Low · sparkling
Grapefruit spritz
Pink grapefruit juice, prosecco and soda with a sprig of rosemary. Our own spritz: sharper than an Aperol, and the first glass to empty on the tray.
- Pour
- 165 ml
- Strength
- Low
- Best for
- Garden parties, Brunch, Big parties
- Season
- Summer, Spring
- Fizz
- Added at the door
- Ahead
- Jug ahead, top at the door
The welcome pour
One glass, 165 ml
Wine glass over ice. Garnish: a sprig of rosemary, or a thin wedge of grapefruit.
House recipe: this is a house recipe. There is no canonical grapefruit spritz; the nearest published cousins are Difford's Pink Spritz, which builds grapefruit soda, a red aperitivo and prosecco over ice, and Punch's Padua Paloma. Ours is fresh pink grapefruit juice, a little sugar, prosecco and soda: the flavour of a paloma without the tequila.
| Ingredient | Per glass | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh pink grapefruit juice | 50 ml (1.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Sugar syrup (1:1) | 10 ml (0.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Prosecco | 75 ml (2.5 fl oz) | at the door |
| Soda water | 30 ml (1 fl oz) | at the door |
The jug
How much for your party
One welcome drink per guest plus a 15% spare. Sparkling wine and soda are counted here but stay in the fridge until the door.
| Ingredient | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh pink grapefruit juice | 700 ml 23.5 fl oz | in the jug |
| Sugar syrup (1:1) | 140 ml 4.5 fl oz | in the jug |
| Prosecco 2 × 750 ml bottles | 1 L 4.5 cups | at the door |
| Soda water 1 × 1 L bottle | 420 ml 14 fl oz | at the door |
| The jug holds 850 ml (28.5 fl oz), which is 1 1.5-litre jug filled to 85%. Added per glass at the door: 1.5 L in all. | ||
Make it
In the jug, then at the door
Ahead. Grapefruit juice and syrup in the jug, 60 ml a head. Grapefruit juice keeps better than lemon or lime; squeezed the day before is fine.
At the door. Ice in a wine glass, 60 ml from the jug, 75 ml prosecco, 30 ml soda, a rosemary sprig slapped once against your hand to release the smell.
Keeps. The juice base keeps two to three days in the fridge.
- Juice the grapefruit and strain it. Yields vary a lot between fruit, so buy one more than the maths says.
- Stir in the sugar syrup and taste. Grapefruit varies a lot: sweet ones need no syrup at all.
- Chill the base, the prosecco and the soda.
- At the door: ice, base, prosecco, soda, rosemary. Stir once.
The alcohol-free twin
Grapefruit soda
Ours again: the same base, topped with soda alone. If you want something closer to a grown-up paloma, Punch's hop water paloma tops grapefruit with hop water, which brings the bitterness the prosecco would have.
Ice, base, soda, rosemary. Same glass as the original.
Reference: punchdrink.com
This twin is our own recipe, not a published one. We say so wherever that is the case.
| Ingredient | Per glass | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh pink grapefruit juice | 50 ml (1.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Sugar syrup (1:1) | 10 ml (0.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Soda water (or hop water) | 105 ml (3.5 fl oz) | at the door |
Why it works at the door
Grapefruit spritz, in three paragraphs
We wanted one spritz on the tray that did not come out of a bottle of aperitivo. Grapefruit does what Aperol does, bitterness and colour, and it does it with fruit, so the drink tastes sharper and cleaner. It is the glass that goes first at a summer lunch, and the one guests ask about.
Because it is a house recipe we say so plainly. There is no IBA grapefruit spritz. Difford's Guide has a Pink Spritz that uses grapefruit soda with a red aperitivo, and Punch has a Padua Paloma with tequila and Aperol; both are excellent and both are more work. Ours is four ingredients and a jug.
The rosemary is not decoration. A sprig slapped against your palm releases enough oil to change the smell of the glass, and smell is most of what a welcome drink is judged on in the first three seconds.
Questions hosts ask
Can I use bottled grapefruit juice?
Yes, a good not-from-concentrate pink grapefruit juice works, and it is what makes this drink realistic for forty guests. Fresh is brighter; bottled is consistent. Skip the syrup if the juice is sweetened.
How much prosecco per guest?
75 ml a glass, so a 750 ml bottle pours ten. For 24 guests with a spare, three bottles.
Is this a paloma?
A paloma is tequila and grapefruit soda. This is the grapefruit without the tequila, lifted with prosecco instead, so it stays low in alcohol for a welcome round.
Next to it on the tray