Kindred’s frosé is pink-wine-season perfection—and here’s how you can make it, too

Take a bottle of one of those nice, dry rosé wines. Mix it with a little fresh, seasonal fruit. Add a few other things – simple syrup, a little lemon juice, some amaro for bitterness to balance the sweet.

Then freeze the whole thing until it’s slushy and scoopable.

That’s frosé (yes, say it fro-ZAY), and it’s become an obsession for general manager Blake Pope and service manager Justin Burke-Samson at Kindred in Davidson.

“We caught the frosé bug last summer,” Pope says. “It’s just fun and super-easy. It acts like an aperitif or a patio sipper or even dessert.”

Burke-Samson has a pastry background and Pope likes to play around behind the bar, coming up with ways to use some of the unusual ingredients they get in the kitchen.

“He’s the yin to my yang,” Pope says. “It was the brainchild of both of ours.”

Now that the weather is warming up again, Pope has been pulling out the frosé. For a few weeks, he was using hard-to-find Kishu mandarins from California’s Ojai Valley. That short season is almost over (although they’ve saved the rinds for Free Range Brewing, which may use them in a beer project soon).

Pope has already been moving on to the next version, using unripe strawberries and lemon juice, a version that surprised even him.

“You know that tartness strawberries have? The strawberries weren’t quite ripe, but I moved forward anyway. And it worked.”

The idea, using the fruity pink wine, is simple and lends itself to all kinds of bases, he says. Any fruit would probably work, like the tangerine juice in the recipe he shared, or nectarines when they arrive. You could even steep a 1/4 cup of tea, like a chamomile, and use it. The only unusual ingredient is the amaro, but they’re getting more common in local liquor stores. Or you could skip that and it would still work.

Why rosé, besides being able to call it “frosé”?

“Good question,” Pope says. “It’s a fad, and we can’t deny it’s a thing.” They’ve considered trying it with some bright white wines, like Grüner Veltliner.

“I guarantee you’ll see it soon on our menu. I just wouldn’t grab a bottle of chardonnay.”

From Blake Pope and Justin Samson-Burke of Kindred. They originally used Kishu mandarins, which are very hard to find, but you can adapt it with tangerines until more summer fruit gets ripe.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large pitcher or bowl. Whisk well until combined, then pour into a freezer-safe container with a lid. Freeze at least 12 hours.

Remove from freezer and stir it up with a spoon until it’s slushy. Serve in a cup or dessert glass, garnished with a sprig of mint.

Note: To make the simple syrup, combine 3 cups sugar and 2 cups water in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the syrup is clear and the sugar is completely dissolved. Cool and use in the recipe.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 6:52 AM with the headline "Kindred’s frosé is pink-wine-season perfection—and here’s how you can make it, too."