Celebrate Valentine’s Day with style and flavor by exploring our Shake Up Love: Valentine’s Day Cocktail Recipes and Spirits to Savor guide. Whether you’re planning a romantic dinner, a cozy night in, or a festive gathering with friends, the perfect cocktail can add a touch of magic to the occasion. From elegant sparkling wines and botanical gins to rich whiskeys and velvety liqueurs, this guide offers a variety of spirits to suit every mood and taste. Pair these with our curated cocktail recipes, and you’ll create an unforgettable Valentine’s experience filled with love and delicious sips.
This guide goes beyond simple suggestions by providing step-by-step cocktail recipes that are easy to recreate at home. Try a sweet strawberry champagne cocktail to start the evening, a heartwarming spiced old-fashioned for the main course, or a decadent chocolate martini to cap off the night. Each drink is designed to complement the spirit of Valentine’s Day while offering a fun and creative way to celebrate. With the right spirits and recipes, you’ll shake up love and create memories that last far beyond the final toast. Cheers to savoring the season of love!
Rosa Regale Sparkling Red, Acqui Terme, Piedmont, Italy
THE BRAND: Banfi, producer and importer of fine wines, was founded in 1919 and is today woman-owned and operated by third-generation family proprietor Cristina Mariani-May. Banfi is the sole U.S. importer of the Mariani family’s internationally renowned wine estates in Italy: Castello Banfi of Montalcino, Tuscany, and Banfi Piemonte of Strevi, Piedmont.
THE STORY: Since the times of Cleopatra, Rosa Regale has been love at first sip. Legend has it that both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony presented Cleopatra with several wineskins filled with Rosa Regale, Cleopatra’s favorite. The empress then had her lovers drink the wine to unleash their passion, and the rest is history.
THE WINE: Made from 100% Brachetto d’Acqui, an aromatic, ancient, and complex grape.
TASTING NOTE: On the nose, Rosa Regale Sparkling Red shows romance with hints of raspberries, strawberries, and rose petals. On the palate, fresh raspberries, with crisp acidity, entice the palate with an initial softness, graduating to a clean and dry finish.
PAIRS WITH: Food, cheeses, spicy fare and chocolate. Serve chilled.
- SRP: $19.99
- 7% ABV
Rosa Romance
Ingredients:
- 3 oz Rosa Regale Red
- 1 oz gin
- ½ 5 oz Grand Marnier
- 2 dashes of orange bitter.
- Top with Rosa Regale Red and garnish with something sweet.
SPIRITS
ILEGAL JOVEN
Founded in 2006, today, Ilegal Mezcal is one of the leading artisanal mezcals in the world. Ilegal Mezcal is sold in over 40 countries and has won numerous awards for both quality and branding, including a Gold Honor Shorty Award for Brand Identity and a Double Gold in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Produced and bottled in Oaxaca, the mezcal production is 100% artisanal, using ripe espadin agave, pit ovens, tahona mills, and small copper stills.
CRAFTING: Ilegal Mezcal Joven is bottled after distillation, un-aged.
COLOR: Platinum.
AROMA: Eucalyptus and mineral aromas.
TASTE: Hints of green apple, fresh citrus and red chiltepe.
FINISH: Full bodied, lingering heat and agave flavor.
SRP: $45.99
Ilegal Mezcal No Sé Smash
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Ilegal Mezcal Joven
- 0.75 oz lime juice
- 0.75 orgeat simple syrup*
- 5 berries of choice
- Angostura bitters
*Orgeat syrup is made from almonds, sugar, and floral water. Available at most liquor stores.
Directions: Put all ingredients into rocks glass. Muddle and fill with crushed ice, shake. Add 6 drops Angostura bitters
Dulce Vida – Real Grapefruit Tequila Infusion
Made with real fruit, Dulce Vida infusion are handcrafted from 100% blue agave, then infused and uniquely blended. Enjoy as a shot, on the rocks or simply add sparkling water.:
$25.99 SRP, 35% ABV
Dulce Vida is tequila, pure and simple. With a core range of tequilas that are additive-free, made with 100% Blue Weber agave and are USDA-certified organic, the premium spirits brand was founded in Austin, Texas in 2009. It is produced in Jalisco, Mexico in the village of San Ignacio Cerro Gordo at Campanario (NOM 1443). Sustainability and attention to detail are inherent at every step, from harvest through distillation and aging. The expansive portfolio includes a core range of Blanco, Reposado and Añejo tequila – produced at both 80 proof and 100 proof – plus a 100-Proof Extra Añejo. Dulce Vida is also recognized for their flavor-infused tequilas, made with real fruit including Pineapple Jalapeño, Lime and Grapefruit. Additionally, Dulce Vida offers ready-to-drink cocktails in Tetra Paks available in Paloma, Margarita and Watermelon Margarita varieties. Please visit www.dulcevidaspirits.com for more information.
cocktail + photo credit Carnelian Cooks
Grapefruit Rose Spritz
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Dulce Vida Grapefruit Tequila
- 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
- ¾ oz Orange Liqueur
- 1 oz Rose Liqueur
- Soda water, top
- Garnish: Rose petals
Directions: In a cocktail shaker, combine tequila, fresh lime, orange liqueur, rose liqueur, and ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a tall collins glass filled with ice. Top with soda water. Garnish with rose petals. Cin Cin!
Empress 1808 Elderflower Rose Gin
From the makers of the #1 selling premium, Empress 1908 Indigo Gin, Empress Elderflower Rose Gin is a unique, handcrafted gin distilled with nine unique botanicals including juniper berries, rose petals, elderflower, orange peel and black carrot. Inspired by the beautiful location in Victoria, British Columbia, Empress Elderflower Rose Gin pays homage to ‘The City of Gardens,’ where flowers blossom nearly year-round. The fresh, floral botanicals create a delicate spirit with a distinctive all-natural rose hue, resulting in beautiful cocktail creations.
(SRP: $39.99, 42.5% ABV)
BLOSSOM & TONIC
Description: Blossoming with subtle floral notes and citrus essence, our vibrant Gin & Tonic can’t be beat!
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Empress 1908 Elderflower Rose Gin
- 3 oz Premium Tonic Water
- Garnish: Orange Slice
Method: Fill a copa glass with ice, add Empress 1908 Elderflower Rose Gin and premium tonic water. Garnish with an orange slice.
Italicus
Italicus was created by the authority on Italian spirits, Giuseppe Gallo, to bring back the forgotten Rosolio category. With keynotes of Cetalabrian bergamot, Italicus is made using the finest Italian ingredients to create a sip of Italy. The striking bottle design embodies the history and heritage ofItaly’s distinctive regions, whilst telling the story of Rosolio’s time-honored traditional drinking occasion of Aperitivo. Italicus is one of the world’s most awarded aperitivo globally.
(SRP: $41.99)
JULIETTA & ROMEO COCKTAIL RECIPE
Ingredients:
- 40ml Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto
- 15ml Savoia Americano
- 50ml Prosecco Top-Up
Directions: Pour the Savoia and Italicus into a tumbler or highball glass. Top with prosecco and garnish with gold dust and rose petals.
Savoia
Crafted and bottled in a historic artisanal distillery in Turin, Italy, Savoia American is made with exceptional and predominantly Italian ingredients including artemisia, bitter orange and gentian root alongside a complex blend of more than 20 hand-selected botanicals, inspired by the historic “Bitter di Milano”, an authentic recipe that dates back to the late 1800s. The wine base is a blend of Trebbiano (Ugni Blanc) and a 14-month oak-aged DOC Marsala Fine. Savoia Americano Rosso is ruby red in color and is a complex blend of bitter orange, bergamot and citrus fruits. Hints of angelica, rhubarb and quassia wood, along with white cardamom, cinnamon and ginger add a balanced aromatic and gentle spicy tones.
(SRP: $24.99)
The Kraken Black Spiced Rum
As it is told, The Kraken Rum is an imported rum from the Caribbean blended with secret spices. Named for the sea beast of myth and legend, The Kraken Rum is bold, rich, and smooth. The Kraken Black Spiced Rum is made from unique Caribbean black spiced rum with a lingering spicy finish.
(SRP: $22.99 / 47% ABV)
Aroma: Caramel, toffee, and spice
Flavor: Cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. A lingering spicy finish.
The Dark and Gloomy Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 1 part Kraken® Black Spiced Rum
- 3 parts Ginger Beer
- Pinch of silver or black Cocktail Shimmer / Edible Glitter
Directions: Layer all ingredients in a chalice filled with ice and garnish with black sugar rim. Enjoy…as much as your black soul will let you.
GLENDALOUGH WILD ROSE IRISH GIN
Carefully-tended flowers from an Irish rose garden are slowly vapor distilled with wild roses and botanicals from the Wicklow mountains to make this intensely floral gin. After distilling, the gin is then further infused with even more roses to deepen the flavors and give it its lovely pink hue.
(SRP: $34.99)
Rose and Raspberry Fizz
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz Glendalough Wild Rose Gin
- .5 oz Raspberry Syrup
- .5 oz Aperol
- 1.5 oz Soda Water
METHOD: Shake all ingredients (except soda) with ice. Strain into a tall ice filled glass. Add the soda, then garnish with a raspberry and a freshly torn and slapped sprig of mint.
HERRADURA SILVER
Tequila Herradura is an ultra-premium 100% blue agave tequila crafted using time-honored production methods. One of Mexico’s most historic and renowned tequila producers, Casa Herradura has been hand harvesting, crafting and estate bottling fine artisanal tequilas in the small town of Amatitián, Jalisco, since 1870.
CRAFTING: Crafted using 100% blue agave, it is aged in American white oak barrels for 45 days.
COLOR: Light straw, from the barrel it’s aged in.
AROMA: Robust, full of fruit and cooked agave, pulling in vanilla and slightly woody notes from the barrel.
TASTE: Distinctly sweet agave, mellowed slightly by the woody notes of the oak barrel.
FINISH: Leaves your mouth feeling smooth and refreshed, finishing with invigorating warmth.
SRP $45.00 (40% ABV)
Estrellitas (Little Stars)
Ingredients:
- Korbel Drink – (Paloma Variation)
- 1.5 parts Herradura Silver
- 1 part Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice
- 1 part Pamplemousse Liqueur
- ¾ parts Lime Juice
- Brut Rosé Korbel Wine
- Topped off with hint of Himalayan Salt
Method: In a mixing glass combine all the ingredients, slowly pouring champagne over the top. Garnish with an orange wedge.
Make it romantic by mixing your cocktails with your significant other or get the girls together for a Galentines Day mixology class party. It’s a fun way to spend a special evening (or make ANY evening as special as Valentines or Galentines Day).
