Winter Citrus Crush

This Winter Citrus Crush is a refreshing winter cocktail using all of the best winter citrus, vodka, a touch of lime juice, and orange liqueur! It’s my take on the classic orange crush that I love so much, made even better with blood orange, grapefruit, and tangelo!

I’ve been majorly slacking on sharing cocktails lately, but I’m back! With a realllllly good one. I’m kind of obsessed with winter citrus in general, which I know isn’t a surprise by any means, and this version of the classic orange crush is sooooo good you guys. SO good.

Orange crushes were my drink of choice in college. If you’ve never had an orange crush, it’s a delicious cocktail made with freshly squeezed orange juice (you know a bartender is doing it right if they’re squeezing fresh oranges for your drink!), vodka, orange liqueur, and a splash of lemon lime soda. That’s the traditional version, but there’s all sorts of variations – one of my favorites being grapefruit!

They’re super popular in Baltimore where I grew up and still live, and they actually originated in Ocean City, just a couple hours drive from me!

Because of my love for all things winter citrus, I knew I had to make a winter citrus version of one of my favorite drinks! These winter citrus margaritas inspired these too! Those margaritas are INSANE. Everyone I make them for freaaaks out about how good they are!

And these too! For the winter citrus juice in these crushes, I use a mixture of blood oranges, tangelos, and grapefruit! It’s such a good combination of sweet, tangy, and concentrated citrus flavor, and it makes any drink AMAZING. You basically just juice the citrus, and mix it all together, and you’ve got winter citrus juice!

Can you even with all of this citrus?! So freaking gorgeous.

Also, how many times can I say citrus in one post? I’ll stop now.

After we make the juice, you just add some crushed ice to your favorite glass, and add some ice to a shaker along with a little lime juice, vodka, Grand Marnier, and simple syrup! Pour it into the glass, top with a little lemon lime soda, stir it up, and you have the most perfect winter citrus crush to cure any winter blues! I’m serious. If there’s any wintery drink that will brighten your day, it’s these beautiful citrusy things.

Those colors!

Is it Friday happy hour yet? I’ll be making these on Instagram stories on Friday, so be sure to follow me there if you wanna see me make them!

Print

Winter Citrus Crush

This Winter Citrus Crush is a refreshing winter cocktail using all of the best winter citrus, vodka, a touch of lime juice, and orange liqueur! It's my take on the classic orange crush that I love so much, made even better with blood orange, grapefruit, and tangelo!

Course Beverage, Cocktail, Drink

Cuisine American

Keyword orange crush cocktail, orange crush recipe, winter citrus cocktail, winter citrus crush, winter cocktail recipes

Prep Time 5 minutes

Servings 1 cocktail, is easily multiplied

Author Molly | Spices in My DNA

Ingredients

For the crush

• 3 ounces winter citrus juice
• 1 ounce lime juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 1 1/2 ounces vodka
• 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier*
• 2 ounces lemon lime soda
• sliced blood orange, tangelo, and/or grapefruit for garnish

For the winter citrus juice

• juice of 1 blood orange
• juice of 1 tangelo/minneola (if you can't find these, regular oranges, tangerines, or cara cara oranges work!)
• juice of ½ a grapefruit

Instructions

For the crush

1. Fill a large glass with crushed ice. Add a few ice cubes to a cocktail shaker. To the cocktail shaker, add the winter citrus juice, lime juice, simple syrup, vodka, and Grand Marnier. Shake for 20-30 seconds, then pour into your glass. Top with the lemon lime soda and stir to combine. Garnish with a slice of blood orange, grapefruit, and/or tangelo!

For the winter citrus juice

1. Combine the blood orange juice, tangelo juice, and grapefruit juice in a bowl. Stir to combine.

Recipe Notes

*I prefer Grand Marnier over other orange liqueurs, but Triple Sec or Cointreau will work here!
*To make simple syrup, boil 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar until dissolved (about 30 seconds to 1 minute). Cool, store in the fridge, and use in cocktails! This will make more than you need for the recipe.
*If you want to make these pitcher-style for a crowd, I'd measure all of the crush ingredients out for how many people you want to make them for, add everything to a pitcher, and chill the mixture in the fridge. When you're ready to serve, add the crushed ice, and serve! You'd need to probably double or triple the winter citrus juice too, depending on how many people you're making them for!