Sea buckthorn and hibiscus cocktail recipe

Grown-up, sophisticated and rather impressive at a dinner party, our sea buckthorn and hibiscus cocktail also comes packed with healthy vitamins. Here, we’ve left it without alcohol, but feel free to add a shot of your favorite tipple if you like.

A morning juice, or evening sundowner?

Whether it’s shaking them up in a cocktail mixer or blending them for our morning smoothie, we love the combination of bright, fresh fruit flavors.

This recipe, like many of our other mocktails, is designed to be versatile. It’s as happy in the morning, as you pore over your inbox, as it is in the evening poured over ice!

If you prefer to have it as a morning juice, remember to pop a cup of hibiscus tea into the fridge the night before. That way, it’s just a case of mixing the remaining fruit juices with honey and blending the two together.

Alternatively, try it as a calming apéritif. If you’d like to add a shot of alcohol, try a white spirit. Pineapple, hibiscus and ginger all love tequila, but vodka or gin would work just as well.

How to use sea buckthorn in a cocktail

A few short years ago, few people knew about sea buckthorn. Now, it’s popping up everywhere from Bake Off to Masterchef!

While professional chefs prize sea buckthorn for its sharp, almost tropical flavor, we love it for its health benefits.

100g of sea buckthorn provides between 12 and 15 times the vitamin C of the same amount of oranges. These perky little berries also contain rare omega-7 fatty acids and beta-carotene, which our bodies convert into vitamin A. Both of these natural substances help to look after our eye and skin health, and to care for our mucous membranes.

Keen to expand your repertoire of sea buckthorn cocktails? It pairs particularly well with other citrus flavors like orange, lemon and lime, and tropical flavors like pineapple. You can also turn it into a delightful spritz by topping with sparkling wine.

How to use hibiscus in a cocktail

Hibiscus is a flower with brightly-colored petals. Although it’s native to the tropics, many green-fingered home gardeners happily grow them in the back yard.

If you don’t have a store of hibiscus flowers in your window box, we recommend sourcing them dried. As always, look for an organic supplier to make sure that no chemicals or pesticides will make their way into your cold-brew.

Traditional hibiscus ‘tea' is made by infusing the petals in water (no need for actual tea leaves).  The tea itself turns a gorgeous, deep red color and has a sharp flavor reminiscent of cranberry, or our favorite aronia berry.

It’s no surprise, then, that bartenders around the world have been using hibiscus to impart a luxurious color and flavor to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks alike. A perusal of a few of New York’s top cocktail menus would present you with creations such as hibiscus martinis, margaritas and spritzers.

Hibiscus tea is delicious on its own - and we recommend you try it! However in our cocktail recipe it gives an unusual floral element among the citrusy fruit juice that we find positively addictive.

Where can I get ginger juice?

We love the kick of fiery heat that ginger juice brings to our cocktail and, of course, it is the perfect partner for pineapple. But where can you get it?

Although you might not see it on supermarket shelves, ginger juice is readily available in lots of health and whole food shops.

If you can’t fi