Are you one of those people who consistently plans for the future, has everything organized, and just generally has her life together? Well that makes one of us. More often than not, I’m winging it in this life. I am late everywhere I go. I never put important dates on my calendar. I can be found at the grocery store basically every day of the week because I can’t get my act together to plan ahead. I don’t make my bed, my fridge hasn’t been thoroughly cleaned in months (don’t judge me), and I have dozens of receipts balled up in the bottom of my purse (and not important ones—just ones that detail the $3.99 lint roller I bought. Necessary.)
So when I present to you a cocktail made with beet juice, don’t think this is due to hours of researching, brainstorming and testing. The reason this cocktail exists is due solely to the potent concoction of laziness and convenience that is my specialty.
I saw a jar of beets cowering in the back of my fridge and thought, oh. I forgot those things were in there. Huh. Maybe the juice would look cool in a drink. Maybe?
About 30 minutes later this beet juice cocktail was born. I threw in some meyer lemon juice (also 2 days away from death), some St. Germain (which typically makes anything taste delicious), and added some absinthe for good measure. A sugared rim was added and the Beetlejuice was born.
True to form, I couldn’t even come up with a name for this guy myself (see above re: laziness). So I asked my dad. Despite his bad dad jokes (“What do they serve for breakfast in a lighthouse? BEACON AND EGGS!”), he’s pretty witty and good with a pun. So, Beetlejuice it was. No way I was beating that.
The moral here is: 1) don’t be like me. Seriously. Don’t. and 2) Cocktails can definitely be an art, but don’t always have to be. Next time you want to make a drink, see what’s hanging around teetering on its expiration date. Use it. Add random ingredients and tweak it until you’re happy. Nothing exciting was ever created without a little chaos.
Or, at least that’s what I tell myself.
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BEETlejuice
makes 2 cocktails
- .5 oz beet juice
- 1 oz meyer lemon juice
- .5 oz absinthe
- .75 oz St. Germain
Assembly
Combine the zest of half the meyer lemon and 3 tbsp granulated sugar. Rim the edge of two coupes with beet juice, then with the sugar mixture. Set aside.
In a shaker filled with ice, combine all ingredients. Shake until very cold, about 20 second. Double strain into the rimmed coupes. No garnish.