Most fans know that our Essensia Orange Muscat dessert wine makes for a perfect after meal treat, and even as a great summertime sipper when mixed with club soda over ice. Those are two of our favorite ways to enjoy it too! However, we’ve also been making some wonderful classic cocktails with Essensia for years, and we wanted to share some of our most loved recipes with you. These classics are also a handful of the most popular cocktails around, and there’s something for every type of cocktail drinker.

Why mix with Essensia? It’s the ideal alternative to traditional orange liqueurs for a number of reasons. First, is its rich, yet balanced flavors of orange, honey, and apricot. Many orange liqueurs are somewhat one-dimensional with overpowering sweetness, alcoholic burn or overly processed orange flavors, which all gets imparted into your cocktail. Second, at an alcohol level at less than half of some popular liqueurs, it’ll deliver more flavor without making your cocktail excessively boozy. This also means it’s a great option for those who are searching for low ABV drinks.

Check out these four great classic cocktail recipes featuring our Essensia Orange Muscat dessert wine:

Essensia Sidecar

This classic cocktail is filled with balanced flavors of honey, apricot and orange by adding our Essensia Orange Muscat dessert wine. Our Essensia Sidecar will open your mind to the vast possibilities of mixing with Quady dessert wines!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz. Cognac
3/4 oz. Quady Essensia Orange Muscat
3/4 oz. Lemon Juice
Garnish: Orange or Lemon Peel/Twist
Rim: Sugar (optional)*

Preparation:

Add ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a cocktail or coupe glass. Garnish and serve.

*Pour out fine granulated sugar onto a small plate or dish. Rub an orange or lemon slice along the rim of the glass and then dip the rim into the sugar.

 

Essensia Cosmopolitan

Another popular cocktail made with a twist using our Essensia Orange Muscat dessert wine. If you’re a fan of cosmopolitans, this recipe is a must try!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz. Vodka or Citrus Vodka
1 oz. Quady Essensia Orange Muscat
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
1 Dash Cranberry Juice
Garnish: Lime Wedge or Wheel

Preparation:

Add ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a martini or coupe glass. Garnish and serve.

 

Essensia Mimosa

With pronounced orange, apricot and honey flavors, our Essensia Orange Muscat dessert wine is the perfect addition to the classic mimosa. Wow your friends and family with this unique take on the popular easy drinking morning cocktail!

Ingredients:

1 Part Quady Essensia Orange Muscat
1 Part Champagne or Sparkling Wine
1 Part Orange juice

Preparation:

Add ingredients to a champagne flute and serve.

Essensia Margarita 2

An Orange Muscat packed alternative to our original Essensia Margarita recipe. This version calls for more Essensia Orange Muscat Dessert Wine and provides even more flavors of orange marmalade, honey and apricot than the original.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 oz. Quady Essensia Orange Muscat
2 oz. Tequila
1 oz. Lime juice
1/2 oz. Agave nectar
Garnish: Lime wedge
Rim: Salt*

Preparation:

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain over ice into salt-rimmed rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

*Place salt on a small plate. Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a rocks glass. Dip the rim into the salt.