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Make this refreshing Death Valley Cocktail for early game days

This drink is a festive version of my favorite brunch cocktail, the Red Rooster. I love the blend of orange juice and cranberry juice with a splash of good vodka. It’s a refreshing beverage that’s nice to sip on at brunch. To make this purple-tinted cocktail perfect for an LSU tailgate, I used fresh blood orange juice and cranberry-grape juice in place of regular orange juice and cranberry juice. Since the blood orange juice tends to be a bit more tart, the sweetness of the grape-cranberry juice blend helps to add the right amount of sweetness.

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Serves 8

4 cups (32 ounces) cranberry-grape juice

2 cups (16 ounces) fresh-squeezed blood orange juice (regular orange juice works, too)

2 cups (16 ounces) vodka

  1. In a 2-quart pitcher, combine the cranberry-grape juice and blood orange juice.
  2. Pour in the vodka and chill for several hours.
  3. Serve chilled cocktails over ice. 

This article was originally published in the September 2023 issue of 225 magazine.

Recipes by Tracey Koch and Maggie Koch.

Tracey Koch
Tracey Koch has been creating recipes, instructing cooking classes for both kids and adults, and writing food columns in the Baton Rouge area for over 25 years. She began writing her favorite column, “Dining In,” back in 2013. Find it featured in the Taste section of 225 Magazine every month. When she is not in the kitchen developing and testing new recipes, she is writing stories for her children’s book series about a little goose from Toulouse.