Drink Recipe: Kumquat Spritzer

Emily Han
Emily Han
Emily Han is a Los Angeles-based recipe developer, educator, herbalist, and author of Wild Drinks & Cocktails and co-author of Wild Remedies. For recipes and classes, check out her personal site.
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published Jan 25, 2012
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Kumquat and Pink Pepper Spritzer

Makes10-12 (8-ounce) drinks

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(Image credit: Emily Han)

Need a wintertime pick-me-up? Let me suggest this dazzling concoction: a bright and sunny soda featuring freshly muddled kumquats and pink peppercorn syrup.

Making soda is a fun way to play with seasonal ingredients, and here in my Los Angeles neighborhood, this drink is entirely of the moment. This is the time of year when gardens and markets pop with the color of ripe kumquats. While these citrus fruits may be small, they pack vivid flavor. Their sweet, edible peel encases tart flesh, which can be quite intense by itself but is just right in a spritzer with simple syrup and fizzy water.

To bring an element of warmth, I infuse the simple syrup with pink peppercorns plucked from the branches of nearby Brazilian peppertrees. When dried, the berries have pretty, papery skins and a fruity bite. Find pink peppercorns in the spice aisle or online at Spice Station if you don’t have a local tree.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

In combination, kumquats and pink peppercorns make an exceptionally refreshing soda – not overly sweet, and tangy with a trace of heat. I keep the syrup in a bottle in the refrigerator and slice a couple of kumquats to make individual drinks as the mood strikes. To serve a crowd, the ingredients could be mixed all at once in a pitcher.

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Kumquat and Pink Pepper Spritzer

Makes 10-12 (8-ounce) drinks

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 1 cup

    sugar

  • 1 cup

    water

  • 2 teaspoons

    dried pink peppercorns, lightly crushed

  • About 24

    kumquats, sliced into rounds and seeded

  • Ice (optional)

  • About 3 liters

    soda water

Instructions

  1. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugars.

  2. Stir in pink peppercorns, remove from heat, and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain syrup through a fine-mesh strainer and reserve pink peppercorns for garnish. Let syrup cool completely.

  3. For each drink, muddle 12 kumquat slices and 2 tablespoons of syrup in an 8-ounce glass. Add ice cubes if desired, then fill glass with soda water and stir. Garnish with a few pink peppercorns.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Related: Drink Recipe: Rosemary Citrus Spritzer

(Images: Emily Ho)

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Beverages
Drinks