Karolien of Karola's Kitchen created this cocktail for the holidays.

Ingredients for 1 person:

1 pink grapefruit
½ red chilli, seeds removed
1 sprig of rosemary + extra to garnish
1 full tsp pink peppercorns
2 tsp white granulated sugar
½ tsp coarse pink himalayan salt (or coarse white salt)
NONA June
1 to 2 bottles of Fever Tree (or other tonic)
ice cubes

Method:

Squeeze out the grapefruit. (Do not discard the squeezed halves yet.) Cut the half chili into two pieces and place them in the grapefruit juice along with the rosemary sprig. Lightly crush the chili and rosemary with a masher. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Crush the pink peppercorns in a mortar. Add the coarse pink salt and crush again until the salt is a little finer ground. (The goal is not to get really fine salt and fine pepper, there should definitely be some texture left in it!) Spoon the sugar into the pink pepper and salt and stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Pour the mixture onto a small plate.

Use the squeezed grapefruit halves to rub the edges of the glasses. Now dip the rims of the glasses into the sugar-salt mixture until you get a nice crystal rim. Put the glasses in the refrigerator if you are not using them right away.

Put some ice cubes in each glass. (I use three large ice cubes per mocktail.) Divide the grapefruit juice between both glasses. Now pour in NONA June spirit until your drink has risen about a centimeter. Fill the glass further with tonic, up to the rim and finish with some rosemary leaves. Serve this drink without a straw! Drinking along the crystal rim is in fact a must and makes the taste experience so much better.

Recipe, styling and photography by Karolien Olaerts.

You can also find this recipe on www.karolaskitchen.be