I came across some Florida Red Grapefruit in the grocery store the other day, and I just had to buy a bag. They’re sweeter and milder than regular grapefruit, and the red color is just beautiful. A quick Pinterest search showed me exactly what I needed to make with these beauties: Honey Rosemary Grapefruit Sodas. They looked gorgeous and sounded so refreshing, how could I pass them up? I couldn’t! So let’s give this soda recipe a try and see if it tastes as good as it looks.
Tart and fizzy honey rosemary grapefruit sodas combine a sweet and herbaceous rosemary simple syrup with fresh grapefruit juice and pure honey for a flavorful, naturally-sweetened homemade soda you’ll want to sip on all Summer long.
The Ingredients
I had a few things to buy for this recipe besides the red grapefruit. And I need to point out that the recipe doesn’t say “red grapefruit”, just “grapefruit”. I only figured it out because I noticed the photo and read through the accompanying blog post.
But besides the red grapefruit, I needed some sparkling water, honey, and fresh rosemary. The only ingredients for these Honey Rosemary Grapefruit Sodas I had on hand were organic cane sugar and plain non-sparkling water.
The Process
These Honey Rosemary Grapefruit Sodas are made in 2 parts: rosemary-grapefruit simple syrup and the sodas themselves. I divided this over 2 days, but everything could be done in a single day as long as you have enough time to chill the simple syrup.
Rosemary-Grapefruit Simple Syrup
This simple syrup is a little more complicated than the plain kind, but not by much. I started off by adding the water, sugar, and honey to a medium-sized pan. While they began to heat I used a vegetable peeler to peel off 2 strips of zest. Next, I juiced a red grapefruit. That gave me more than the 1/4 cup of juice needed.
I immediately added the freshly squeezed grapefruit juice to the pan and let it simmer. Then I added the grapefruit zest and rosemary sprigs and let the mixture simmer for another 5 minutes.
The simple syrup needed to steep for up to an hour after removing it from the heat. I let it infuse for a full hour before straining it and storing it in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Honey Rosemary Grapefruit Sodas
The next day it was time to put it all together and try these yummy-looking sodas! the “work” of this part was squeezing the red grapefruit juice. I used an electric juicer to make it quick, then I strained out the teeny tiny seeds it missed with a fine mesh strainer. I’m picky like that LOL!
Juicing 2 red grapefruits gave me 1 cup of juice. The soda portion of this recipe doesn’t give exact measurements. Instead, it gives portions of each ingredient so you can scale it very easily. I mixed my sodas with the following portions:
- 1/2 cup red grapefruit juice (1 part)
- 1/2 cup rosemary simple syrup (1 part)
- 2 cups sparkling water (4 parts)
That gave me enough Honey Rosemary Grapefruit Soda to fill 2 16-ounce tumblers filled with ice cubes. A quick garnish of grapefruit wedges and rosemary sprigs, and I was ready to do some sippin’.
Timing
This recipe lists 60 minutes (1 hour) of prep time, and 15 minutes of cook time, for 1 hour and 15 minutes total. Here’s how my time broke down:
- 1 minute to prep the simple syrup
- 10 minutes to cook the simple syrup
- 1 hour to steep the simple syrup
- 1 minute to strain the simple syrup
- 6 minutes to make and garnish the sodas
- 1 hour 18 minutes total
I don’t think the recipe’s total time includes chilling the simple syrup. I didn’t include it because I just stuck it into the refrigerator and let it chill overnight. Either way, the time comparison seems fair, and I went just over the time listed.
