Blizzards & Bikinis

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This alcohol-free tiki inspired cocktail features tropical ingredients like hibiscus flowers and toasted coconut milk, mixed with winter ingredients like bitter citrus to create an interesting and delicious blend of flavors. Some other supporting ingredients are rose water, saline and mint.

This drink was actually inspired by my breakfast- oatmeal with shredded coconut and grapefruit. It was such a great combination that I haven’t seen before- I knew it would make a great drink.

You’ll need the following equipment:

Ingredients:

Toasted Cream of Coconut
Grapefruit Cordial
Ghia
Rose Water
Saline (salt & water)

The zero-proof spirit I will be using is Ghia- It’s honestly the best zero proof spirit I’ve tried to date. It is an aperitif style nonalcoholic mixer that offers a really interesting bitter element to this drink. It contains a blend of herbs and flowers that you’d find in something like Campari or Aperol.

First, I’ll brew two cups of hibiscus tea, each cup of tea needs around 3 and a half grams of dried hibiscus flowers- you can find these pretty much anywhere these days. You can even use the kind in tea bags. Since I’m brewing 2 cups, I’ll be measuring out 7 grams then add it to my French press and top with 2 cups of boiling water. I like using a French press to brew loose leaf tea- the screen helps to strain out all the tiny particles that we don’t want to float in the drink.

I’ll let the tea steep for 6 to 7 minutes before plunging and transferring into a jar for storage.

This cocktail utilizes my toasted cream of coconut recipe, though in place of coconut cream, I use regular coconut milk.

Since we aren’t using any fresh citrus in this drink, I wanted to boost the acidity of the grapefruit cordial in this drink. An easy way to bring out more citrus notes or sweetness in a drink is by adding a little salt. I’m going to do this by making a 4:1 saline solution. To make this, dissolve 4 teaspoons of water to 1 teaspoon of salt.

To make the cocktail, first spritz the glass a few times with rosewater. The scent of roses blended with the scent of toasted coconut is simply divine. If you don’t have an atomizer, you can just swirl a few drops of rose water around the glass.

Start building the cocktail by adding 1 and a half ounces of the toasted cream of coconut milk to the shaker.
Next add 2 and a half ounces of hibiscus tea.
After the tea, add one ounce of grapefruit cordial.
Next, add one ounce of Ghia Aperitif.
Lastly, just a few drops of saline before adding the ice.

Now give it a good hard shake, then straining in into a rose water spritzed snifter glass filled with crushed ice. For the garnish, add some mint for freshness and a nice pop of color

And here it is - blizzards and bikinis.

Of all the zero proof cocktails I’ve made so far, this is my favorite. It’s so creamy and toasty, with a nice sharpness from the hibiscus tea and some bitterness from the grapefruit cordial and Ghia to balance it all out. Its tropical, yet makes you feel warm and cozy.