Blood Orange Gin & Tonic

This blood orange gin cocktail is so easy: a sunny twist on your favorite G&T! Botanical gin meshes perfectly with the bright citrus.

Here’s arguably the easiest blood orange cocktail out there: the Blood Orange Gin and Tonic! There’s nothing better than a cocktail you can mix up right in the glass, right? Much as we love a good blood orange margarita or blood orange martini…this one’s even easier to make. Here the botanicals from the gin mesh perfectly with the bright citrus of the blood orange. It makes for a sunny twist on your favorite G&T! Here’s how to make it!

How to make this blood orange gin cocktail

You need only three ingredients for this mashup of blood orange with the classic Gin and Tonic. The great thing about a G&T is that it’s ultra simple: you don’t even need to dirty a cocktail shaker! (That’s our kind of quick and dirty drink.) Here’s what’s in this blood orange gin cocktail:

• Blood orange juice
• Gin
• Tonic water

Simply stir together the ingredients in the cocktail glass, then add the tonic water. Simple as that! Speaking of the tonic water…

Tip: Pour the tonic water over a spoon!

Here’s a little tip for the tonic water that we also use in our World’s Best Gin and Tonic. When you add the tonic water, pour it over a spoon into the drink. This is known to make it more bubbly. Of course, we don’t have any scientific proof of this! But why not intensify those bubbles? It’s not required, but it takes no time at all and makes you feel fancy.

It’s best with fresh squeezed juice…or use bottled in a pinch!

This blood orange gin cocktail is at its absolute best during blood orange season, when you can use fresh juice squeezed from the fruit! The season is approximately December through April, depending on where you live. But if you want to make this drink any time of the year, you can also use bottled blood orange juice! Try to find 100% juice if you can, which is unsweetened. (You can actually squeeze juice from any type of orange here, including navels, clementines and satsumas.)

The gin to use for this blood gin orange cocktail

Here’s our mantra: the better the gin, the better the drink! Some cocktails can cover over sub-par gin, but not here. You’re only using 3 ingredients in this blood orange gin cocktail, so it’s good to have at least a mid-priced gin. Here are a few tips on the specific gin variety:

• Every bottle of gin tastes a little different and has different botanical flavors. Experiment to find your favorite!
• We like Malfy gin, so that’s what we used here. We also love locally-distilled gin, so if you can find it in your city it’s a great way to support local.
• Steer away from Tanqueray gin: in our personal opinion, it gives a strong floral quality.

When to serve this blood orange gin cocktail

This citrus G&T is bubbly and refreshing! It’s great for serving as a:

• Happy hour drink
• Dinner party drink
• Signature cocktail
• Winter drink
• Before dinner drink (aperitif)
• Cocktail hour drink

More blood orange cocktails

Want more? Try some of our top blood orange cocktails, like:

• Add tequila for a Blood Orange Margarita or Italian Margarita
• Go with vodka for Blood Orange Martini
• Mix in Campari for a Garibaldi

01

Blood Orange Margarita

02

Blood Orange Martini

03

Garibaldi Cocktail (Campari & Orange!)

04

Italian Margarita

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