Fever-Tree Pink Grapefruit Soda
A grapefruit soda made with actual juice rather than with flavouring alone, from red and pink grapefruit grown in Alicante. It is the shortcut to a Paloma, and the reason a Paloma made with it beats one made with a generic grapefruit soda.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Bright grapefruit aroma with fresh citrus acidity, gentle bitterness, and restrained sweetness. Crisp, dry finish with lively carbonation.
Storage & Handling
Store unopened bottles or cans in a cool place. Refrigerate before use. Once opened, use immediately to retain carbonation.
Shelf Life
Unopened: 6–12 months. Opened: Use immediately
Usage
Topped over 50ml of blanco tequila with a squeeze of lime, which is a Paloma in one step. It also lengthens gin and mezcal, and it stands on its own over ice, where the bitterness keeps it from being a sweet drink.
Juice, Not Just Flavouring
Two forms of grapefruit appear on the ingredients before any flavouring does: red grapefruit juice from concentrate, and pink grapefruit juice. Fever-Tree name Alicante in the Levante region of Spain as the source and say the fruit is hand-picked. That matters more here than it would in a tonic, because grapefruit’s appeal is its bitterness as much as its sourness, and bitterness is the part flavourings reproduce worst. A soda built on flavouring alone tastes sweet and vaguely citrus, where this one carries the pith edge that makes a Paloma taste like a Paloma.
The Paloma in One Step
A Paloma is tequila, grapefruit, lime, a little sugar and soda, and it can be built from parts or poured from a bottle. This is the poured version, and it is a fair trade rather than a compromise, because the fruit is real and the carbonation is better than anything achievable by topping juice with soda water. What is lost is control of the sweetness, since the bottle has already decided it. The usual correction is more lime rather than less soda, which sharpens the drink without shortening it.
Sodium Bicarbonate on the List
An unusual ingredient sits in the middle of the list: sodium bicarbonate. It is there to soften the acidity, because grapefruit juice at full strength is sharp enough to be difficult in a soft drink, and a small amount of bicarbonate takes the hardest edge off without sweetening anything. The same trick appears in soda water, where the minerals are the point rather than a correction. It is worth knowing, because it explains why the bottle tastes rounder than the juice it is made from.
Sizes and Serving
It comes in 150ml and 200ml with no large format, which suits how it is used, since one bottle finishes one drink. Chill it hard, fill the glass with ice, and pour it last down the side. At 19 kcal and 4.6 grams of sugar per 100ml it sits with the light bottles rather than with the full-sugar sodas, so a Paloma built on it comes out drier than one built with syrup. Adjust with lime rather than with sugar.
Pro Tip
If your Paloma tastes flat, it’s usually the soda, not the tequila.
Top Tips
- Correct it with lime, not with sugar. The bottle has already decided the sweetness for you.
- Buy the 150ml or 200ml. There is no large format, because one bottle is one drink.
- Read the ingredients before comparing prices. Real juice is why this makes a better Paloma than a generic soda.
Possible Substitutions
- Fresh grapefruit juice + soda water
- Bitter lemon (more quinine, less fruit)
Production Method
Produced by carbonating water and blending with grapefruit juice or flavourings, sweeteners, and acids, then bottled under pressure.
History & Context
Grapefruit soda became widely popular in Mexico and the United States, particularly as the defining mixer in the Paloma. Its balance of bitterness and refreshment made it a staple in agave-based cocktails.
Common Questions
What is the Paloma spec?
50ml of blanco tequila, a squeeze of lime, and the bottle poured over ice to fill. Built from parts it would be tequila, grapefruit juice, lime, a little sugar and soda water. The bottle collapses four of those into one and does it well.
Why does the soda matter so much?
Because it is most of the drink. A Paloma is roughly three parts soda to one of tequila, so the soda decides how it tastes, and a version built on flavouring alone gives sweetness without the bitterness that makes grapefruit worth using in the first place.
What else does grapefruit soda make?
It lengthens gin into something close to a long Salty Dog, and it suits mezcal, where the smoke meets the bitterness. It also stands alone over ice as a soft drink with an adult edge, which is a use most flavoured sodas cannot manage.
Does it contain real grapefruit?
Yes, twice over. Red grapefruit juice from concentrate and pink grapefruit juice both appear on the ingredients ahead of any flavouring, with the fruit sourced from Alicante in Spain. That is why the bitterness survives, and flavouring alone reproduces it poorly.