Sea Breeze Cocktail Recipe
Vodka with cranberry and grapefruit — tart, pink and built straight in the glass.
- Category: Contemporary Classics
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 10%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Vodka40 ml (1.4 oz)
- Cranberry juice120 ml (4.1 oz)
- Grapefruit juice30 ml (1 oz)
How to Make It
- Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
- Add all ingredients.
- Stir gently.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
Garnish
Lime wedge
What it tastes like
Fruit notes come forward and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Vodka
- Vodka brings body and alcohol rather than flavour; its job is to get out of the way of everything else. Which is why, in a vodka drink, how fresh the juice is matters far more than the brand.
- Grapefruit juice
- Grapefruit juice. Pink is sweet and soft, white is bitter and sharp — when a recipe does not say which, pink is the safer call.
The Story
The 1980s made it, alongside the Cape Codder and the Bay Breeze; cranberry juice was new to bars and every combination got a name.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Sea Breeze mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a Sea Breeze?
- Roughly 10% ABV as served — lighter than a beer — a long-conversation drink that takes a second round.
- Can a Sea Breeze be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Sea Breeze hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.