“Sea Breeze” – a refreshing alcoholic cocktail with a tart taste and a slight bitterness based on strong alcohol and sweet and sour juices. Made by mixing ingredients in a glass (build method). One of the easiest cocktails to make at home. Excellent thirst quencher.
Historical reference. The first recipe for a cocktail called “Sea Breeze” appeared in the United States in the 20s of the last century at the end of the existence of Prohibition. But it was a completely different drink, it consisted of gin and grenadine syrup. In those days, vodka was not popular with Americans.
The name came up with a journalist who tasted a drink in a closed New York club. Due to the ban on alcohol, he could not describe the recipe, instead using a metaphor: “a cocktail that makes you feel the wind while sitting on the seashore.” In the 30s, Sea Breeze was enriched with apricot brandy and lemon juice, but never gained popularity.
The modern recipe appeared in the 50s, when the largest manufacturer of cranberry juice in the United States, Ocean Spray, began to promote its products as a component of alcoholic cocktails. Prior to this, cranberry juice was associated with family holidays, so in order not to lose customers, manufacturers were afraid to associate themselves with alcohol.
Ocean Spray took a risk, developed a simple cocktail recipe, and it paid off. A new market has appeared – bars. Later, the company began producing another cocktail ingredient – grapefruit juice. But in 1959, the US Department of Health announced the contamination of cranberries with herbicides and forgot about the cocktail.
The revival of the popularity of “Sea Breeze” began in the 70s. In 1974, the International Bartending Association (IBA) named Sea Breeze one of the best cocktails of the decade. Now it is considered a “modern classic” and is included in the cocktail list of self-respecting bars.
The Sea Breeze cocktail has appeared on television more than once, for example, in the movie Scent of a Woman (with Al Pacino) and French Kiss.
Composition and proportions:
- vodka – 40 ml;
- grapefruit juice – 30 ml;
- cranberry juice – 120 ml;
- ice – 200 grams;
- lime – 1 wedge.
If you replace vodka with gin, you get another kind of cocktail – the Sea Breeze Original, and the whiskey-based cocktail is called the South Sea Breeze. To prepare a non-alcoholic version, it is enough to exclude alcohol from the composition.
Classic Sea Breeze Cocktail Recipe
1. Fill a glass (preferably tall Collins) with ice.
2. Add grapefruit juice and vodka.
3. Pour cranberry juice into the glass, then gently stir with a spoon.
4. Top with a slice of lime (symbolizes the sea sail) or mint.
5. Serve with a straw.
Detailed technology on video.
