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Blood Orange Gin Sour Cocktail

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Last Updated on January 11, 2024 by Leah Hall

Want a great Valentine’s Day Cocktail? Try our Blood Orange Gin Sour!

 

When it comes to cocktails we are always fans of the classics! And, there aren’t many more classic cocktails than a sour. A combination of spirit, sugar and citrus, sours are a great way to showcase fresh citrus!

 

Try out our Rhubarb Gin Sour or Blood Orange Gin Fizz, too! Or, try a Blueberry Gin Sour from our friends at All You Need is Brunch!

 

One of our favorite fresh citrus to use in cocktails is the blood orange! Blood Orange juice is a deep dark red that makes for a beautiful cocktail!

 

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A rocks glass filled with a blood orange gin sour topped with white foam and a dried blood orange slice sits on a wooden bar top.

Valentine’s Day Cocktails

Speaking of reds and pinks, it is the time of the year where those colors are prominently featured, Valentine‘s Day! When we make cocktails with blood orange juice one thing we can count on is that its going to end up either a striking red or a vibrant pink!

 

When you are in Valentine’s Day season, making a drink that not only appeals to your taste buds, but also your eyes!

A rocks glass filled with a blood orange gin sour topped with white foam and a dried blood orange slice sits on a wooden bar top.

We were juicing some blood orange and we were admiring the rich color of the blood orange juice! One of our drinkstagram friends on Instagram posted a cocktail with some amazing foam around the same time. We thought that making a cocktail with blood orange juice and topped with foam would make for one sweetheart of a cocktail.

 

Cocktails with Foam

Thinking of cocktails that are topped with foam is how we landed on a sour.

 

Wait, did we say a cocktail topped with foam? Yep we said topped with foam (and we aren’t talking about whipped cream either!) A lot of cocktails are topped with foam as a result of the ingredients used in the cocktails. They are  selected for the effect that they can have on the drink.

 

For a lot of cocktails, the foam is used as a way to enhance the visual appeal or change the texture of a cocktail.

 

What Ingredients are Needed for the Blood Orange Gin Sour?

  • Gin
  • Blood Orange Juice
  • Lemon Juice
  • Simple Syrup
  • Aquafaba
  • El Guapo Love Potion #9 Bitters

A rocks glass filled with a blood orange gin sour topped with white foam and a dried blood orange slice sits on a wooden bar top.

What is a Foam?

Well in it’s most basic form, a foam is just a liquid full of suspended bubbles. Of course, the liquid has to be able to support forming all those bubbles. So, these liquids tend to have something to help make it thicker so that it can trap the air (or in some cases gasses like carbonation).

 

This thickening agent can also result in a creamy, velvety feeling in your mouth when you sip on a foamy cocktail!

 

How do I make a foam? 

This is where we get a little nerdy and have to explore some chemistry! So, slip on your pocket protector and get ready to do a little learning!

 

One of the most traditional ways to create a foam is to add a liquid full of proteins into a cocktail right before it is shaken. So what about protein makes foam possible? Lets take a look at one of the most common methods of making a foam in cocktails, adding an egg white.

A rocks glass filled with a blood orange gin sour topped with white foam and a dried blood orange slice sits on a wooden bar top.

Egg White Foam

If we zoom way in and take a look at whats going on inside that egg white, you would see a whole bunch of protein molecules (which look like a bunch of strings) all tangled up together in a bundle. When we shake the cocktail, the agitation causes the protein strings to untangle and start to trap little bits of air and water in between those strings.

 

As more and more air and water gets trapped, foam forms and you get this wonderful airy and bouncy foam!

Two rocks glasses filled with a blood orange gin sour topped with white foam and a dried blood orange slice sits on a wooden bar top.

If you are Looking for More Gin Cocktails, try These!

 

Okay, the chemistry lesson is over! But you make ask what happens if you are vegan or just get the heebie jeebies about having a raw egg white in your drink (its really quite safe!)

 

What is Aquafaba?

You can also use a liquid called aquafaba. Aquafaba is just a fancy name for the liquid that is in a can of chickpeas. That liquid is chock full of starch and proteins, which work in the same way as an egg white, just with a nice vegan twist! Add in about two tablespoons of aquafaba in place of an egg white, when you shake your cocktail, watch a nice foam form!

A rocks glass filled with a blood orange gin sour topped with white foam and a dried blood orange slice sits on a wooden bar top.

Blood Orange Gin Sour

After all that chemistry, you definitely deserve a drink, so lets turn back and look at this Blood Orange Gin Sour! Traditionally sours are made with a spirit, a citrus, sugar and an egg white. For our Blood Orange Gin Sour, we decided that we were really interested in using gin as our base spirit. Gin was used because it wouldn’t change the color like whiskey would.

 

Using gin also creates a lighter, more floral character in the cocktail that can be very refreshing and interesting.

A hand grasps one of two rocks glasses filled with a blood orange gin sour cocktail.

Want some other Sour Cocktail Recipes from us?

 

We also decided to try out using some aquafaba rather than the egg white because we have a friend that is not a fan of raw eggs. We also used a combination of blood orange juice and lemon juice so that we kept the drink a little more sour than it would have been with just the blood orange juice.

 

Add in some simple syrup to help balance out the sour and we had ourselves on beautiful pink hued drink!  We finished our Blood Orange Gin Sour with another little romantic touch by adding in a few dashes of El Guapo Love Potion #9 bitters!

 

These bitters had hints of roses, hibiscus and camomile which perfumed the foam with a nice hint of flowers and spices. This made it feel like giving your love a bit of a bouquet in a cocktail glass!

 

Cheers!

 

More Blood Orange Cocktails

More Valentine’s Cocktails

 

Also, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and tag #gastronomcocktails so we can see all the wonderful recipes YOU recreate from this site!

 

You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a delicious recipe again!

 

Like this recipe? Try these below, too!

Peach Bourbon Sour, yellow cocktail with white foam in cocktail coupe, cherry on pick. Gold Barware behindBourbon Peach Sour Cocktail

 

Grapefruit Bourbon Sour, pink cocktail in gold rimmed glass with white foam topping and citrus peelGrapefruit Bourbon Sour Cocktail

 

A rocks glass filled with a blood orange gin sour topped with white foam and a dried blood orange slice sits on a wooden bar top.
Yield: 1

Blood Orange Gin Sour

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

This Blood Orange Gin Sour is the perfect winter drink, plus with using aquafaba, makes a beautiful pink color mixing with the blood orange juice!

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces Gin
  • .50 ounce Blood orange juice
  • .25 ounce Lemon Juice
  • .75 ounce Simple Syrup
  • 2 tablespoons aquafaba
  • 3 dashes El Guapo Love Potion #9 Bitters

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients into a shaker tin.
  2. Dry shake for 15 seconds.
  3. Add ice into the shaker and shake until completely chilled.
  4. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with a slice of dried orange or orange peel.
  5. Cheers!

Notes

You could substitute an egg white for the aquafaba if your prefer that style of foam.

You can also serve this on the rocks if so desired.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1 Cocktail

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 228Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 19mgCarbohydrates: 19.6gFiber: 0.1gSugar: 1.5gProtein: 0.2g

Did you make this recipe?

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Tamra Kramer

Wednesday 15th of February 2023

This was really delicious but I’m wondering about the proportions. Following the recipe resulted in barely filling a very small coupe glass, not nearly as pink as your photo, I think because of the minute amount of blood orange juice. Any insights?

Tamra Kramer

Thursday 16th of February 2023

@The Noms, gosh, I’ll just have to suffer through all the tasting as I work to perfect the color and foam in this drink! 😉By the way, I just ordered the bitters you used. In the meantime, the Bittercube cherry bark bitters I used were a pretty good substitute. Thanks for your quick response! Cheers!

The Noms

Wednesday 15th of February 2023

Hey there, Tamra. It's just a 4 ounce cocktail, and even the glass we use in the pictures is not a big glass. The blood orange color depends entirely on the kind of blood oranges, but we usually get a bright pink when making this. You can feel free to add a bit more blood orange juice, but then may need to balance it with a little more simple syrup if it's too sour. Let us know, cheers! Leah

Brittany Bly

Wednesday 13th of February 2019

Absolutely gorgeous Leah! I love the dried Blood Orange slices - it gives it such a lovely touch! xoxox

The 'Noms.

Wednesday 13th of February 2019

Thank you so much! Love the color on this one! Cheers!

Laura Adney

Monday 11th of February 2019

This is so yummy! I need a sip

The 'Noms.

Tuesday 12th of February 2019

Thank you so much! It's a tasty one. Cheers!

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