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This easy Transfusion drink recipe turns vodka, Concord grape juice, lime, and ginger ale into a bubbly highball. A golfer’s favorite cocktail!
Here’s a fun cocktail that’s surprisingly refreshing: meet the Transfusion! This drink might sound like a super potent neon nightclub drink, but it’s actually a refreshing highball drink that’s popular at golf clubs!
This drink is similar to a Pimm’s Cup but made with Concord grape juice, vodka, and ginger ale. The flavors work well so well together: sweet tart, bubbly, a little spicy ginger and a bright finish of grape juice. As someone who’s tried almost every popular cocktail recipe, I think the Transfusion drink is a must-try.
What’s in a Transfusion Drink?
The Transfusion is a highball cocktail starring vodka, Concord grape juice, lime, and ginger ale. It’s popular at golf clubs and country clubs, but no one seems to know the origin or story behind it. There’s a separate drink called the “Blood Transfusion cocktail” made with rum, lime juice, and grenadine, but that’s a whole different story.
Either way, the golf club version appears to be pretty standardized in terms of ingredients. Here are the ingredients you need for a Transfusion drink:
- Concord grape juice: This is a special style of grape juice made with Concord grapes. Make sure to find this variety, because its flavor is so unique (it’s like the flavor of a kid’s juice box!).
- Lime juice: Always use fresh lime juice for the best flavor.
- Vodka: Use something mid-range; I typically use Tito’s.
- Ginger ale: You can also substitute ginger beer, which has a stronger, spicier ginger flavor.
Why Concord Grape Juice Matters
Concord grapes are a unique variety type of grape you don’t often see in the produce section at the store. They’re a deep blueish purple and have a sweet, musky flavor. Take one bite and you’ll recognize the flavor immediately: it’s what’s used to flavor Concord grape jelly, used in that classic PB&J! This type of grape also is used for grape-flavored candy and Concord grape juice.
Make sure to find bottled Concord grape juice for the Transfusion drink: it brings a flavor that tastes like grape soda, except it’s all natural.
How to Make a Transfusion Drink
The Transfusion drink is a classic highball cocktail, the style of drinks that’s the easiest to make. Highball cocktails are almost always built in the glass: meaning you don’t have to dirty a cocktail shaker or a mixing glass. Mix it up and you’re good to go! Here are a few things to note about the Transfusion:
- Add the ginger ale last. You’ll add the Concord grape juice, lime and vodka first and stir. Then top off with the ginger ale, which preserves the bubbles.
- Use clear ice to step up the drink. To make an impressive looking Transfusion, mix up a batch of clear ice the night before. Clear ice is crystal clear ice you can cut into organic shapes to make professional-looking cocktails.
- Garnish with Concord grapes if you can find them. The garnish in the drink might look like black olives, but it’s Concord grapes. They’re hard to find at the grocery because their skins are so soft, they’re not always sold fresh. But if you can find them, they’re absolutely worth it.
Why Do Golfers Drink Transfusions?
The Transfusion is the unofficial cocktail of the golf course (from my research: I’m more of a tennis fan myself).
It’s served at country clubs and clubhouse bars, and it’s refreshing, low-effort, and easy to sip over 18 holes without wrecking your swing. Again, no one seems to agree on who invented it or exactly why it has its name. If you order one at a golf-club bar, you’ll probably get the vodka version below.
Make It a Mocktail
Skipping the alcohol? A Transfusion is easy to turn virgin, and you get the same bubbly, grape-soda-meets-ginger flavor. It’s great in any mocktail lineup. Here’s what to do:
- Leave out the vodka.
- Increase the Concord grape juice up to 3 ounces.
- Keep the lime, and top with ginger beer, which has a spicier, more complex flavor.
Ways to Serve a Transfusion
The bubbly, lightly sweet Transfusion is a genuine any-season sipper. I love it as a:
- Summer cocktail for patio or backyard BBQs
- Happy hour or cocktail-hour drink
- Dinner party welcome drink
- Game-day or golf-day cocktail
- Late-night drink when you don’t want anything heavy
Make-Ahead and Batching
You can make this drink ahead. Mix the vodka, grape juice, and lime together up to 8 hours in advance and refrigerate (for an 8 serving pitcher it would be 2 ½ cups vodka, 2 cups grape juice and ½ cup lime juice).
Add 5 oz juice mix and 4 oz ginger ale glass by glass right before serving so it stays fizzy.
Transfusion Cocktail (A Classic Drink!)
This easy Transfusion drink recipe turns vodka, Concord grape juice, lime, and ginger ale into a bubbly highball. A golfer’s favorite cocktail!
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 3 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Stirred
- Cuisine: Cocktails
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 ½ ounces* vodka
- 2 ounces Concord grape juice
- ½ ounce lime juice
- 4 ounces ginger ale or ginger beer
- Ice, for serving (or try clear ice)
Instructions
- Add the vodka, Concord grape juice, and lime juice to ice filled highball glass and stir.
- Top off with the ginger ale.
Notes
*For conversion to tablespoons: 1 ounce = 2 tablespoons
Mocktail variation: Omit the vodka, use 3 oz Concord grape juice, ½ oz lime juice, and 4 oz ginger beer.
Make ahead tips: Mix the vodka, grape juice, and lime together up to 8 hours in advance and refrigerate (for an 8 serving pitcher it would be 2 ½ cups vodka, 2 cups grape juice and ½ cup lime juice). Add 5 oz juice mix and 4 oz ginger ale glass by glass right before serving so it stays fizzy.
Do you think this is something you can make ahead and add ginger ale later? We are making for a bunch of friends and wondered if we could make a batch of it.
Hi! Yes, I’d do it up to 8 hours in advance. For a simple 8x recipe, swap cups for ounces in the recipe.
Let us know if you have any questions!