Bitter Rhubarb Spritz with Grapefruit-Hibiscus Cordial (Zero-Proof)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A spritz that behaves like the real thing: a ruby rhubarb-hibiscus cordial steeped with grapefruit peel and roasted dandelion root gives you genuine bitterness and tannic grip, not just fruit juice. It's short-shaken with verjus and fresh grapefruit to build texture, then lengthened with something cold and sparkling and garnished properly — big ice, expressed citrus oil, an olive on a pick. Make the cordial once and you can pour aperitivo hour for a week.

Ingredients

• 12 oz rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 3 large stalks; frozen works)
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp dried hibiscus flowers, loosely packed
• 1 large red grapefruit, peel removed in wide strips (reserve fruit for juicing)
• 1 tbsp slivered grapefruit pith (the white layer, scraped from 2 peel strips)
• 1 tsp roasted dandelion root or chicory root tea (or 1 tea bag)
• 1 3-inch rosemary sprig
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

• 1 1/2 oz bitter rhubarb-hibiscus cordial, chilled
• 1 oz verjus (or 3/4 oz white grape juice plus 1/4 oz fresh lemon juice)
• 1/2 oz fresh grapefruit juice, strained
• 4 oz chilled non-alcoholic sparkling wine or plain sparkling water
• large ice cubes

• 1 navel orange, cut into thin half-wheels
• 4 Castelvetrano or other green olives
• 4 wide strips grapefruit peel, for expressing

Instructions

1. Make the cordial base: combine the rhubarb, water, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt in a small nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat (small bubbles at the edge, about 185°F), stirring until the sugar dissolves, then cook 10 to 12 minutes, until the rhubarb has completely collapsed into a rough pink pulp.
2. Kill the heat and add the bitters: off the heat, stir in the hibiscus, wide grapefruit peel strips, slivered grapefruit pith, dandelion or chicory root tea, and the rosemary sprig. Cover and steep exactly 20 minutes — go much longer and the pith and root turn harsh instead of pleasantly bitter.
3. Strain: pour through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing gently on the solids with the back of a ladle to release liquid but not so hard that you push through pulp (cloudy is fine, muddy is not). You should have about 1 1/3 cups. Stir in the 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Taste: it should read sweet-tart first, with a clean bitter finish that lingers a few seconds.
4. Chill the cordial in a covered jar for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. Chill your glasses and your sparkling wine or water hard — a spritz lives or dies on temperature.
5. Build one drink: combine 1 1/2 oz cordial, 1 oz verjus, and 1/2 oz fresh grapefruit juice in a cocktail shaker with 3 or 4 ice cubes. Shake briskly for 8 to 10 seconds, just long enough to chill and aerate; you want a light froth, not a slushy dilution.
6. Fill a large wine glass or stemmed tumbler with 3 or 4 big ice cubes. Strain the shaken mixture over the ice, then add 4 oz chilled non-alcoholic sparkling wine or sparkling water, pouring down the side of the glass to protect the bubbles. Give it one slow lift with a bar spoon from the bottom up — no more.
7. Garnish and serve: hold a wide strip of grapefruit peel skin-side down over the glass and squeeze to express the oils across the surface, then drop it in. Tuck an orange half-wheel against the inside of the glass and add a green olive on a pick. Serve immediately, while it's still bristling with bubbles. Repeat for the remaining 3 drinks.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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