You may not know that grapefruits are native to Jamaica. You also may not know that since the mid 1970’s, Jamaicans have enjoyed the great taste of Jamaican grapefruit with bubbles in the form of Ting Soda, also from Jamaica. Distributed the U.S. by Pepsico and in the UK by Cotts, Ting has gained a reputation as a superior beverage mixer in addition to being a top notch grapefruit soda.

The best citrus flavor based sodas are crisp and full of their base flavor (lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit) present and matched with just enough sweetness. The bad ones are just sugar (or corn syrup) with a little citrus along for the ride. With its inviting grapefruit bite and only a hint of sweetness, Ting belongs squarely to the first group.

Ting can be found in large 20oz plastic bottles , but is perfect out of hand in its signature Ting 9.6oz ounce glass bottle. This is the perfect size to accompany some shrimp tacos on the beach or a burger but is perfect with a stuffed Jamaican patty and a dope Jamaican inspired music mix.

Because it is only slightly sweet, Ting shines as a cocktail mixer. It has been starred in Jamaican bars for over thirty years in a vodka cooler called a Ving, which is two parts Ting to one part citrus vodka over ice in a collins glass. If you change the base alcohol, you change the name of the drink; i.e. rum in stead of vodka make a Ring, a Ging is gin and Ting, a wing is whiskey and Ting, and, finally, a Jing (pronounced Ying) is an unfortunate mix of Jagermeister and Ting.

We played around with Ting and found it excels in many situations. Use Ting anywhere you might use tonic but think the grapefruit flavor would be pleasant. Our favorite Tingtail (sorry), so far, was using Ting to turn an Americano into a cooler. Called the Americano Grapefruit Cooler, it is sharp with grapefruit, slightly bitter with Compari, and only a bit sweet with quality sweet vermouth and a little simple syrup. Very adult and refreshing.

Try it out for yourself and let us know how you use your Ting. There is a lot of room to play with Ting as your mixer.

There is also a lot room to play with Reggaestone as your mixer. Click here to check out a MixPourSip.com exclusive, a Ting inspired music mix by none other than Raggestone himself.

Photo by Reggaestone

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