Kirsch Rose Cocktail

A classy, sweeter cocktail for you and your friends

It’s your turn to host the party, which means plenty of drink options! Some friends like aromatic, slightly bitter cocktails (I’m looking at you, Negroni lovers) and others prefer drinks on the sweeter side. This Kirsch Rose Cocktail is for them!

This Parisian rose cocktail is made with 3 simple ingredients that are always welcome on your bar cart:

1. Kirsch
2. Vermouth
3. Grenadine

This combination leaves you with a cocktail that features sweet, floral, citrus, and cherry flavors. There’s a slight bite in each sip but the cherry from the kirsch and sweet grenadine balance it out.

Ingredients

This kirschwasser cocktail is made with just 3 easy ingredients! When you’re done, keep the bottles on your bar cart so you can enjoy a rose cocktail at all kinds of parties and get-togethers:

Kirschwasser

Kirschwasser (AKA kirsch), meaning “cherry water” in German, is distilled from cherries. It’s an unsweetened clear brandy with a strong cherry flavor, a fragrant fruity aroma, and subtle bitter notes. It’s one of the necessary ingredients in a black forest cake, as well as other cherry-flavored desserts and cocktails. 

Try not to skip the kirsch or replace it with anything else. It may be tempting to pick up a bottle of cherry liqueur instead, but the flavors in the drink will be completely thrown off and overly sweet!

Dry vermouth

The flavor of dry vermouth adds significant body and balance to all kinds of cocktails and martinis. It’s made from fortified wine, giving it an aromatic essence.

You’ll see two kinds of vermouth at the liquor store: dry and sweet. They cannot be used interchangeably here because balance is so important to each sip. If you were to replace dry vermouth with sweet vermouth, the sweet cocktail would end up with an ill-fitting earthy flavor.

Grenadine

This sweet and tart pomegranate syrup gives the cocktail its signature sweetness and deep red color. Consider using a real grenadine like one from Jack Rudy or Stirrings.

If you can’t find grenadine, feel free to replace it with strawberry or raspberry simple syrup instead.

Don’t forget the garnish

This kirsch cocktail would be perfectly complemented with a fresh cherry or Luxardo maraschino cherry!

Recipe