Looking for the best Grapefruit Gin Cocktail recipe to make at home?
Our quick and easy fresh Grapefruit Gin Cocktail guide offers details on how gin is made, a list of the world’s best gin brands, must-have bartender tools and equipment and a recipe for a simple gin grapefruit juice drink.
This Grapefruit Gin Cocktail recipe features Malfy Gin Con Rosa, fresh grapefruit juice, simple syrup, soda water, grapefruit slice and rosemary sprig.
We love serving this refreshing gin cocktail in the summer to enjoy on the cottage dock or in the backyard at a family barbecue. Since it pours a pretty pink, it’s a great gin cocktail option for Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day.
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How Is Gin Made?
Wondering how gin is made?
Any gin starts life as a neutral (often grain-based) spirit. It’s essentially pure ethanol, and then flavours are added through a process called re-distillation. Gin can be made in a column or pot still.
We like to think of gin as “vodka steeped in an aromatic tea bag.” Expert distillers essentially heat pure alcohol (vodka) so it passes through a large “tea bag” filled with unique spices, herbs and citrus peel. When the pure alcohol comes in contact with this bundle of flavourful ingredients it takes on a unique gin flavour.
The flavourings can be steeped for as long as 48 hours, although some producers will distill the liquid almost immediately. Once completed, water is added to reduce the distillate to bottling strength.
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Gin Ingredients
So what are the most common ingredients in gin?
Gin derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries, also known as juniperus communis.
Other popular botanicals or flavourings used in gin making, besides the required juniper, often include citrus elements, such as lemon and bitter orange peel, as well as a combination of other spices, which may include anise, angelica root and seed, orris root, licorice root, cinnamon, almond, cubeb, savory, lime peel, grapefruit peel, dragon eye, saffron, baobab, frankincense, coriander, grains of paradise, nutmeg and cassia bark.
The different combinations and concentrations of these aromatic botanicals in the distillation process cause the variations in taste among different gin brands.
Our favourite premium gin to use when preparing a Grapefruit Gin Cocktail is Malfy Con Rosa. The Italian gin brand is flavoured with Sicilian grapefruit and pours a pretty light pink colour.
If you don’t have access to Malfy Gin Con Rosa feel free to substitue with a bottle of your favourite premium gin.
Best Selling Gin
Gin has certainly enjoyed a boom in popularity at cocktail bars in recent years. You’ll find fantastic premium gins distilled from Scotland to Muskoka. Here are some of the world’s best selling gins and some of our local small batch favourites:
- Malfy Gin: is an Italian brand inspired by the scenic Amalfi Coast. Malfy produces a classic dry gin as well as flavoured bottles featuring lemon, grapefruit and blood orange.
- Gordon’s Gin: The world’s top selling gin brand is owned by Diageo. The brand’s pink iteration has undoubtedly helped to fuel its success. Gordon’s has also unveiled a line of new innovative products including two “ultra-low-alcohol” pre-mixed gin and tonic sparkling beverages and Gordon’s Gin-infused popsicles.
- Bombay Sapphire Gin: Bacardi-owned Bombay Sapphire is one of the worlds best-selling gins. Bombay Sapphire kicked off a new limited edition range with the launch of a gin inspired by summer in the English countryside.
- Tanqueray: Diageo-owned Tanqueray launched a new marketing campaign developed to shift consumers’ attention from “gimmicks” to flavour and unveiled a range of bottled ready-to-drink gin and tonics, made with its London Dry Gin and Flor de Sevilla Distilled Gin.
- Beefeater Gin: Pernod Ricard’s flagship gin brand is Beefeater. The brand launched strawberry-flavoured Beefeater Pink in 2018 and further expanded its portfolio with the debut of a new blood orange-flavoured gin.
- The Botanist: is produced by Bruichladdich Distillery on the Isle of Islay in Scotland. The famous Islay Scotch Distillery produces an aromatic gin whose ingredients are sourced locally.
- Aviation Gin: is an American dry gin produced in Portland, Oregon. Canadian heartthrob from Vancouver, Ryan Reynolds is one of the distillery’s owners, swoon!
- Edinburgh Gin: This craft distillery in Edinburgh produces a parade of flavoured gin bottles including rhubarb & ginger gin, raspberry gin, bramble & honey gin, black currant & anise, strawberry & pink peppercorn and pomegranate & rose.
- Dillon’s Distillery: This Beamsville producer makes small batch gins including rose gin, cherry gin and strawberry gin.
- Muskoka Brewery: This Ontario craft brewery produces a London Dry and spicy pink peppercorn gin.
Travel to Taste the World’s Best Gins
There’s no better way to familiarize yourself with the best Grapefruit Gin Cocktail then by planning a vacation to visit the world’s best gin distilleries.
The world’s most famous gins can be found in the United Kingdom as well as neighbouring Ireland. The booming gin trend has produced a high demand for premium gins produced by distilleries in Canada and America.
We’ve visited a handful of gin distilleries in Britain as well as a chic gin cocktail bar at the Shangri-La Hotel in Taipei. The gin craze has officially travelled from England to North America, Asia and beyond!
In Scotland we visited Edinburgh Gin for a tour and tasting before enjoying a road trip to the Isle of Islay, which is best known for its famous Islay whisky distilleries. One of the best things to do on the Isle of Islay is pay a visit to Bruichladdich Distillery, which produces its signature whisky as well as Botanist Gin.
In Brighton we visited a tiny micro-distillery called Brighton Gin, one of the best things to do in Brighton for G&T fans. We also stayed at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire to sip our way through the jaw-dropping home of renowned Bombay Sapphire.
Looking to plan the ultimate road trip of Canada to discover the best gins?
Our favourite Canadian gins include Ungava in Quebec, Tawse and Dillon’s in Niagara, Muskoka Brewery in Ontario cottage country, Kinsip House of Fine Spirits in Prince Edward County, North of 7 in Ottawa, Dixon’s in Guelph, Eau Claire Distillery in Alberta, Blackfox in Saskatoon, Ironworks Gin in Nova Scotia and Long Table Distillery in British Columbia.
Best Bartender Tools & Cocktail Equipment
Before hosting a swanky Grapefruit Gin Cocktail soiree you’ll need to ensure you have the best bartender tools and cocktail equipment.
- Cocktail Kit: cocktail kits are the perfect gift for newbie mixology fans as they include basic bartender tools like a jigger, shaker and spoon.
- Cocktail Shaker: a bartenders best friend. Purchase a premium cocktail shaker to muddle or shake up your favourite pink gin cocktails.
- Cocktail Glassware: make sure your bar is stocked with a selection of unique glassware to show off your favourite cocktail creations.
- Hawthorne Strainer: this unique strainer features tightly wound coils and perforated holes. It keeps ice and other large ingredients like lime wedges in your cocktail shaker rather than in the glass.
- Bar Spoons: slender and long bar spoons are a must-have when stirring drinks.
- Bottle Opener: easily open bottles of beer or cider with the flick of your wrist or purchase a corkscrew for fine wine.
- Pouring Spout: once you’ve opened a new bottle of gin insert these affordable pourers to make cocktail assembly a breeze.
- Cutting Board: purchase a petite cutting board for your bar to slice garnishes or citrus wedges like lime, orange, lemon or grapefruit.
- Ice Bucket: chill bottles of gin quickly in an ice bucket or keep by the bar when muddling gin mixers into cool creations.
- Ice Crusher: fans of the Mint Julep love an ice crusher.
- Ice Cube Kit: we suggest purchasing a selection of ice cube trays. Silicone styles are our favourite as they’re easy to clean and are available in various shapes and sizes.
- Jigger: use a jigger to accurately measure spirits, juices, syrups and shrubs.
- Juicer: invest in an electronic juicer or buy an affordable hand-held to easily juice fresh citrus like lemons and limes.
- Muddler: fans of the Mojito love a sturdy muddler to mix mint and lime. Muddler’s are handy for any cocktail featuring ingredients that need a pounding like fresh herbs or citrus wedges.
- Citrus Peeler & Zester: adorn your craft cocktails with a thick citrus peel or finer ribbons of lime or lemon zest.
- Rimmer: Bloody Mary and Caesar lovers should outfit their bar with a handy rimmer for salting and sugaring glassware.
Grapefruit Gin Cocktail Ingredients
Our quick Grapefruit Gin Cocktail is made with fresh and healthy ingredients:
- Gin: we suggest using Malfy Gin Con Rosa, a premium Italian gin flavoured with Sicilian grapefruit.
- Grapefruit Juice: we suggest buying fresh grapefruit and juicing them at home. You can also purchase store bought grapefruit juice or substitute with San Pellegrino Pompelmo.
- Simple Syrup: you can make homemade simple syrup or add an additional zing by adding Organic Ginger Syrup by The Ginger People.
- Soda Water: we suggest using premium Fever Tree Soda or fizzy water from your Soda Stream.
- Rosemary Sprig: add a touch of green to the glass and awesome aromatics by twirling the ice cubes with a rosemary sprig before serving.
Grapefruit Gin Cocktail Tips
This refreshing Grapefruit Gin Cocktail recipe is easy to make at home, ready to serve in under 5 minutes.
We love serving our Grapefruit Gin Cocktail recipe in the Spring and Summer. The fizzy pink gin drink is a crowd pleaser at garden parties, family barbecues and cottage cocktail hours.
We also love to prepare this grapefruit gin cocktail during pink and rose themed holidays like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
If you find the drink too tart, feel free to swap out soda water for tonic to sweeten it up. Or simply add more simple syrup.
The recipe below serves one person. If you’re hosting a large gathering feel free to multiply the ingredients by the number of guests and muddle the drink in a punch bowl or jug rather than a cocktail shaker.
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Best Grapefruit Gin Cocktail Recipe
Grapefruit Gin Cocktail
Equipment
- Cocktail Shaker
- Shot Glass
- Citrus Juicer
- Sieve
- Rocks glass
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine gin, grapefruit juice and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
- Shake vigorously for 30-45 seconds until everything is combined. Strain into ice filled rocks glasses.
- Garnish with grapefruit slice and sprig of fresh rosemary.
Nutrition
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