It’s cocktail time! And this time, I’ve mutated one of my favorite drinks into something dark and sharp. Which is perfect for the release of Megan Erickson’s Zero Hour.
Let’s get into it, as I’m hopped up on sugar from devouring an entire box of Girl Scout cookies for breakfast, and then making a cocktail at 11am. Zero Hour is a romantic suspense novel and the first book in a brand new series. It was surprisingly…graphic? I’m not sure that’s the right term, but it does deal with themes that I didn’t know I’d be getting into. So content warning for things like murder, talk of suicide, and sexual assault, if any of you are interested in reading it. Also, the most difficult part of this drink is tracking down the liqueur.
The drink for this book, called Firewall, is a modified lemon drop. I love lemon drops because vodka is my alcohol of choice and I love lemon. With this one, I substituted the lemon for blood orange liqueur and it also has a bit more alcohol than the traditional lemon drop. Since the book has darker themes, I thought the blood orange was a good way to show that. Blood orange, in my opinion, has a more tart taste. It’s like if an orange and lemon had a weird little baby.
The heroine of Zero Hour is a South Korean badass hacker named Wren and I loved her. She has no problem putting herself in dangerous situations for the sake of revenge. She was ballsy and brazen, which is why I went a little lighter on the mixers. Though, if you want more mixers, see the modifications below!
The candy garnish is purely for decoration, though when I think of hackers, I immediately think of dark rooms, late nights, and lots of sugary junk foods.
Shopping list:
Vodka
Blood orange liqueur
Sugar
Water
Candy fruit slices (optional)
Proportions:
2 oz vodka
2 oz blood orange liqueur
1 oz simple syrup
Recipe for simple syrup:
- I make my simple syrup in a 1:1 ratio.
- Take one cup of water for every one cup of sugar and pour it into a saucepan. Increase the amounts as needed.
- Stir the mixture regularly over medium heat until all the sugar is dissolved. You don’t want the water to boil or simmer.
- Pour into a jar or other container to let cool in the fridge. It’s a great thing to make ahead and just have on hand!
Directions:
- Place all the liquids in a shaker full of ice.
- Shake!
- Strain into a nice chilled glass.
- Garnish with as many damn fruit slices as you want, because you deserve it.
Modifications and notes:
- Can we just laugh at how ridiculous the bottle is for blood orange liqueur? Like, why? I couldn’t fit all of it in the frame. I will say that this brand isn’t my favorite. It has more spice to it than a typical blood orange liqueur, but I couldn’t find my standard choice. If you can find it, check out Solerno. Bonus: the bottle is less absurd.
- There are different ways to get the blood orange flavor without adding more alcohol. Instead, you could use 1 oz triple sec and 1 oz blood orange mixer. I found an interesting blood orange martini mix in my local store that I almost bought instead, since like I mentioned earlier, finding blood orange liqueur was tough.
- Or, you know, just use 2 oz of a blood orange mixer rather than triple sec if the amount of vodka is enough for you!
Happy drinking!
Blood orange liqueur is not a concept that has entered my mind before. Now I find myself strangely compelled to seek it out. Thanks.
May I say that a box of Girl Scout Cookies and a mega-tall bottle of any kind of liquor sound really good right now? Or maybe I’m just having a bad day at work. 🙂
I love blood oranges and tried a blood orange martini that was awesome. That Firewall is looking good, especially on a Friday while making sure I have engineers, not hackers, lined up for this weekend’s work on The Net.
And that sure sounds like an edgy book. Yikes!
I love blood oranges and had no clue there was a liqueur. Yummy!
Add me to the list of people who did not know that blood orange liqueur was a thing, I think I must now have. Of course, this site is always good for introducing things we didn’t know about but now absolutely need.
Thanks for a fun recipe! The book sounds appealing, too.
A good lemon drop is my favorite cocktail, and I’d be happy to try this blood orange twist on it! Thanks, Amanda!
This is a really interesting feature of the website. Cocktails were very adventurous during the twenties. Then the 50’s were all about martinis, manhattans, etc. Then everything went quiet. You’d see cocktail shakers and various bar stuff in resale shops.Now we’ve entered a new era of cocktail chic.
As I sip my wine here, I love to read all the “stuff” you can now buy for drinks. Special bitters, fancy liqueurs, flavored hard liquor. If you like the idea of playing with tastes, colors and kick I have a book for you to settle down with your shaker. The Phryne Fisher mystery series by Kerry Greenwood out of Australia. Yes, I know there is a TV series but the books are fantastic–fantastic clothes, interesting & complex backstory, lots of Australia history and color. Adventure, pre-World War II info about Australia, a daring and sexy woman, lots of lovers, art deco, fashion. If you like cocktailstTry the first one in the series Cocaine Blues (not the best but very good) as it is only $1.99 at Amazon.
I’m so excited for this book! I’m a big fan of Megan Erickson’s writing.
Why not some blood orange juice? You might have to add some extra simple syrup because of that whole weird baby thing, but you don’t have the extra alcohol and you’ve got the genuine flavor. That being said, love the idea of a bad-ass hacker and a blood orange cocktail. Will have to experiment. And read the book.