Thirsty Thursday: Rosemary Ginger Spritzer

A while back I decided to host a wine tasting and fancy cheese party at my house.  

Since I'm nursing I still can't go too crazy with the booze; we had a few other non-drinkers there so I decided to make a non-alcoholic cocktail for us to enjoy.  I'm including both versions of this recipe so you can decide whether to get schnockered or not.

INGREDIENTS:
Rosemary Ginger Simple Syrup:
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
1 ginger herbal tea bag (original recipe called for fresh ginger, but I didn't have any on hand, so I steeped the tea bag in the simple syrup instead) - I used Stash's Ginger Lemon, which is my fave.
1 cup water

Combine these ingredients in a small saucepan; cook over low heat until sugar dissolves, then set aside & let steep for at least an hour while it cools.

Then, strain the syrup into a pitcher and add the following:
2 (12 oz) cans ginger ale
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
BOOZY VERSION: 2 bottles dry champagne
NON-BOOZY: One 2L bottle sparkling water

Serve with rosemary sprigs for garnish.

BTDubs: Leftovers from a wine & cheese party make for a truly indulgent lunch the next day at work.