Down the Bunny Trail | A Spiced Honey French 75

Down the Bunny Trail is the perfect Easter cocktail if you’re not in the mood for something too sweet. It’s essentially a spiced honey French 75. For some reason, when I think “Easter cocktail”, champagne comes to mind. Maybe because of the association of Easter brunch and mimosas, maybe because champagne feels bright and springy. Or maybe because of the association with celebration. And as a Christian, Easter is definitely a celebration of something more than candy-filled eggs.

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Don’t get me wrong, though. I love me some candy and the nonreligious traditions of Easter. It was always one of my favorite holidays as a child. I remember anxiously waiting while my parents went and hid our Easter eggs and being stoked to FINALLY get to eat the Cadbury creme eggs I’d seen on the kitchen counter. I remember the distinct smell of egg-dyeing kits, and watching the egg teeter on the thin wire ladle as I dipped it down into the colored cups. Nowadays, egg dyeing is outta control. I’m glad my daughter is young and won’t be expecting anything extravagant this year. Because sheesh, with Pinterest these days, some holiday crafts are beyond me.

The color of Down the Bunny Trail comes from the combination of lemon juice and a pinch of deep magenta beet powder. Honestly, I was going for a pretty pink color for my Easter cocktail but I think the orangey coral result is gorgeous. It looks like Easter egg dye. I promise it doesn’t taste like that though. It tastes like spicy sparkling bliss.

Beet powder would also be a great way to naturally dye your Easter eggs. I use it to dye cakes and frostings. If you aren’t using too much of it, it really doesn’t affect the flavor of baked goods. You can also use it in smoothies for a boost of vitamins and minerals. Or make yourself a Passionfruit Paloma with beet syrup as the sweetener.

If you’re not a huge champagne fan or if you’re the only one in your house who’ll be drinking it, consider buying the mini bottles of sparkling wine. That way, you won’t be wasting an entire bottle of the good stuff.

Ingredients for a Spiced Honey French 75

• 1 1/2 oz spiced gin (or regular gin)
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz honey-ginger simple syrup**
• pinch of beet powder-– mostly for color but it does add a slight earthy flavor that I dig
• 1-3 oz champagne, depending on the size of your glass

How to Make A Spiced Honey French 75

Make your honey-ginger syrup first. To make this, I added a small amount of ginger paste (the size of my pinky nail) to my honey simple syrup recipe. If I had fresh ginger on hand, I would’ve used that instead. If you have fresh ginger root, simmer a 1/2-inch knob in the honey syrup for about 5 minutes.

Add your gin, lemon juice, honey-ginger syrup, and beet powder to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well to mix up the beet powder. Pour the now-coral elixir into either a champagne glass (the traditional way to serve a French 75) or into a lowball glass filled with ice. Top your Easter cocktail with champagne.

To make this feel more like an Easter cocktail, I garnished it with a bun-bun on a stick. I feel like that screams Easter, no? I got a pack of 4 at the Dollar Tree for–you guessed it–a dollar. I’m pretty obsessed with the little pom tail.

Looking for other springtime drinks? Check out the light & lemony Tom Collins, a tart Gimlet or Lemon Drop, or my current favorite, the Golden Pothos. All of these are super refreshing and perfect for porch-sippin’.