🥃 Sea Breeze

Sea Breeze is a long cocktail of vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice. It is simply built in a tall glass with ice and garnished with a lime wedge. It tastes refreshing, slightly sour and bitter, with a red colour from the cranberry. The drink is light, which is why it is often ordered in summer and at beach bars.

Ingredients. Difford's Guide suggests vodka, sweetened cranberry juice and fresh pink grapefruit in a Collins glass. The proportions are roughly 50 ml of vodka, 75 ml of cranberry and 30 ml of grapefruit. The grapefruit juice softens the sourness of the cranberry and adds a light bitterness.

Variations. The same guide describes the Ocean Breeze with pineapple juice and a layered version of the drink. Cocktails built on a similar logic, with vodka and two juices, form a whole family of long drinks.

Base. In the EU vodka has a minimum strength of 37.5% ABV, so the spirit gives the drink a neutral base that does not clash with the juice. Replacing the vodka with gin gives a more herbal version. The layered version, also described in the guide, is built in the glass in layers so that the colours do not mix at once. Lime adds freshness and a sharper sour accent. Pineapple juice instead of grapefruit makes the drink sweeter.

Why this matters to you. The juice makes the drink light on the palate, although it contains the same alcohol as neat vodka. The drink should not be combined with driving. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.