Sake Grapefruit Cocktail Recipe (Refreshing, Gluten-Free)

Sake Grapefruit Cocktail is what you make for happy hours or a romantic evening with your lovers! Made with sake, grapefruit juice, gin, and a touch of ginger, this elegant sake cocktail recipe is super refreshing and dangerously easy to drink!

Sake Cocktail with Grapefruit and Ginger

Refreshing happy hour drink for you and girl friends and lovers! 😀 If you are a Japanese food aficionado, this sake grapefruit cocktail recipe is made for you!

Sake and grapefruit juice make a great flavor combo. It’s easy to make, super refreshing, and gorgeous looking! In this post, I share how to select sake and my favorite sake to make a gluten-free sake and grapefruit cocktail, plus pairing dish suggestions for a romantic dinner with your loved ones!

Different Types of Sake

There are many types of sake and you can classify them by several factors – type of rice used, rice polishing ratio, ingredients, brewing and filter processes, and more. To keep it simple, here are the four types of sake of which I like the most:

• Daiginjo (Daiginjo-shu) – classified by rice polishing ratio
• Ginjo (Ginjo-shu) – classified by rice polishing ratio
• Junmai (Junmai-shu) – differentiate by the brewing ingredients
• Nigori Sake – by brewing technique

Daiginjo

Daiginjo is ultra-premium sake that’s slowly fermented at low temperatures. The flavor is very delicate with aroma and mild flavor. The rice milling ratio is 50% or less.

Ginjo

Ginjo is also a premium sake that’s carefully fermented to create a refreshingly fruity aroma and mild flavor. The rice milling ratio is 60% or less.

Junmai

Junmai-shu literally means “pure rice sake”. Junmai is made only from rice and water. The flavor profile ranges from light and mild to full-body. The ingredients are rice and water.

*Daiginjo or Ginjo brewed without additional alcohol are called Junmai Daiginjo or Junmai Ginjo.

Nigori Sake

Nigori means “cloudy sake”. It’s under the Junmai category. It’s my favorite type of sake. Nigori Sake is roughly filtered after fermentation. Nigori has white and milky appearance. The flavor profile is subtly sweet and the appearance is white with a cloudy look.

This is a great chart for reference and more info on sake.

Ingredients for Sake Grapefruit Cocktail Recipe

• Sake – Junmai Nigori Sake (cloudy sake) or Junmai sake (clear sake) that’s either daiginjo or ginjo
• Gin – pure, distilled gin
• Grapefruit juice – Tropicana
• Ginger
• Grapefruit sparkling water
• Ice cubes
• Shaker with a strainer
• Ground nutmeg (optional)
• Rosemary sprigs (optional)

How to make Grapefruit Cocktail with Sake At Home Easily

You can use chilled or non-chilled sake as long as you have ice cubes ready.

1. In a shaker, add the sake, gin, grapefruit juice, ginger, a tiny dash of ground nutmeg powder, and 4-5 medium size ice cubes. Shake 30-40 seconds.
2. Pour the cocktail through a strainer filter into two cocktail glasses.
3. Add a splash of grapefruit sparkling water. Garnish with rosemary sprigs. Add more ice cubes to the serving glass or without.

Is Sake Gluten-Free?

Premium sake is gluten-free. Premium here means pure rice sake with no additives – starches or sugars other than rice added to the fermenting mixture – were used, and that no brewer’s alcohol was added either.

Daiginjo, ginjo, junmai sake, junmai daiginjo, junmai ginjo, junmai nigori are all considered gluten-free. (Source)

Which flavor should I choose? Junmai Nigori, Ginjo, or Daiginjo Sake

As we discussed above, junmai sake means pure rice sake and it’s considered a premium sake that’s gluten-free. Pure here means there are no additives – starches or sugars other than rice added to the fermenting mixture – were used, and that no brewer’s alcohol was added either. Look for Junmai sake if you are sensitive to gluten. Now let’s talk about the taste and flavor.

Nigori Sake – Nigori style of sake is my personal favorite. Nogori sake is roughly filtered from the fermented rice grains. The “cloudy look” comes from the rice sediment which remains in the sake after it has been passed through a special coarse-mesh filter. The tradition of rough-filtering sake has been used in Japan for many centuries. The flavor is milky, creamy, smooth, and subtly sweet. Best serve chilled and great for cocktails. Shake well before serving.

Daiginjo Sake – Daiginjo is the ultra-premium sake that’s slowly fermented at low temperatures. The flavor is very delicate with beautiful aroma and mild flavor. The rice milling ratio is 50% or less. The appearance is clear.

Ginjo Sake – Ginjo is also a premium sake that’s carefully fermented to create a refreshingly fruity aroma and mild flavor. The rice milling ratio is 60% or less. The appearance is clear.

In my opinion, both daiginjo and ginjo sake have a clean after taste with subtle aroma and are less sweet and not milky, compared to nigori sake. I love all three types of sake and you can use either one for my sake grapefruit cocktail recipe.

Pairing Dishes that go well with the sake cocktail

Grapefruit Sake Cocktail tastes light and super refreshing therefore it pairs well with a wide variety of dishes either savory or sweet.

• Watermelon fruit salad
• Bang Bang Shrimp
• Kimchi beef
• Shirataki fried rice with garlic chips
• Thai cauliflower fried rice
• Lemon chicken bites
• Lemon thyme chicken
• Japanese potato salad
• Cantonese beef chow mein
• Taiwanese fried chicken cutlets (air fryer, stovetop)
• Browse more of my Paleo Japanese recipes

More Beverage Recipes

• Iced Matcha Mango Tea
• Keto Hot Chocolate
• Paleo green smoothie
• Whole30 turmeric milk
• Whole30 watermelon peach mocktail
• Vietnamese iced coffee