Lovebirds of Paradise

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day! / Happy Galentine's Day! Admittedly, John and I aren't big Valentine's Day people. Once you're married, we feel like your anniversary takes precedence over a non-personal 'greeting card' holiday -- apologies to anyone fervently into the holiday. However, before we were married, we DID discover a hack for the day that's become a tradition: Go to a BAR!

Yes, while everyone else is fighting over fine dining reservations, we opt instead for an early, normally-hard-to-snag bar reservation. We love it. Keep meals casual that day, or order takeout, or do a make-your-own pizza night (which we're doing on Sunday). 😊

On to the drink of the month! Many years ago, we were in Phoenix visiting John's old college roommates/life-long friends to attend an epic Christmas party one of them hosts each year in early December. We stayed at a really nice Westin and one night, went up to the rooftop bar for a nightcap... and that's when we discovered the base of what would become our wedding cocktail.

It was called the ""Sundevil Spritz" (ASU's mascot) and all John needed was the ingredients to try to reverse engineer (and zhuz up) the cocktail. It didn't take long, and now we technically have two versions, for anyone who prefers a less (or more) tart grapefruit flavor. 

Once we had this perfected recipe, we made it for friends and family, all of whom say they absolutely love it. IMO, it's the perfect goldilocks drink, so I think it deserves to be categorized as one of the best (and simplest) crowd-pleaser drinks out there (also easy to pre-batch for Galentine's or other group hangs). It's low-ABV (so you can have several), not too sweet, not too sour, bitter, or boozy. Delicious all year-round, but in the summer you'll find it pairs incredibly well with a lazy pool day.

I'm also incredibly proud of the name I came up with for this drink. Birds of Paradise are sort of our official "flower" as a couple. It happened to be our wedding venue's logo, I had them in my wedding bouquet, it was John's boutonniere, they're just beautiful and bountiful in San Diego, and of course… it has the word "paradise" in it, so it makes us think of just that. (Oh! And they are on the personalized cufflinks I gave John on our wedding day :)

If you're looking for the best Valentine's Day cocktail for an at-home celebration (or post-dining out drink), we think this is it. Here's the recipe (for our favorite version):

Lovebirds of Paradise

• 2 oz Aperol
• .75 oz lemon juice
• .25 oz Monin hibiscus syrup
• 4 oz San Pellegrino Pompelmo (grapefruit)
  • Optional alternative: Fresca

Build over ice in a stemmed wine glass and stir. The hibiscus syrup will sink to the bottom over time, so be sure to give it a swirl every now and then (we usually drink them fast enough that this isn't a problem 😉)

Optional garnish: A lemon twist or wheel

Try it at home and let us know how you like it -- we're eager to hear if it's a true crowd-pleaser beyond our own circle. Cheers!