Rosé every day? An Oakland cocktail maven’s new book aims to make that come true.
Oakland mixologist Ashley Rose Conway gives us 40 new refreshing summer cocktails
We all know rosé is the Summer Sipper. The dry pink wine pops up on nearly every restaurant and bar menu these days and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a California winery that doesn’t produce a rosé of tempranillo, grenache or another varietal.
Now the rosy wine is finding its way into cocktails, too — helped along by mixology mavens such as Ashley Rose Conway, Oakland’s Craft & Cocktails blogger whose new book, “Celebrate Rosé” (Weldon Owen, $20), was released this month. It’s the second volume for Conway, whose 2017 “The Art of the Bar Cart” (Chronicle Books) made us covet a piece of cocktail furniture we’d never even considered before.
Her new book offers up 40 cocktail recipes for everything from a Rosé Vesper to a Strawberry Rosé Punch — made with strawberries, fresh grapefruit and Cocchi Americano — that has us dragging out the punch bowl. (If only we had a bar cart to put that on.) Naturally, we had questions …
Q We hear you’ve been interested in cocktails since … childhood?
A My father used to own a bar and he worked with a lot of spirits brands to develop recipes for companies and restaurants. He did that from home and I thought it was cool that he got paid to do that. I moved to the Bay Area seven years ago; there’s such a wealth of knowledge and great people mixing and I learned so much. I worked for spirits companies, made drinks at friends’ parties and four years ago started Craft & Cocktails (craftandcocktails.co).
Q We know rosé is crazy popular. Where did you get the idea to use it in cocktails?
A The ever-popular frosé! Two years ago, it exploded on the internet and in bars. I definitely saw the potential. Champagne cocktails? A French 75 with sparkling rosé. Sangria? Wine, but rosé. I wondered how far you could go — and I found out you can go really far with it! The book is 50-50 twists on classics and ideas I developed for my site or friends’ parties.
Q What would you serve at a summery garden party?
A I would definitely serve the Strawberry Rosé Punch. It’s such a crowdpleaser. It’s really refreshing, but still really well-balanced with Cocchi Americano. Cocchi has bitter components to it, so it’ll help be that backbone, but the punch is not bitter like a Negroni. And it’s in a punch bowl so if you’re throwing a party, people can help themselves.
Q Other favorite rosé cocktails?
A One of my absolute favorites is the Smoky Melon. You get a lot of rosé, notes of watermelon, mezcal and rosé syrup for more concentrated flavor. I think it’s really fun. And the What’s the Tea Old-fashioned is based on a camomile tea Old-fashioned at the (now-closed) Two Sisters Bar and Books in Hayes Valley.
Q Speaking of bars, what are some of your favorite Bay Area cocktail spots?
A I love Copper and Spoon in Oakland and Here’s How, a new bar in Oakland from Jennifer Colliau. In San Francisco, Pacific Cocktail Haven; they have really great ingredients, things like pandan and calamansi, Southeast Asian ingredients. And True Laurel, a bar and restaurant in the Mission District.
Q favorite California wineries for rosé?
A Reeve Wines in Dry Creek, Scribe Winery in Sonoma, Copain in Healdsburg are my top favorites, but every winery is making rosés these days using different varietals.
Q We have to ask. Your bio bills you as “a cocktail shaker and piñata maker.” Say what?
A (Laughs) I have a side business. I make custom piñatas for parties, spirits brands. I bring cocktails. I bring the party.
“The book is 50-50 twists on classics and ideas I developed for my site or friends’ parties.”
— Ashley Rose Conway, mixologist