listening party, I was looking for creative ways to make a play on words with her song titles and lyrics from the 1989 album for the menu items. To see more about the party and the rest of the menu for the 1989 Taylor’s Version listening party click here.

For those of you not familiar, a popular song on the 1989 album is called ‘Bad Blood’ so I wanted to try to come up with something with blood oranges for a play on that song title to incorporate on the menu.

Blood Oranges

Blood oranges are a variety of oranges, derived from a natural mutation. Blood oranges are named from the red flesh of the orange, and also called raspberry oranges. smaller in size, and known for their red color.

The red color comes from anthocyanin, a red/blue pigment found in many other plant foods with antioxidant properties. The color of blood oranges develops and deepens in the cool winter nights. Depending on when they are harvested, they may only have the outer edges of the segments starting to turn red, as pictured in the blood oranges I found and used in this recipe. Peak season to find blood oranges are December to April, and are primarily grown in California and Florida here in the US.

Blood oranges have a taste of citrus and orange, along with distinct notes of raspberry. There are tons of blood orange recipes, but they can be enjoyed on their own, added to salads or other dishes, juiced to enjoy as blood orange juice, and in this case using the blood orange juice in a mocktail.

Mocktails

Mocktails are all the flavor and fun of a cocktail without the alcohol! There are many reasons someone may opt for a non-alcoholic beverage whether that be they are sober, sober-curious, the designated driver, avoiding alcohol due to medication interactions, religious reasons, other health or lifestyle reasons.

A common example of a health reasons someone may choose a non-alcoholic mocktail that I came across often as an oncology dietitian, is that alcohol consumption increases the risk of some cancers, so people may choose to limit or avoid alcohol consumption for that reason. To find more info about alcohol and cancer risk, click here.

You can add alcohol of your choice to this blood orange mocktail recipe, but then it wouldn’t be a mocktail of course.

This Blood Orange Mocktail recipe is really easy to create either mocktails by the glass, or in a batch to serve at a gathering. Because it is a little early in the year to find them, you can also find blood orange juice in the store to use instead of tracking down the blood oranges to juice yourself.

recommended materials

Juicer - I use a manual one like this and it’s quick and easy to store in a kitchen drawer, it also has a pour spout.
Strainer - any strainer you have in your bar set, or kitchen will do! I have a smaller size that fits over glasses really nicely!
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blood orange juice, blood orange mocktail, mocktail recipe

beverage

Yield: 2

Author: Margaux Empey

Blood Orange Mocktail

This crisp, refreshing blood orange mocktail is perfect to enjoy by the glass, or to make a batch for your next gathering.

Prep time: 10 MinTotal time: 10 Min

Ingredients

Ice for each glass
1 cup Blood Orange Juice (5-6 blood oranges)
1 cup Lemon Lime Sparkling Water

Instructions

Juice blood oranges, and pour through a strainer to remove any pulp or seeds
Fill each glass with ice as desired
Fill half the glass with blood orange juice, about 1/2 cup
Top the remainder of the glass with Lemon Lime Sparkling water, about 1/2 cup
Garnish with blood orange slice

Notes

Use store bought blood orange juice if it is out of peak season and difficult to find blood oranges near you
Garnish with mint or basil if desired
If serving as a batch, juice blood oranges in advance and store in air-tight container for up to 3 days. Wait to add the sparkling water until right before guests arrive, or leave the sparkling water separate for guests to top off their glasses to maintain the carbonation

Nutrition Facts

Calories

55

Fat

0 g

Carbs

12.5 g

Protein

0 g

Vitamin C

42 mg

Estimated nutritional facts per 1 serving. Nutritional information should be considered estimates, as actual nutritional content will vary with specifics of ingredients, measuring, and portion sizes.