TGIF friends! My love for citrus runs deep. I love how fresh and energizing it smells. I love how crisp and bright it tastes. And I love how it’s at its peak in the dead of winter. It’s kind of like the universe knew we’d need something bright and refreshing during the coldest months of the year and they answered with … oranges (temps above 40 woulda been nice, but you get what you can!).
Every winter, my parents buy a huge case of Texas grapefruit from the church youth group and eat them for breakfast for the next month. I’ve always been amazed at how delicious and more fragrant those suckers are when they’re in season. They’re sour in a puckery-goodness kind of way, but much sweeter than normal. They don’t even require additional sugar (unless you’re me where everything could use a little dash). It really shouldn’t come as a surprise, but these oranges and grapefruits literally taste like you picked them off the tree yesterday.
After the week I had, I was craving something citrus in the form of a cocktail and since my local grocer has had the best deals on citrus, I decided to steal a few of Willy’s Halo clementines and see what happened.
Gather: 1 shot (1.5 oz) of a grapefruit vodka | the juice from one clementine | the juice from one grapefruit | a splash of pineapple juice (adds sweetness) | ginger beer | dried pineapple for garnish
Do: Shake the vodka, clementine, grapefruit, and pineapple juices in a shaker with ice. Pour into glass and top with a splash of ginger beer. Add a straw and a fun garnish and enjoy.
The citrus and pineapple juices are just the right amounts of sweet and sour to make you feel it’s Summer somewhere, but the ginger beer grounds the drink and brings it back to the Winter reality. And the garnish? Necessity.
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