Between marrying into the Ball family and the recent Mason jar trend, I knew there had to be Ball jars at our wedding. I used most as vases to decorate the aisle and the tables, but that obviously wasn’t enough. I decided that every guest had to drink out of a Ball jar, so I bought one jar for each guest. Ahh the joys of being wedding crazed. Thank goodness it’s over.
Since our cocktail hour was in a different area than the reception (and consequently the two bars), a signature cocktail, bottled beer, and wine were the easiest drink options for the post-ceremony gathering. The caterer asked what kind of fancy cocktail I wanted. I told her I really didn’t care, but it would be nice if it was coral-colored and had vodka in it. I had zero expectations for this drink; I was just super excited for cocktails served in Ball jars with pretty straws. Sophisticated priorities, I know. As it always turns out when expectations are low, this was honestly one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had.
This year, hanging out at Loon Lake sans wedding planning left me with a lot of free time on my hands. I got an itch to recreate this masterpiece and off I went. I was given the general drink recipe from the caterer, dusted off the leftover Ball jars found in the tool shed, and I made this tasty, gingery, grapefruity, basily, vodka drink.
Squeeze some juice out of grapefruits. You can use a juicer if you want. The lake house doesn’t have fancy tools like that.
Make some simple syrup by heating up half sugar, half water. I used brown sugar because that is what we had, but white sugar works great as well.
Fill your jar up with ice and start pouring in the makings.
Top it all off with ginger beer.
Grab your friends and enjoy your drinks!
See? The pretty drinks made for pretty pictures. Mission accomplished.
Grapefruit Ginger Cocktail
Infused Vodka:
- 1/5 vodka
- 1/4 cup of sliced ginger
- handful of fresh basil
Drink Recipe:
- 1 shot infused vodka
- 1 shot fresh grapefruit juice
- 1 teaspoon simple syrup (more to taste)
- Heavy splash of ginger beer
- Ice
To infuse your vodka, add in ginger and basil. Let it sit for one or two days in a cool, dry place. Strain before making your drinks.
To make simple syrup, heat up equal parts of sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved.
To make each individual drink, first fill up your glass with ice. Pour in the infused vodka, grapefruit juice, and simple syrup. Stir. Top with a heavy splash of ginger beer. Serve with some basil and a festive straw!
10 Responses
I recently had something similar at a big reunion party and it was delicious! Can’t wait to make this for myself!
it is great for a party since you can make a big batch beforehand!
OOh, these drinks are SO my type of cocktail – love everything, the flavors, the color, and especially the use of mason jars! Mmmmmm!
thanks Amy!
gorgeous photos! definitely craving one of these cocktails right now.. they look and sound delicious!
thanks Thalia!
Skills in matching your cocktails to your bridesmaid dresses, that last photo of you all is so lovely. Natural photos like that are my favourite, everyone looks caught and happy in the moment. p.s I am a big fan of grapefruit cocktails and with basil sounds delicious!
Thank you! yes, I love that picture too. The photographer did a good job 🙂
What are the measurements of all the ingredients per glass? I don’t like to wing it when it comes to recipes.
Sorry about that! Something must have gotten deleted because the recipe used to be there! I’ve updated it 🙂