United States

Sea Breeze

A tall, icy vodka highball that tastes like tart cranberry with a bright grapefruit edge.

tartfruitycranberrygrapefruitvodkahighballrefreshingsummereasy-drinkingacidic

ABV

Difficulty

Overview

What this drink is like

The first sip hits you with tart cranberry and sharp grapefruit, backed by a clean vodka warmth. The middle stays juicy and acidic as the ice melts a bit. It finishes crisp and a little astringent, leaving your mouth feeling clean.

Who will like it

Great for people who like tart, fruity highballs without any sweetness weighing them down.

When to drink

Serve this on a hot afternoon when you want something cold and acidic that goes down easy.

Ordering tip

Ask for fresh grapefruit juice if the bar has it; the bottled stuff makes the drink taste flat and overly sour.

Ice: CubedTemp: ColdCost: $2–$4Glass: HighballBatch-friendlyMake aheadHome bar friendly

Flavor

Taste profile

This is a simple, tart, and juicy drink that goes down fast. The cranberry and grapefruit do all the heavy lifting, giving it a sharp, fruity bite that makes your mouth pucker a bit. Vodka just adds a clean warmth without getting in the way of the fruit. It is light, icy, and very easy to drink, with no deep flavors to puzzle over.

Finish: The finish is short and clean, leaving a tart grapefruit pith and cranberry astringency that fades quickly.

Primary tastes

sourfruity

Secondary

sweetearthy

Aroma

fresh grapefruittart cranberrysubtle citrus oil

Bitternessmildly bitter
The grapefruit brings a slight natural bitterness, but it stays in the background.
Sweetnessoff-dry
There is a light sweetness from the cranberry, but it gets cut by the tartness.
Sournessnoticeably tart
Both the cranberry and grapefruit hit the sides of your tongue with a sharp, acidic bite.
Strengthlow alcohol
The large volume of juice and ice waters down the alcohol, making it an easy sipper.
Refreshingvery refreshing
Cold, icy, and acidic, this drink is built to cool you down on a hot day.
Complexitystraightforward
What you see is what you get; there are no hidden layers or shifting flavors here.

Recipe

Make it at home

Built · Highball · equal parts on Vodka. Any clean, unflavored vodka works fine here

Before you start

Pull a tall glass from the cabinet and get your ice ready. If you have fresh grapefruit, cut a chunk and squeeze it right before you build the drink.

Ingredients

VodkaBase Spirit40ml
Cranberry JuiceJuiceUse 100% cranberry juice, not cranberry juice cocktail if you want a drier drink90ml
Grapefruit JuiceJuiceFresh squeezed is best30ml
Lime WedgeGarnish1 wedge

Garnish: Lime wedge

Tools

Highball Glass · Serving
Holds the drink and plenty of ice to keep it cold
At home: Any tall glass like a pint glass
Jigger · Measuring
Measures the vodka and juices so the drink doesn't turn out too weak or too sour
At home: Measuring spoons or a small shot glass
Bar Spoon · Mixing
Stirs the drink together in the glass
At home: A long spoon or chopstick

Steps

1
Fill your highball glass all the way to the top with ice. Big cubes work great, but whatever you have is fine as long as the glass is packed.
!Skimping on ice makes the drink warm up and water down too fast.
2
Pour 40ml of vodka directly over the ice. The cold glass and ice will start chilling the spirit right away.
3
Add 90ml of cranberry juice, followed by 30ml of grapefruit juice. The liquids will layer a bit on their own since you poured them over ice, but don't worry about that yet.
!Using sweetened cranberry cocktail juice makes the drink cloying instead of tart.
4
Take your bar spoon and stir for about ten seconds, pulling the spoon up and down through the ice to mix the vodka and juices. You'll know you're done when the color is even all the way through and the outside of the glass feels frosty.
~10s
!Stirring too little leaves the vodka sitting at the bottom, so the first sip is just juice and the last sip is harsh alcohol.
5
Drop a lime wedge right into the top of the drink. Give it a little squeeze over the glass first if you want an extra hit of sharp citrus on the nose.

Serve

Serve it right away while the glass is still frosty. The ice will slowly melt as you drink it, which keeps it cold and stretches out the flavors.

Variations

Ingredient substitutions

Each row shows what you can swap in place of an original ingredient, and how the drink changes.

Swap options for Cranberry Juice

Cranberry JuiceCranberry Juice Cocktail
Match
Common availability
Cranberry Juice → Cranberry Juice Cocktail: Makes the drink noticeably sweeter and less tart, which some people actually prefer.
Cranberry JuicePomegranate Juice
Match
Common availability
Cranberry Juice → Pomegranate Juice: Adds a deeper, darker fruit flavor and a slightly tannic edge instead of the sharp cranberry bite.

Swap options for Grapefruit Juice

Grapefruit JuiceGrapefruit Soda
Match
Common availability
Grapefruit Juice → Grapefruit Soda: Adds fizz and sweetness while cutting some of the fresh tartness, making it closer to a Paloma style.

Similar cocktails

Cousin drinks that share DNA with this one — each profile stands on its own.

Similar cocktail

Cape Codder

The Cape Codder drops the grapefruit juice entirely and uses a lime garnish instead.

Match

The Sea Breeze tastes sharper and more layered thanks to the grapefruit, while the Cape Codder is a simpler, one-note cranberry drink.

In common: vodka base, cranberry forward, built over ice, tart and fruity

Ingredients

Both share

Vodka, Cranberry Juice

Only in Sea Breeze

Grapefruit Juice

Only in Cape Codder

Lime Wedge

The Sea Breeze splits the citrus load between cranberry and grapefruit, while the Cape Codder relies entirely on cranberry with just a hint of lime.

Flavor

Shared flavors

tart cranberry backbone, clean vodka base, icy and refreshing

How Cape Codder differs

sharper citrus bite, more complex fruit layer, slightly more bitter

View recipe & details →

Similar cocktail

Bay Breeze

The Bay Breeze swaps out grapefruit juice for pineapple juice.

Match

The Bay Breeze is sweeter and rounder on the palate, while the Sea Breeze stays sharper and more acidic.

In common: vodka base, cranberry forward, built over ice, tart and fruity

Ingredients

Both share

Vodka, Cranberry Juice

Only in Sea Breeze

Grapefruit Juice

Only in Bay Breeze

Pineapple Juice

Swapping grapefruit for pineapple shifts the drink from sharp and bitter-fruity to sweet and tropical-fruity.

Flavor

Shared flavors

tart cranberry backbone, clean vodka base, icy and refreshing

How Bay Breeze differs

sweeter profile, tropical fruit edge, less acidic bite

View recipe & details →

Similar cocktail

Salty Dog

The Salty Dog uses no cranberry and adds a salted rim instead.

Match

The Salty Dog is a drier, sharper, and saltier drink that puts the bitter grapefruit front and center without any cranberry sweetness to soften it.

In common: vodka base, grapefruit forward, built over ice

Ingredients

Both share

Vodka, Grapefruit Juice

Only in Sea Breeze

Cranberry Juice, Lime Wedge

Only in Salty Dog

Salt

The Salty Dog strips the drink down to just vodka and grapefruit, relying on salt to boost the flavor instead of cranberry.

Flavor

Shared flavors

sharp grapefruit bite, clean vodka base, refreshing and icy

How Salty Dog differs

drier profile, salty edge, no red fruit sweetness

View recipe & details →

History

Origin

The Sea Breeze emerged in the late 1950s or 1960s as part of a family of vodka-cranberry highballs, alongside the Cape Codder and Bay Breeze. Ocean Spray promoted these drinks in the 1960s to sell more cranberry juice, which helped standardize the recipes and popularize them at bars.

Era: 1960s
IBA: Contemporary Classics
Data version: IBA Contemporary Classics
Confidence

The IBA specifies equal parts cranberry and grapefruit, but most modern bars pour a heavier ratio of cranberry to grapefruit for a rounder flavor.

Practical

Tips & pitfalls

What works at home and what to skip when making this drink.

Tips

Worth knowing before you pour

Use 100% cranberry juice instead of cranberry cocktail to keep it tart.
Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice tastes way brighter than the bottled stuff.
Mix the vodka and juices in a pitcher ahead of time, then pour over ice to serve a crowd.

Avoid

Common mistakes

Don't skip the ice, or the drink will taste flat and warm.
Avoid cheap vodka; the clean taste matters when there are so few ingredients.