Gin & Rosemary Sparkling Lemonade – The Ophelia

This Gin & Rosemary Sparkling Lemonade, named The Ophelia, will vie with Gin & Tonic to be your favorite gin libation. It’s a cool, tart and fresh gin cocktail with the hint of lemon and rosemary; it’s a great summer sipper that works year round.

I first shared this post for a Gin & Rosemary Sparkling Lemonade almost ten years ago. I had just moved, I was getting settled and also segueing from full time web developer to full time food and cocktail blogger with an emphasis on my new thing…Friday Cocktails.

I remember the very first cocktail that I published on these pages was this Vootbeer. While I enjoyed making cocktails at home for friends, my blog was devoid of them so it was a first and an OMG I’m going to sound like Sally Field, ‘”They liked it, they really liked it!”

With such a resounding response, I decided to start a weekly cocktail series so each and every Friday, for years, I posted a new cocktail. I had a plethora of recipes; ones from when I first starting enjoying cocktails, like this simple Bacardi Cocktail, the Brandy Slush I started making for friends as a young married woman that is still kept on hand in in the freezer every summer, to the to ones I discovered when searching for something perfect, like this Margarita.

When I first published this cocktail, it was after being contacted by a magazine staffer from Denver’s 5280 Magazine. They had recently published a ‘Best’ list that was near and dear to my cocktail loving heart, ‘The Best Bars in Denver.’

They wanted to know I would be interested in featuring one of the special cocktails that they discovered in this gargantuan effort. Of course I said yes but let’s be honest; they really should have contacted me BEFORE so that I could have helped them narrow down those decisions…don’t you think? I knew you would agree!

I did have one caveat; it would have to be a cocktail that a home connoisseur could make. One that both myself and my readers could pull together without having to search far and wide for ingredients or require they make a homemade bitters.

Natasha, the editor of the piece, got approval and suggested that I prepare The Ophelia Cocktail from Olivéa’s, a Gin & Rosemary Cocktail served in a restaurant and bar located in an area in Denver called Uptown; located east of Denver’s downtown area along 17th Avenue (so sad; they have since closed).

Olivéa’s might be gone but this Gin & Rosemary Sparkling Lemonade remains a favorite. Rosemary is used to make a flavored simple syrup which is combined with gin and lemon juice in a glass filled with ice, before being topped with club soda. When I decided to take new photos I was lucky. I had just purchased rosemary to plant in my garden, lemons are always in the fridge, soda was in my cupboard, and I always have gin on hand.

I was curious and did a search to see if anyone else had made this cocktail and I did discover a different recipe that revised it a bit and used ginger beer instead of club soda. I imagine you could do that but I wouldn’t; the club soda allows all of the other flavors to shine; sometimes ginger beer can be overpowering…if you decide to test it; use it sparingly.

I had recently been gifted a bottle of Brockman’s Gin and this was a good opportunity to try it out. Distilled in London, this is no London Dry Gin.

Billed as intensely smooth, what I noticed most was the light hand with the juniper and the evident presence of the blueberries and blackberries that the distillery includes in their botanicals. Also in the mix are Bulgarian coriander, Valencia orange peels, orris root, cassia bark, angelica root, almonds and lemons.

I have so many friends that eschew gin because of the pine notes of the juniper so it will be interesting to see how this fares with them. Since I would be mixing a cocktail that already has the evergreen scent of rosemary, I thought this would be the perfect use and it was.

Ophelia, the Good Girl

Being reminded of this cocktail also brought about another memory. Ophelia the dog. A friend on Facebook, a local attorney, Trent owned a beautiful St. Bernard and her name was Ophelia. I don’t know Trent personally even though we both live in Metro Denver, he in the city, me in the burbs. I guess we are the quintessential ‘Facebook friends’ as we have some commonality and in particular I’ve enjoyed watching his hi-jinks with Ophelia…we saw her run, play, even swim at Wash Park.

Born on February 12, 2014, it was exceptionally clear how much love and trust was between them, especially as Ophelia aged (all too quick with bigger breeds) and started to develop some physical problems in her last couple of years. St. Bernard’s always conjure images for me that include traipsing through the snowy mountains to rescue an unfortunate soul; how fitting that the Greek origin of the name Ophelia means “help” or “aid.”

Ophelia was not a working dog though…she was a play with her Dad dog. So when she started to suffer some medical issues; it affected everyone who loved her, from near and far. Not just the hip problems more often associated with the breed; sadly she had developed cancer in one of her legs and eventually required an amputation of a front leg to stave off having the cancer spread.

We followed along as Trent helped her walk, eventually bought her a huge cart to take her places and then eventually made that awful, terrible but compassionate decision that enough was enough and our dear Ophelia was gone.

She was a lucky one though; she was well loved and so well taken care of; putting her to rest was just that; it was time for her to rest and no longer struggle. It’s those of us left behind that do the struggling…I still miss my sweet Abbie who has been gone eleven years now.

I know I will think of her every time I make this cocktail and if you try it; give some good thoughts to Ophelia; I hope each one of us has a memory of a very good boy or girl. It’s been a few months and while Trent will never quite be over Ophelia, he did agree to foster another St. Bernard; a male found in dire straights in Mexico.

A young and exuberant handful that we all love already…and so does Trent! Yes he is getting adopted and re-named Aurelius, Latin for “golden” or “gilded.” He is golden, he has landed with the best Dad!

But now, back to this Gin & Rosemary Sparkling Lemonade. The only change I’ve made over the years from the original recipe was to add a lemon wedge and put it in the cocktail as garnish with the rosemary. Probably stemmed from me having some leftover lemons when I squeezed the juice and it just happened. Totally optional too!

This is a sophisticated cocktail that I am so glad I was asked to re-create. As much as I love the plethora of pink cocktails that appear on these pages from the bounty of fruits I enjoy incorporating into drinks, I’m delighted to have a less ‘girly’ cocktail in my repertoire This is definitely a drink everyone will enjoy…so join me as we send cheers to Trent, Ophelia, and Aurelius!

PIN IT! ‘Sparkling Gin & Rosemary Lemonade’

The Ophelia – Sparkling Gin & Rosemary Lemonade Cocktail

Barb

Sparkling Gin and Rosemary Lemonade is a cool and refreshing libation; it will vie with a Gin and Tonic to be your favorite summer cocktail.

5 from 50 or more votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Additional Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Cocktails, Friday Cocktails, Gin

Cuisine American

Servings 2 Cocktails

Calories 282 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the Rosemary Simple Syrup

• ¼ cup rosemary minced
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar

For the Cocktail

• 1 ½ ounces Gin
• ¾ ounces rosemary syrup
• ¾ ounce lemon juice about 1/2 of a lemon, squeezed
• club soda

To Garnish

• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 2 Lemon wedges

Instructions

 

To Make the Rosemary Simple Syrup

• Bring the water to a boil, add the sugar and rosemary and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and steep the mixture off heat for 45 minutes.
• Strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a container. (Should be a light golden syrup).

To Make the Cocktail

• Fill glasses with ice.
• Add gin, lemon and rosemary simple syrup and stir.
• Top with club soda, stir briefly and garnish with a rosemary sprig and lemon wedge.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

The Ophelia – Sparkling Gin & Rosemary Lemonade Cocktail

Serving Size

 

1 Cocktail

Amount per Serving

Calories

282

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

1

g

2

%

Sodium

 

11

mg

0

%

Carbohydrates

 

60

g

20

%

Protein

 

0.2

g

0

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Calories

282

Keyword club soda, cocktails, gin, lemon, lemonade, rosemary

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!