Skip to content
CocktailHQ
JuicesAlcohol-freeHigh confidenceStandard, well-documented cocktail ingredient.

Grapefruit Juice

Grapefruit juice is a tart, slightly bitter citrus juice with a distinctive sharpness that sets it apart from sweeter orange or milder lemon and lime juices. Fresh-squeezed juice has a rounder flavour than bottled versions, which can taste harsher. It brings a refreshing bitterness to a cocktail.

tartbitter-edgedrefreshingcitrusy

Common uses

  • mixer in tall refreshing cocktails
  • balances sweet liqueurs

Buying & storage

A few days: Good for a few days refrigerated, then noticeably duller. Worth planning a second drink around rather than throwing away.

Storage: best used within a day or two of squeezing, refrigerate in a sealed container

Before it goes

Use up grapefruit juice

Ranked by how much of it each drink uses and how little else it needs — the ones at the top will not send you back to the shop.

  • Salty Dog

    Uses 130ml. Also needs vodka.

  • Virgin Sea Breeze

    Uses 120ml. Also needs cranberry juice.

  • Sea Breeze

    Uses 30ml. Also needs vodka, cranberry juice.

  • Navy Grog

    Uses 30ml. Also needs white rum, gold rum, dark rum, fresh lime juice, honey syrup.

Recipes

Cocktails containing this ingredient

Stand-in

Where grapefruit juice is a recommended substitute

Recipes that name it as a swap for something else, with what it replaces.

Swap it

Possible substitutions