Signature · 20–35 minutes including chilling components · Serves 1
Bitter Shore
Illustrative image generated with AI, not a photo of the cooked dish.
An aperitif highball: grapefruit bitterness and mate's green note extend the juniper. The base is dry gin; serve cold and evaluate at actual dilution.
Fresh preparation concentrates the central ingredient; bar technique controls chill, texture and dilution. Initial documentary formula, with no physical tasting recorded; sweetness and acidity need an initial trial with specific products.
Special equipment: Jigger, strainer and chilled glassware
Ingredients
Mix
- 45 ml Dry gin, 40% ABV.
- 35 ml Fresh strained pink grapefruit juice.
- 25 ml Chilled yerba mate infusion.
- 10 ml Chilled 1:1 simple syrup.
- 60 ml Chilled soda water.
- For the infusion: 2 g yerba mate and 100 ml potable water.
- For the syrup: 40 g sugar and 40 g potable water.
- Potable ice: solid cubes filling a 300 ml highball glass.
- 1 grapefruit peel strip for expressing oils.
Method
Mix
- Steep 2 g yerba mate in 100 ml water at 75–80 °C for 3 minutes; strain, chill promptly and reserve 25 ml. Dissolve 40 g sugar in 40 g hot water for syrup; chill and measure 10 ml. Squeeze and strain grapefruit. Measure actual juice and syrup yields.
- Build gin, grapefruit, mate and syrup in a chilled highball glass over ice. Add soda last and stir once to preserve carbonation. Nominal liquid volume is 175 ml; about 0 ml of preparation ice melt is assumed, except in a built highball. Measure actual dilution in the first trial; do not top up to a fixed volume.
The serve
Serve in a chilled highball glass, with solid cubes filling a 300 ml highball glass. Apply grapefruit peel expressed over the glass immediately before serving without blocking the sip. Expect pink grapefruit and yerba mate first; as ice melts, evaluate whether gin remains present and sweetness and acidity stay balanced.
Key points
- Measure every liquid; nominal volume is not an observed yield.
- Keep fresh ingredients cold and serve immediately.
- Record brand, composition and ABV to make the result repeatable.
- Adjust one variable per tasting; this formula has not been physically validated.
Notes
- Theoretical strength: 18 ml nominal absolute alcohol / (175 ml mix + 0 ml assumed dilution) = approximately 10.3% ABV. This excludes serving ice melt and volume contraction. Actual dilution depends on ice, time, temperature and technique. Measure extraction yields during preparation and discard fresh leftovers at the end of the session.
- Consume in the same session. Do not infer microbiological shelf life for juice, purée or cocktail from alcohol content. Do not bottle for another day.