Easy
Fruity & Citrusy
4 Minutes
Highball Glass
Ingredients
The Mango Breeze is a tropical twist on the classic Sea Breeze — a drink that breaks all the rules yet is clearly inspired by the original. And we love it for exactly that reason.
Made with Absolut Mango, cranberry juice and orange juice, the Mango Breeze is built in a highball glass over ice and garnished with a mango wedge and orange twist. Perfect for summer BBQs or any time the sun is shining.
To make this drink you’ll need a juicer – a centrifugal juicer works best, but an immersion blender does the job too.
How To Make a mango breeze cocktail
Bar tools you’ll need
Jigger
Knife
Bar Spoon
How to Mix
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Measure and pour Absolut Mango into a Highball Glass.
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Measure and pour Cranberry Juice into the Glass.
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Use a Peeler to peel a couple of Oranges and drop them into a Centrifugal Juicer. Save a strip of Orange Peel Zest to garnish later.
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Fill your Highball Glass with Ice Cubes.
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Top up your Glass with Orange Juice.
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Stir the cocktail with a Bar Spoon.
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Use a Paring Knife to cut a crescent moon-shaped Mango Slice.
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Place the Mango Slice and Orange Twist in your Glass.
ALL ABOUT THE MANGO BREEZE
The Mango Breeze takes the Sea Breeze cocktail as its starting point — swapping vodka for Absolut Mango, grapefruit juice for orange juice and finishing with a mango wedge instead of a lime wheel. The cranberry juice stays. Talk about taking inspiration but doing your own thing.
“Straight away, you get the orange zest in your face,” says Ricardo ‘Rico’ Dynan, bartender and Absolut Global Brand Ambassador. “The orange juice is just amazing, and that aeration really heightens the flavor of the oranges, which are very sweet, but perfectly balanced by the tart bitter cranberry juice. And the mango? Well, it’s the number one fruit on earth.”
Bold, tropical and fruity – the sweetness of mango and orange up front, cranberry bringing that signature tart edge underneath.
You can’t talk about the history of the Mango Breeze without talking about the history of the Sea Breeze cocktail — since the Mango Breeze is a variation of the Sea Breeze.
The Sea Breeze originated in the U.S. during the 1920s or 1930s, though it looked very different back then – originally made with gin before undergoing several transformations over the decades. The iconic version we know today, made with vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice, arrived in the 1970s and has been a bar staple ever since.
The Mango Breeze is a more recent invention – most likely developed in the late 2000s – taking the Sea Breeze’s winning formula and giving it a tropical transformation.
The Mango Breeze is a tropical drink that rewards a little know-how. Here’s what makes a good Mango Breeze a great one:
- Use a centrifugal juicer
A centrifugal juicer is the secret to fluffy, aerated orange juice – and yes, fluffy is exactly the right word. That aeration gives the cocktail a soft, pillowy texture that makes a noticeable difference to the overall experience. If you don’t have one, an immersion blender works as an alternative.As Rico puts it, “the result won’t be as good, but it’s a good alternative.” Cut the oranges into small pieces, blend in a bowl and strain through a fine mesh strainer when pouring. Here’s how to get more juice from your fruit.
- Stir it properly
After adding all the ingredients, give the drink a thorough stir with a bar spoon. Without it, the first sip will be dominated by orange juice and that’s not what you’re going for. - Use store-bought cranberry juice
Cranberry is one of those rare exceptions to the fresh ingredient rule. Juicing cranberries yourself results in something extremely tart that needs a lot of work to balance. Cranberry juice mix – store-bought, pre-sweetened and blended with other fruit juices – is what most cocktail recipes mean when they call for cranberry juice, and it’s the right call here too.
The Mango Breeze is itself a variation of the classic Sea Breeze and the Sea Breeze has inspired more variations than almost any other cocktail. A Sea Breeze with apple? A Sea Breeze with pear? An alcohol-free version? All of them exist, and all of them are worth trying.
The Mango Breeze is a tropical drink and the garnish should feel the same way.
- Glass
Serve in a highball glass filled with ice cubes. It’s the perfect glass to accommodate all that juice. - Garnish
Where a classic Sea Breeze calls for a lime wheel, the Mango Breeze gets a twist of orange zest – cut from the oranges you used to make the juice.If you happen to have a fresh mango to hand, a slice on the rim adds a nice touch. But as Rico says, don’t go out and buy a mango just for the garnish. The orange zest does the job perfectly.
- Dried mango slice
A dried mango slice on the rim is a practical alternative to fresh mango – longer lasting, easier to find and just as visually striking.
Mango? Well, it’s the number one fruit on earth!
Bartender and Global Brand Ambassador
Mango Breeze FAQ
Mix Absolut Mango with cranberry juice and fresh squeezed orange juice and you’re well on the way to creating the Mango Breeze. Check out the recipe above.
Absolut Mango is a versatile flavored vodka and works incredibly with lemon juice, lime juice, ginger beer and much more.
A Breeze cocktail is any drink that’s inspired by the original Sea Breeze cocktail. A classic Sea Breeze is made with vodka, cranberry juice and orange juice. The Mango Breeze is one such variation that keeps the key ingredients of the Sea Breeze but swaps unflavored vodka for mango vodka.
