Easy, enjoyable drinking

Good drink.  Dry, punchy, almost bubble gum-y.  It is similar in quality to the "Dangerous Liaisons" in the Death and Co. book, a significant improvement over the brandy version ("Happy Honey") in the Dale DeGroff book.  But not as good as the "original"--the Brown Derby, made with bourbon.

would the juice of a blood orange work in a pinch if no grapefruit juice is handy?

Most blood oranges are much sweeter than grapefruits, without the bitterness, and with a full orange flavor accented with raspberry. Substituting blood orange for grapefruit could still make a good drink, though you might want to add a bit of lemon to offset the sugar.

Ooh, great name (great album, too)... This looks delicious. Wish Sorel would hurry up and make its way down to Texas...

I may be a big old nerd about music, and this band in particular. http://oneweekoneband.tumblr.com/tagged/rem/chrono

Sorel's great stuff, and expanding slowly, but surely, out of the tristate.

So, because my girlfriend is the best Valentine ever, I am now in possession of what must be one of the first bottles of Sorel in the Dallas area. Holy sha-moley, that is some tasty juice!... Anyway, this was the first drink we tried, and we both loved it! Had to make a few minor last-minute adjustments, though: I was low on ice, so I served it up; and I realized too late that my last 2 lemons were dry and sad, so I subbed grapefruit peel (which worked quite nicely).

Glad you both liked it. Sorel is delicious and versatile and I can't wait to see what people do with it as it becomes widely available. Your girlfriend is awesome for getting a bottle into Texas.