Love means never having to say you’re sorry for hogging all the lo mein.
All photos by Joey Wharton.
Valentine’s Day can mean a lot of different things depending on your current relationship status. Romantic night with a special someone? Sure. Corporate bonanza built on consumerism? Maybe. An excuse to eat a bunch of heart-shaped candy? Big time.
No matter if you’re Single AF or in an LTR, we can all agree on one thing: Valentine’s Day is a great reason to eat and drink well. Here’s our list of cocktails perfect for whatever your V-Day holds.
NEW RELATIONSHIP ENERGY
Cocktail: Check Yes or No
Ingredients:
1 oz. Belle Isle Blood Orange
1 oz. Cocchi Rosa
1 oz. Aperol
Preparation:
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with an orange twist.
Ah, the excitement of new love. I think we can all agree that a relationship really hits its peak when you’re comfortable enough with a person to talk about your feelings, but not so comfortable that you pick a fight about them after one too many cocktails. This beautiful, intoxicating NRE status deserves an equally stirring cocktail pairing. Try our Blood Orange negroni variation Check Yes or No to elevate your evening with that special someone.
GALENTINE’s Party
Cocktail: Ring of Fire
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. Belle Isle Cold Brew Coffee
4 oz. Mexican hot chocolate**
Preparation:
Add ingredients to a mug and top with whipped cream and dried chilies.
**Mexican Hot Chocolate: Over medium heat, stir 3 cups whole milk
2 tbsp. cocoa powder, 4 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 tbsp. crushed cinnamon sticks, 1/4 oz. cayenne pepper, and a pinch of kosher salt. Simmer for 5-10 mins., then remove from heat and let cool.
Spend the holiday that’s all about love doing what you actually love the most: drinking cocktails and talking trash with your BFFs. We highly suggest whipping up our coffee-tinged Mexican hot chocolate, Ring of Fire, to invite in some old school slumber party vibes. Whipped cream is mandatory; casting spells is optional.
LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP
Cocktail: Islands in the Stream
If you’ve been in an LTR for a few years, you probably said goodbye to pretense a long time ago. You just want to cut the filler and skip right to the good stuff: a box of chocolates, cuddling on the couch, and a few simple, delicious cocktails. Try Islands in the Stream, our spicy play on a strawberry margarita, to heat things up a bit.
Ingredients:
2 oz. Honey Habanero
1 oz. lime juice
¾ oz. strawberry puree
Preparation:
Add all ingredients to mixing tin with ice. Shake and double-strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
SOLO NIGHT IN
Cocktail: Rose Garden
The absolute best part of being single is that you never have to share. Celebrate your independence and whip up two of these spritzy Rose Garden cocktails–then drink both yourself.
Ingredients:
½ oz. lemon juice
3 oz. sparkling rose
1 oz. soda
Preparation:
Add all ingredients to a wine glass with ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
happy valentine’s day!
Still thirsty?
Belle Isle Moonshine is a premium, handcrafted spirit proudly hailing from Richmond, Virginia.
We take the name Belle Isle from a small, 540-acre island located smack dab in the middle of the James River where Civil War soldiers used surplus corn rations to make moonshine in copper kettles.
Belle Isle Moonshine is distilled from 100% organic corn, grown by three family farms and responsibly sourced. Once triple-distilled, we charcoal filter Belle Isle four times over. Then, we cut it with purified water right from the James River. Our infusions are made with 100% real ingredients, never artificial flavors or color. We use real grapefruits sourced from Texas and California, local honey from the Shenandoah Valley, organic habaneros grown an hour away, and freshly roasted coffee beans from the most socially conscious roastery in Richmond, Blanchard's Coffee Roasting Co.
From there, each bottle of Belle Isle Moonshine is filled, corked, labeled, and packed by hand by our Production team, who check each bottle and batch for quality assurance. Since Belle Isle is made in small batches, you can find the batch number handwritten in the bottom right corner of each bottle.
Distilled from good times and 100% organic corn.