• 4 ounces granulated sugar
• 3 ounces water
• 1 ounce blood orange juice
• The zest of 2 blood oranges

1. Using a peeler, peel the zest from the blood oranges.
2. Cut the blood oranges in half and juice them into a small sauce pot. Discard the remaining bits of blood orange.
3. Into that same sauce pot, add the water and sugar and stir to dissolve.
4. Heat the mixture on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it starts to simmer.
5. Once simmering, carefully add the blood orange zest to the pot and gently stir to submerge. Cook the zest in the liquid for 1 minute at a medium heat so that the liquid is simmering but not at a rapid boil.
6. After 1 minute, turn off the heat and allow the zest to sit in the liquid for at least 15 minutes to finish softening and infusing flavors.
7. After it's been sitting, strain the zest and chill the simple syrup. Once chilled you're ready to use it!

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Optional: Candied Zest (for cocktails rim)

1. After you've strained out the zest and chilled the simple syrup, put the remaining granulated sugar into a bowl and add the zest to the bowl, tossing the zest in the sugar to completely coat it.
2. Preheat your oven to 200 F and coat a sheet tray or baking pan with parchment paper and spray with pan spray.
3. Lay the zest with the remaining sugar out on the sheet tray and bake for 30 minutes at 200 F.
4. After 30 minutes, remove the zest from the oven, break up the zest and lay it back out on the sheet tray in a nice even layer. Bake for another 20-40 minutes until the zest is completely dry.
5. Once completely dry, remove the zest from the oven and allow the zest to cool to room temperature.
6. Once cooled, remove the zest from the sheet tray, add the salt, and pulse in a coffee grinder till it resembles ground coffee in texture.
7. Store in a dry air-tight container till usage.