Non Alcoholic Drink Recipes – Grapefruit Revival

Some neighbors have gifted us with a lot of grapefruit juice. A lot. The wife bought it for food storage only to discover than her husband hated grapefruit juice. I like grapefruit juice so I was happy to accept it.

But what am I supposed to do with it all? A glass of grapefruit juice, straight up, get's pretty boring after a while. The constant acidity isn't too good for my acid reflux, either. So I started mixing it with various things just to see how it would turn out. One morning as my teenage daughter was finally dragging herself out of bed around noon, inspiration struck. My work have finally paid off. The flavor is bright and creamy with a slightly bitter citrus edge. I like it.

If you don't drink anything with caffienne, and many Mormons don't, you'll need to find some kind of substitute. I suspect that a lemon-lime soda would work well (I like 7-Up), or maybe Fresca, if you're in a diet mode. I've not tried either one this way, so you're on your own.

After consulting with the rest of the family we decided to call it “Grapefruit Revival.” I'm not sure I'm happy with the name but I can't think of anything better. If you can think of a better name, leave it in the comments. If I like it, I'll use it.

Equipment needed
One glass per serving
Spoon for stirring

(This is a minimalist drink.)

Ingredients
grapefruit juice (fresh or canned, pink Texas is best)
lime juice
vanilla extract
kosher salt
ice cubes
Mountain Dew

Directions
Fill the glass about 1/3 of the way with grapefruit juice. Add a splash of lime juice and a splash of vanilla extract (about 1/2 teaspoon each) and a pinch of kosher salt. Stir with the spoon to dissolve. Add a few ice cubes. Fill the rest of the way with Mountain Dew and give it one more stir. Enjoy!

The lime juice and kosher salt work to reduce the bitterness of the grapefruit juice. Lime juice is less acidic, so it acts as a buffer between the grapefruit juice and the soda pop. Salt interferes with bitter taste receptors on the tongue. Kosher salt is less strong in taste than other kinds of salt, so if you use something else, I can't guarantee you'll get good results. You don't want to taste the salt.