Name: Blood Orange Thyme Fizz
Prep time: 2 min
Ingredients: 1/2 can sparkling water of choice (I used raspberry and it was fab); Juice of 1/2 blood orange; 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar; 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (quickly chopped); Ice

Imbued with hue

Blood oranges, I’ve been waiting for ya. Anyone else? There’s just that much more of a floral essence their juice has, and that color takes the winter right out of my eyes and brings sunshine straight into my being with every sip. Throw some thyme in there to keep us grounded while our spirits soar and it’s a combo that holds hands well together. Or at least, that’s how I see it in my mind. And on my tastebuds.

Use your ‘ceps to get the rest

There’s some people power that needs to go into this drink, and that’s quickly muddling the fresh thyme leaves in the apple cider vinegar. While we could have toyed around with the idea of making a shrub, or even using the medicinal vinegar if you are that mindful–a quick smash of leaves in acid does the trick, too! We leave the leaves mostly whole after a quick initial chop so that yep, you see them in the drink, right along with the bloody good (huhuhu…) orange pulp.

Smashing that thyme even for a few seconds breaks the cell structures open, allowing the staggering levels of antioxidants within thyme to be that much readily digested by, well, you! The muddling action also encourages the release of the thyme’s natural oils, which have potent antiviral and antibacterial properties. You can think of thyme oil as acting in a similar way to tea tree oil, which I feel is more commonly recognized as having antiseptic properties. And no frets–the amount of the oil when kept in its whole form just by consuming the leaves? Yeah, our bodies know what to do with that!