Add A Colorful Island Touch To Your Next Spring Cocktail With This Caribbean Liqueur

Sorrel is a bright red rum-based liqueur made with various spices and roselle hibiscus (also known as Jamaican hibiscus) — an edible flower you need to try. It has a long history in the Caribbean, especially around the holidays. While sorrel can be made at home, there are a couple of companies that sell store-bought versions, which can serve as a tasty and colorful addition to spring cocktails. Brands like Kingston Imperial Spirits from Jamaica and Sorel from Brooklyn, both award-winning, are helping to give this well-kept Caribbean treat a wider recognition in the U.S.

Although the liqueur is florally based, it doesn't have the same botanical front as something like St. Germain, the French liqueur made with elderberry. Sorrel liqueur is tangy, spicy, and sweet with only a touch of the floral, making it easier to pair with a variety of other spirits and ingredients. Both Kingston Imperial and Sorel also include ginger and other warming spices, such as cloves, in their products for a beautiful depth of flavor that really pops when combined in cocktails made with tequila, rum, or vodka. Similarly, the liqueur mixes well with fruit juices such as pineapple, citrus, mango, and orange.

If you're interested in experimenting with sorrel liqueur in your cocktails, our recommendation is to mix it with blanco tequila, pineapple juice — a fruit juice that pairs perfectly with tequila — and lime juice for a lush and festive tropical cocktail. The sorrel liqueur adds tang, sweetness, and an undercurrent of spice. But don't limit yourself. There are a variety of other cocktails where this liqueur can truly shine.

Hibiscus rum punch, for instance, uses the liqueur in combination with dark rum, lime juice, demerara sugar (a raw light brown sugar), and a splash of club soda. If vodka is your favorite spirit, there are tons of cocktail options out there, including a variation of a sea breeze that uses sorrel, vodka, coconut water, and pomegranate juice. This liqueur can also elevate a simple Campari and soda or replace vodka in a classic mule with ginger beer and lime for a lighter sip. Once you begin exploring this Caribbean liqueur, you'll find endless possibilities, as we have, for colorful and tasty spring cocktails.