Grapefruit Mocktail + (More Mocktail Recipes)

This grapefruit mocktail recipe is a virgin cocktail made with so many great flavors and a favorite mocktail around our house. This is a really easy mocktail recipe to make if you are just starting off. We also have more easy mocktail recipe ideas for you below if you want to learn to make your own.

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Total Time: 2 minutes

Mocktails are of one of my favorite drinks over the last few years. I do like the occasional alcoholic drink but more often I prefer just a light non alcoholic cocktail that I can sip on. This easy grapefruit mocktail is loaded with flavor and very simple to make. I will show you all the steps to make this easy mocktail and more mocktail recipe ideas so you can make your own.

What is Mocktail?

A mocktail is just a virgin cocktail. It can be called a virgin cocktail, a shrub (more on that below), a non-alcoholic drink or have formal drink name (like the old fashioned Arnold Palmer). A great mocktail will always have a few layers of flavor so that it is not like sipping on plain fruit juice and the more modern mocktails really mix it up by adding spice and herbs.

You can make almost any alcoholic drink into a mocktail but you can also custom blend your own mocktails by following this mocktail formula below:

Parts to a Mocktail:

Mocktails always involve a juice or two, a secondary flavor (herbs, spice, simple syrup,etc) to enhance the juice and a filler like soda water, tonic, etc.

In addition to the base parts of the mocktail, herbs, bitters (which are non-alcoholic) and even vinegar are added to add depth of flavor.

Juice-

All mocktails have some sort of juice. Sometimes more than one and sometimes a juice and non juice like iced tea. This is grapefruit mocktail recipe has fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and a touch of cranberry juice. These two flavors are always great together. This is about ⅓ of the drink.

Herbs, Spices and Other Flavors for the Mocktail-

You cannot just have juice in a mocktail or else that is all the mocktail would taste like. Flavor additions added in to the mocktail help build complexity and can be anything from herbs, citrus or ginger zest to bitters. This part of the mocktail is what really makes a mocktail taste amazing! This portion is always less than ¼ of the drink.

Mocktail fillers-

Mocktails should be at least ½ soda water, tonic water, water or any other type of filler that you prefer to use. This helps balance out the flavors. It is similar to the way you would make a mixed drink.

Making a Shrub as a Mocktail:

If you are not familiar with shrubs (and not the kind in your landscape), they are non-alcoholic drinks made from fruit that has fermented into vinegar along with juice and other flavors to make a great drink.

A quick way to make a shrub is to use fruit juice and vinegar together in the drink. I do this with my strawberry basil mocktail by using balsamic vinegar. My other favorite vinegar to add in mocktail recipes is organic apple cider vinegar.

In addition to adding vinegar to the mocktail to make a shrub, you can add whole pieces of fruit or even whole sprigs of fresh herbs like rosemary. I like to add a sprig of rosemary in my shrubs because when you sip on your drink you get the most amazing scent from it that brightens your mood.

More Mocktail Recipes You Can Make:

If you follow the ratio above for the three main parts, you can use any flavor combination you love to make your own shrub. Here are some mocktail recipes ideas for you to start with.

• Lavender and Lemonade mocktail. I like making my own lavender water and adding fresh lemonade to it.
• Strawberry and Basil Mocktail that I mentioned earlier is perfect for summer and very refreshing.
• Cherry Shirley Temple. I like using my homemade cherry simple syrup and sprite (or soda water) to make this. I use 2 tablespoons of cherry syrup with 8 ounces of sprite. Traditionally grenadine is used for Shirley temples but I love it with cherry syrup.
• Basil and Lemon Mocktail. Again, I really love using simple syrup as a flavor enhancer for my mocktails so for this combination I use 2 tablespoons of my basil simple syrup and add that to 2 ounces of fresh squeezed lemon juice and 6 ounces of water. You can also use soda water to make it fizzy.