Grapefruit: a great fruit for cocktails

In the 90s, when I reached legal drinking age (don’t do the maths; I’m young and vital, OK?), the beverage of choice was a seabreeze. Consisting of ruby red grapefruit juice, cranberry juice and vodka, my friends and I must have ordered, mixed and chugged enough of these to float a battleship, or at least a dancefloor covered in handbags.

Since then I haven’t revisited grapefruit juice all that often – but, having been given a massive bag of them by my mother recently (thanks Mum!), I started thinking about the other good ways to imbibe the tart fruit. It’s the scurviest part of the year so it seems like a good time squeeze some citrus back into our lives.

Traditionally, a paloma is just tequila and grapefruit soda, maybe with a salt rim – and it is perfectly delicious that way. The addition of fresh juice does jazz things up considerably though, so if you have some handy why not give it a birl?

PALOMA

60ml tequila

60ml grapefruit juice

15ml lime juice

Grapefruit soda

In a tall glass filled with ice, add the tequila and fruit juices and stir. Top up with the grapefruit soda. If you’re looking for a New Zealand-made grapefruit soda, East Imperial makes a delicious one, or go for the Mexican Jarritos grapefruit soda.

Aperol is an Italian bitter aperitif – always a winner with me – which works very well with the slightly sweeter pink grapefruit. These make some very pretty drinks which could work in a brunch-time setting – grapefruit has a strong breakfast vibe, after all – or as a pre-dinner cocktail.

APEROL AND GRAPEFRUIT COCKTAIL

40ml Aperol

40ml pink grapefruit juice Tonic water

Combine Aperol and grapefruit juice in a glass with ice and top up with tonic water.

Now to my current favourite in the grapefruit drink roster. The gin and grapefruit combo makes it reminiscent of a greyhound cocktail (which gets called a salty dog when it is served with a salt rim), but the rosemary simple syrup lifts the botanicals enough to give it a very sophisticated profile. Easy to mix and easy to drink, I call it a ‘‘Reggie’’ because Rosemary Gin Grapefruit (get it?).

REGGIE (RGG)

Rosemary simple syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

4 sprigs of rosemary

Cocktail

30ml rosemary simple syrup 30ml gin

30ml grapefruit juice Make the simple syrup by putting all ingredients in a small saucepan on a medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and then let it simmer away until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Let it cool and strain.

In an ice-filled shaker, add all ingredients and give it a shake. Strain into a chilled glass and enjoy.

A dash of orange bitters is a nice addition – I enjoy it either way. The combo of rosemary simple syrup and grapefruit juice also makes a tasty mocktail over ice.

Cheers!