After returning home from a recent shopping, Cupcake uttered some of my favorite words: “Oh, I bought you a surprise.”
Knowing that I was glued to the Ravens epic collapse, she came into the room with what looked like an over-sized worcestershire sauce bottle filled with a dark ruby liquid. I was now the proud owner of blood orange bitters.

But what the hell would I make with it? The bottle comes with two recipes, a twist on the Manhattan and a blood orange champagne cocktail. I was missing the sweet vermouth for the Manhattan-like drink and I wasn’t about to pop open a bottle of champagne to screw around with it. I went with a twist on the Manhattan and then with just Sazerac Rye. The drinks were ok, but I just wasn’t completely sold on it. After a call out on twitter resulted in nothing that sounded good, I shelved the bitters for the night.

The internet was only slightly more helpful with drink recipes, so I set to creating my own-a blood orange cosmo. Not a bad drink at all and Cupcake has really taken to it. She claims the drink is a nice compromise between a cosmo and a sazerac. I’m not quite sure I agree, but she’s already working on calling it a Cosmerac or a Sazmopolitan or the sazmo. I might not have any choice, but if we’re going that route I’d call it the Satchmo. Here’s the recipe:

1 part Grand Marnier
4 parts Ketel One
1 part soda
2 parts cranberry juice (not the cocktail, but 100% juice)
splash of the blood orange bitters
Handful of ice
Shake well, strain, pour and enjoy.

Give it a try and tell us what you think it should be called?