Cocktails with Grapefruit slice
A grapefruit slice is a wheel or half-wheel of grapefruit dropped into the drink, where it adds a light bitter-citrus edge as it sits.
Substitutes for Grapefruit slice
An orange slice behaves the same way with far less bitterness; a lemon wheel is sharper and brings a different perfume. Where the drink needs grapefruit aroma rather than a slow bitter edge, peel expressed over the surface does that job instead.
Often confused with
Grapefruit twist
A strip of peel, not a cut of the fruit. Squeezed over the surface it releases the oil that scents the drink, which is what a stirred grapefruit drink is usually after.
The pith
Bitterness sits in two places and comes from two compounds. Naringin, concentrated in the white albedo, is the bitterness met at once. Limonin sits mainly in the segment membranes and gives a delayed bitterness that builds after the fruit is cut — and its taste threshold is roughly three times lower than naringin’s, so a little goes further. A thick-cut slice carries more of both, which is why slices meant for the rim are cut shallow.
Storage
Cut slices dry at the edges within a couple of hours, so cut them to order. Choose unwaxed fruit whenever the peel is going into the glass.
