Citrus season is in full swing – this wonderful season is always fun at the distillery, as we experiment with unique citrus fruits and also revisit some of our favorites, like grapefruit! This delicious fruit is beautiful in color and in taste, with a delightful sweet/bitter flavor.
This week we’re using it to jazz up a classic gimlet, using a grapefruit cordial in place of the traditional lime cordial. The grapefruit plays well with The Dearborn Gin, and provides a fun twist to a classic drink. Pick up a cocktail kit or take home some of our housemade grapefruit cordial to pair with Dearborn you have at home.
Grapefruit Gimlet
2 oz The Dearborn Gin
½ oz Grapefruit Cordial
Shake ingredients with ice, then strain into chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a grapefruit swath.
Grapefruit Cordial: you can buy ours, or you can make your own. To make: wash and then peel a whole pink grapefruit. Juice the grapefruit, and then measure the juice and put it in a non-reactive saucepan. Add half that much fresh lime juice, and 2 times that much sugar to the pan (example – 4 oz grapefruit juice, 2 oz lime juice, 8 oz sugar). Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer one minute, then remove from heat. Add the grapefruit peels to the pan and stir again. Allow the mixture to cool completely, then place in the refrigerator in a clean glass container for 24 hours. Strain out the solids, and then return to the refrigerator. Will keep in the refrigerator for 30 days or longer.
- Geeky citrus fruit note – the lime juice is there to provide some additional acidity, since pink grapefruits are on the sweeter side. They are the most readily available type, so we used that in the recipe. If you use a white grapefruit instead, you can adjust the recipe to reduce the amount of lime juice – those are less sweet. With white grapefruit, I’d aim for more like 4 oz grapefruit juice, 1 oz lime juice, 7 oz sugar to make the cordial.
