I absolutely love entertaining. I love laughing with my friends, and eating good friend and sipping on a delicious cocktail.  But, I hate spending time in the kitchen while everyone else is relaxing. I hate spending too much time mixing cocktails when I would rather be sipping one. So, when some of my lady friends came over for an afternoon in the backyard I had an excellent idea.  Premixed cocktails in mason jars!
Seriously, why have I never done this before!?  I made five drinks at a time and stored them in the fridge in mason jars.  When it came time for a new round of drinks, everything was ready to go.  I just had to pour and add the finishing touches instead of removing myself from the conversation and spending 15 minutes in the kitchen while I missed all the good laughs.  It was perfection.   The only problem… it made it so easy to go through the drinks that we perhaps may have had a few more than necessary

This was my favorite of the options I’d made for this afternoon.  And I imagine it will be a go-to cocktail for the summer… it’s just perfect!  The Rose syrup is REAL sweet, but the flavor is just delicious… the bitters temper it pretty well.

Refreshing Rose Sparkler

(Makes 5 cocktails)

10 oz Gin (I like Hendricks for it’s rose & cucumber essence)

the juice of 4 limes

4 oz Monin’s Rose Syrup

5 springs mint (leaves removed and stalks discarded)

Bitters (5-8 splashes)

Diet Sprite

In a mason jar, combine the gin, lime juice, syrup, mint leaves & bitters.  Shake to combine and then store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Pour over ice into five glasses, then top with Diet Sprite to taste.   Enjoy!