Spring Mix

Try these easy handcrafted cocktails and make your springtime even sweeter.

COMPILED BY KAITLYN MCCAIN

Garden Sunset

• 2 oz vodka

• 1 oz blood orange juice

• 2 dashes lavender

• 1/2 lime

• 1/2 oz simple syrup

Build the drink in a cocktail shaker, beginning with the lime juice and followed by the remaining ingredients. Add ice and shake the combined mixture for 10 seconds.

Fill a Moscow Mule mug or highball glass with ice. Strain drink into the glass.

Garnish with slice of blood orange and sprig of mint.

Sweet & Simple Margarita

• 1 ½ oz tequila of your choice

• ¾ oz fresh lime juice

• Agave (squirt)

• ½ oz Orange curaçao

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for 10 seconds, or stir ingredients together until chilled.

Prepare your glass by rubbing a lime wedge around the rim and dipping it in coarse salt (optional).

Strain and serve over ice. Garnish with a slice of lime.

TIP: Add a splash of Raspberry Lemonade to turn this classic margarita into a refreshing Pink Senorita.

Kaitlyn McCain is a bartender at City Pharmacy in Covington. She previously worked as a barista before trading in coffee for cocktails and working her way to bar manager at South on Broad in Monroe. Largely self-taught, she has a passion for handcrafted cocktails and loves to find fresh flavor profiles in classic combinations. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO