This cocktail depends on availability of two ingredients that may not always be in your local grocery store—blood oranges and fresh sage leaves. But when the stars align and they’re both available, grab them and give this a try.

Before discovering this recipe on the Difford’s Guide site, I never thought of combining sage and blood orange, but they are a perfect marriage (with a little help from gin, of course). The creamy texture of the drink and its deep red color make it a perfect fit for two of our cold-weather holidays: Christmas and Valentine’s Day. But heck you’ll need to practice it before making it for your holiday gatherings, won’t you??

I recommend using a particularly juniper-forward gin to hold its flavor against the lime and blood orange juices; think of Sipsmith VJOP, Ford’s, or Tanqueray, but have fun trying it with an assortment until you find the one that works for you.

BLOOD SAGE
½ oz Blood orange juice (freshly squeezed)
2 Sage leaves (and 1 more for garnish)
2 oz Gin of choice
¾ oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
½ oz Simple syrup (ideally 2:1 sugar to water; I used 1:1)
¾ oz Pasteurized egg white (I used raw egg white)

Muddle the blood orange juice and two sage leaves in the base of a shaker. Add the other ingredients, saving the egg white for last, then DRY SHAKE (no ice) for a good minute. Add ice to the shaker, and shake for another good minute; you can’t possibly overshake this drink. Fine-strain (seriously – to hold back sage leaf bits) into a chilled cocktail coupe. Allow the drink to settle for a minute or two and form the eggy froth, then garnish with another sage leaf.