Satsuma, grapefruit, and lemon juices are combined with mint and sparkling water for a simple and energizing mocktail. This batch-made vegan and gluten free mocktail is perfect for citrus season!
Often my eyes are bigger than my stomach at the farmers market. I literally want all the things, especially if it’s more of a rare item that only has a short growing season here. Back in January, I fell victim to this continual problem when I decided a gigantic bag of satsumas was a wayyyy better choice than buying several of them individually. Two people can consume 15 pounds of citrus before they go bad, right? Uh, wrong. So wrong. At one point I think I ate 5 or 6 in one day to help put a dent in what seemed like a growing pile. I haven’t been juicing much lately because I hate the wasted leftover pulp, but in an effort to use up the last of the satsumas that were staring me in the face every time I opened the fridge, I came up with a mocktail of sorts. To the juicer!
To balance the sweetness of the satsumas, I added in my last 2 grapefruit I picked from a tree on my sister’s street and a south Texas lemon. The resulting juice still had that characteristic orangey sweetness but with a kick of tart and bitter flavors as well. To provide a nice contrast and a cooling effect, I added some mint leaves to the party. The method for the mocktail is similar to a mojito in that you muddle the mint with a bit of sweetener first and top it off with sparkling water. But, instead of liquor there’s a hefty dose of glowing fresh citrus juice. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Too bad I drank (or noisily slurped) it all up last week.
As always with any of my recipes, feel free to modify as needed. Skip the added sweetener if you want or change the citrus line-up according to what you’ve got handy. The only thing I’ll encourage you to do is seek out local citrus if you can. Local goods tend to be fresher and support your local economy directly rather than a grocery supplier or big box farm operation. And, although I don’t have any alcohol in this recipe, please feel free to add what you like. It would be particularly lovely with some lillet blanc, tequila, or rum if that’s your thing 😉
Bubbly Satsuma & Mint Mocktail
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Satsuma, grapefruit, and lemon juices are combined with mint and sparkling water for a simple and energizing mocktail. This batch-made vegan and gluten free mocktail is perfect for citrus season!
Ingredients
- 8–10 satsumas or clementines (about 2 cups juice total)
- 2 small grapefruit
- 1 lemon
- large handful of mint leaves
- honey or maple syrup to sweeten, optional
- 2 cans plain sparkling water
Instructions
If you prefer to use a juicer, remove the peel/pith from the citrus and juice all of it together. If you prefer to do it by hand, cut each citrus fruit in half, then juice it with a traditional reamer style juicer.
Instructions for batch-making for a group: add all of the mint to the bottom of a pitcher and muddle it until it becomes highly fragrant. Pour the citrus juice over the top and any sweetener if you like. Stir well. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of juice to glasses filled with ice and top with about 1-2 ounces of plain sparkling water.
Instructions for making a single drink at a time: Add a few mint leaves to the bottom of a glass and any sweetener if you’d like to use it. Muddle the mint until it is bruised and very fragrant. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of juice to the glass, stir well, then add ice and 1-2 ounces of plain sparkling water.
Makes enough for 4-6 drinks depending on how small or large they are.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Category: drink
