3 Great Frozen Cocktail Recipes For Summer
When the sun is unrelenting and the humidity levels keep rising, the thought of pairing meals with wine might not seem the most appetizing for students in the culinary academy. Fortunately, there are a lot of ice-cold frozen cocktails that can be perfect pairings for your summertime creations in the kitchen.
If you’re new to mixology or want to brush up on your cocktail-making skills, take a look at some of these excellent frozen recipes to cool you down this summer:
1. Frozen limeade margarita: Is there anything more refreshing on a hot summer’s day than a frozen margarita? This versatile drink is perfect for your Latin-inspired or spicier dishes, and you can add in flavored liqueurs if you want to want something other than the traditional lime version. Here’s a great recipe from Saveur to try:
What you’ll need:
6 cups crushed ice
1 12-ounce can frozen limeade
1/2 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 cup silver tequila
¼ cup triple sec
What to do:
Put all ingredients into a blender, then blitz until smooth. Pour into salt-rimmed glasses with sliced lime garnishes and enjoy.
2. Campari-gin strawberry lime slushito: Slushies might seem like a kid’s drink, but this adult version from Adam Bernach of Washington, D.C.’s Estadio, highlighted in Serious Eats, combines all of the sweet flavors of summer into one glass with strawberry simple syrup.
What you’ll need:
1 pint diced strawberries
1 quart simple syrup
6 ounces London dry gin
3 ounces fresh lime juice
2 ounces Campari
Fresh basil
What to do:
Make a strawberry simple syrup by combining the strawberries and syrup in a sealed container. Allow the flavors to blend overnight, then crush the berries into a syrup and strain. To make the cocktail, place 5 ounces of strawberry syrup, lime juice, Campari, gin and 1 quart of ice into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and garnish with basil leaves.
3. Frozen ginger julep: Summer and juleps seem to be a match made in heaven, and bourbon cocktails have seen quite the resurgence in restaurants across the U.S. While mint juleps might be the most popular type of cocktail in this category, there are several others you can try, including this spicy ginger concoction. Though juleps are traditionally made with crushed ice, this frozen recipe from Imbibe is every bit as refreshing and tasty.
What you’ll need:
3 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 ounces bourbon
¼ cup fresh mint
1 cup spiced ginger syrup (recipe to follow)
8 cups ice
What to do:
To make the spiced ginger syrup, bring ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar into a small pot and simmer until the sugar is melted. Next, take a 4-inch piece of ginger that has been peeled and roughly chopped and add it to the pot along with one star anise and eight cloves. Keep the pot simmering for another 25 minutes, then remove from the burner and let cool. Strain the mixture and make sure to extract as much of the ginger as you can, then chill the syrup in a container.
To make the cocktail, blend all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth, pour the cocktail into julep glasses and serve with a fresh mint garnish.