Grapefruit Gin Sour

I made grapefruit syrup and then made a gin sour with grapefruit juice and the grapefruit syrup. It was super good. I only used one grapefruit, about 1/4 of it for the ounce of juice for the cocktail, and the rest of it for the grapefruit syrup (which made about 4-5 ounces of syrup). 

To make grapefruit syrup, gently heat equal parts fresh grapefruit juice and granulated sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved (instead of a saucepan, I used a Pyrex measuring cup and heated the mixture about 30 seconds or so in the microwave). You don’t actually have to heat it at all, but it makes the sugar dissolve faster. Just don’t cook the juice. For a little extra flavor, zest the grapefruit and add the zest too. If using zest, let it steep for 30 minutes or so and then strain out the zest. Extra syrup can be used for more cocktails (such as a grapefruit margarita, a paloma, a grapefruit mojito, or in a Hemingway daiquiri instead of plain simple syrup) or would also be great in sparkling water. 

2 oz Hendrick’s gin

1 oz fresh grapefruit juice

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1/2 oz grapefruit syrup

1/2 oz elderflower liqueur (or triple sec)

Shake with ice and fine strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a bit of grapefruit or with a lemon wheel. 

Also good: just 2 oz gin, 1 oz lemon juice, and 1 oz grapefruit syrup.

Grapefruit Mint Margarita

I had about 1/4 of a grapefruit, my mint plant is huge, and the new elderflower liqueur I bought (St. Germain) smells like grapefruit, so I made a grapefruit mint margarita. It was really good, definitely worth repeating. If you don’t have elderflower liqueur you can use Cointreau (or another good orange liqueur) instead. If you don’t have mint just leave it out and you’ll still have a perfectly good margarita. I’m thinking of making grapefruit syrup next time, to use instead of the simple syrup.

8 mint leaves
2 oz tequila

1/2 oz elderflower liqueur (or Cointreau)

3/4 oz lime juice (about 1 lime)
1 1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1 oz simple syrup

garnish: mint sprig 

Muddle the mint with the lime juice, then add the other ingredients and shake with ice until cold. Strain into a cocktail glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a mint sprig. 

UPDATE… For a frozen version, increase the grapefruit juice to 2 ounces and the elderflower liqueur to 3/4 ounce, be sure to strain out the mint leaves (after muddling with the lime juice), then blend with 1 cup ice. I also used 1 ounce homemade grapefruit syrup instead of the simple syrup. It was very good and a very pretty color.