
2022 Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar – Day 15 – Grapefruit Metaxa Fizz. This bright and citrusy fizz celebrates the distinctive palate of the original Greek spirit, METAXA. This recipe employs METAXA 12 Stars which boasts flavours of dried fruit, orange peel, and spices.
This post is sponsored by METAXA.
Metaxa was founded by Spyros Metaxa. Born in 1848 in Greece, he was a descendant of a family of silk merchants. An adventurer and man of taste, he decides to establish his own business in fine goods. Always travelling, Spyros Metaxa discovers different spirits and wines from around the world. His travels left him wanting as he found the spirits he discovered often to be harsh on the palate and lacking in both aroma and character.

In 1888, he decided to take matters into his own hands and created a spirit that is a true journey through the senses, METAXA, The Original Greek Spirit.
In that year Spyros Metaxa built his first distillery in 1888 in Piraeus, the port of Athens. Not long after, his unique one-of-a-kind amber spirit was being exported around the Mediterranean.
Although it was first compared to a Cognac, and later to a brandy, METAXA is impossible to classify.

Today it is recognized for what it is, a unique amber spirit.
I love having the opportunity to introduce my audience to spirits they may not have sampled before. METAXA 12 Stars is a truly special product and I think its complex flavours of dried fruit, orange peel, and spices work beautifully with the citrus, Aperol, and spiced Demerara syrup I’ve used here. The egg white helps to balance the acidity of the citrus and makes for a fun and frothy finish.
Join me tonight on Instagram Stories at 5 p.m. Eastern as I double shake this Grapefruit METAXA Fizz!

Grapefruit Metaxa Fizz

This bright and citrusy fizz celebrates the distinctive palate of the original Greek spirit, Metaxa. This recipe employs Metaxa 12 Stars which boasts flavours of dried fruit, orange peel, and spices.
- 1½ oz Metaxa 12 Stars
- ½ oz Aperol
- 1 oz grapefruit juice
- ¼ oz lemon juice
- ¾ oz spiced demerara syrup
- 1 egg white
- 2-3 oz club soda to top
- Garnish: grapefruit twist
- 2 cups demerara sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 star anise
- 1 whole vanilla bean
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
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Add all ingredients to a shaker and dry shake for 15-20 seconds. Add ice and shake again until well-chilled.
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Strain into a highball glass over a single ice spear.
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Top with club soda.
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Garnish with grapefruit twist.
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Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a low boil, stirring frequently.
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Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for about 15 minutes until syrup is slightly thickened.
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Cool to room temperature.
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Carefully strain the whole ingredients out of the syrup. Once cool enough to handle, store the gingerbread syrup in a swing top bottle or mason jar and keep in the fridge. Syrup will keep for about a month.
Looks and sounds very tasty.