I.O. Organic Sicilian Blood Orange Juice

I.O. Organic is made using moro, tarocco and sanguinello blood oranges, three of the favored varieties grown in Sicily. These oranges are harvested from trees as old as 200 years between October and March from the organic, family farm and pressed nearby on the island for the freshest juice. The juice maintains its freshness via a flash pasteurization process. The deep red/orange color can be distracting at first if you are unfamiliar with blood oranges, but this characteristic is due to the anthocyanins found in the oranges. These anti-oxidants have numerous and powerful health benefits along side many other good-for-you vitamins and minerals.

The flavor of I.O. Organic is unlike the Florida oranges most are familiar with. It retains carry the distinct orange flavor but it is significantly darker and richer. I also prefer the blood orange because I find it to have less citrus acid than orange juice and for those with heartburn, I.O. Organic is something you may want to consider for a Screwdriver or Tequila Sunrise. There are cocktails where orange is preferred to blood orange, but I love to try blood orange out where it seems appropriate such as the Ward Eight and Damiana Golden.

A perfect example, and possibly the best I’ve tried yet with I.O. Organic, of the ideal blood orange cocktail is the Sanguinello. This drink is all-Italian, with Campari, lemoncello and blood orange juice, and a juice from Sicily is the perfect match. I also had a bit of fun creating the Countdown Cocktail in which it’s paired with genever and the Spring Fever is a deliciously fruity non-alcoholic mixed drink that is great all summer long.