Pink Grapefruit, Ginger, and Lemongrass Sake Cocktails
You are going to love these refreshing sake cocktails!
Prep Time: 10 minutesminutes
Total: 10 minutesminutes
Servings: 2drinks.
Ingredients
2tablespoonspacked chopped lemongrass (tips reserved for optional garnish)
1tablespoonpacked chopped ginger root
1tablespoonorganic, blonde cane sugar
2tablespoonsstrained meyer lemon juice (or 1 tablespoon regular lemon juice plus 1 additional tablespoon grapefruit juice)(1 ounce)
6tablespoonsstrained pink grapefruit juice
1cupdry sake (such as Sho Chiku Bai's Junmai-Shu / Nama Sake)(8 ounces)
ice
Instructions
In a measuring pitcher or jar, vigorously muddle together the lemongrass, ginger, and sugar until the mixture is broken down fairly well, about 30 seconds. Add the lemon juice, muddle a bit longer, then stir in the grapefruit juice and sake. (Optionally let the mixture steep for 5 minutes or up to several hours in the refrigerator for a stronger flavor.) Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and into a jar or cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice, pressing on the solids to extract all the good stuff. Stir or shake the mixture for 10 seconds to chill, then strain into two wine glasses filled partway with ice. Garnish with a lemongrass tip, if you like, and serve.
Notes
Since citrus can vary in sweetness, feel free tweak this to your taste, adding more lemon or grapefruit if the drink is too sweet, more sugar if you'd like it a bit sweeter.If you don't have meyer lemons, use 1 tablespoon regular lemon juice, and adjust the sugar if needed.If I were making these for a crowd, I would pulse together the ginger, lemongrass, and sugar in a food processor, then stir it into the citrus juices and sake and chill until ready to serve, whereupon I'd strain the whole thing through a fine-mesh sieve and into a large serving pitcher.I've made this with both the bright pink Rio Red grapefruits and also with the lighter, orange-pink Marsh Rubys. While the brighter fruits give the drink a prettier hue, I prefer the more subtle, complex flavor of the paler Marsh Rubys, though either one works just fine.If you want more ginger-lemongrass flavor, let the muddled cocktail steep for 5 minutes, or up to several hours in the fridge, before straining and serving.For a stronger drink, strain the shaken cocktail into chilled glasses with no ice.For a more refreshing drink, add ice and a bit of sparkling water to the glasses.All ounce measurements here are by volume.Nutritional values are based on one of two drinks.