It's both intimidating and exciting to explore new cocktail ingredients. Thankfully, many options are tasty and unique enough to warrant exploring, including yuzu. Yuzu is a citrus fruit with origins in East Asia, although you can now find it throughout the world, including Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. Its appearance resembles a lemon or grapefruit, with puckered skin enveloping the fruit. It's a fast-growing cocktail ingredient with tart flavors of grapefruit and mandarin orange.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- ½ ounce yuzu juice
- ¼ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- ¼ ounce simple syrup
- Ice
- Lime wheel for garnish
Instructions
- Chill a martini glass or coupe.
- In a cocktail shaker, add ice, gin, yuzu juice, lime juice, and simple syrup.
- Shake to chill.
- Strain into chilled glass.
- Garnish with lime wheel.
Yuzu Martini
Elevate the crisp and traditional martini with a whisper of yuzu juice. Your friends will be begging for your secret.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin or vodka
- ½ ounce dry vermouth
- 4-6 dashes yuzu juice
- Ice
- Lemon twist for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Chill a martini glass or coupe.
- In a mixing glass, add ice, gin, dry vermouth, and yuzu juice.
- Stir rapidly to chill.
- Strain into chilled glass.
- Garnish with lemon twist, if desired.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces white rum
- ¾ ounce yuzu juice
- ¼ freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ simple syrup
- Ice
- Lemon wheel for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Chill a martini glass or coupe.
- In a cocktail shaker, add ice, white rum, yuzu juice, lime juice, and simple syrup.
- Shake to chill.
- Strain into chilled glass.
- Garnish with lemon wheel, if desired.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- ½ ounce yuzu juice
- Ice
- Tonic water to top off
- Lemon slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball glass, add ice, gin, and yuzu juice.
- Top off with tonic water.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lemon slice.
Yuzu Spritz
Pack in the citrus flavors with some bubbles in a crisp yuzu cocktail.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce vodka
- 1 ounce yuzu juice
- ¾ ounce freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
- ½ ounce simple syrup
- ¼ ounce strawberry liqueur
- Crushed ice
- Club soda to top off
- Mint sprig, lemon wheel, and strawberry slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, add ice, vodka, yuzu juice, grapefruit juice, simple syrup, and strawberry liqueur.
- Shake to chill.
- Strain into rocks or wine glass over crushed ice.
- Top off with club soda.
- Garnish with mint sprig, lemon wheel, and strawberry slice.
Unique Yuzu Drinks to Delight
Everyone gets stuck in a cocktail rut, but what helps is the chance to explore uncommon flavors that strike a new chord. Yuzu is the perfect opportunity to give old cocktails new life. Once you get the hang of its flavor, you can even go further and explore tropical cocktails or spirit infusions. Oh, the journey that awaits.
