Tips & Tricks for Easy Frozen Cocktail Recipes

There’s no better way to beat the summer heat or unwind after a long day than with a frozen cocktail. Don’t consider yourself an at-home bartender? No need to worry! There are quite a few easy frozen cocktail recipes that taste as good as they look and are sure to satisfy your craving.

Here are some of our favorite tips and tricks for easy frozen cocktail recipes.

How To Stock Your Bar

The first step to nailing the perfect frozen cocktail is ensuring you have all the necessary ingredients. While you might find recipes online that call for obscure liquors and garnishes, we’re going to keep things simple. Keeping these basic ingredients on hand will enable you to create delicious frozen cocktails right at home:

Quality liquor can make or break a frozen cocktail. It’s best to splurge a little for mid to high-shelf liquor because you’ll get a better-tasting cocktail. Make sure to stock the basics like tequila, lightly aged rum, Grand Marnier, vodka, and any of your other favorite liquors.

Fresh ingredients are best when it comes to frozen cocktails. Try to use fresh fruit, like pineapple and strawberries, to avoid a freezer-burned or canned taste (though frozen fruit can be great for making a slushy drink while using less ice). The same goes for juices. Using fresh citrus will help you achieve the dreamiest tropical cocktails. A slice of fresh fruit also makes an easy and beautiful garnish.

Ice is essential for getting a perfectly slushy drink, but not all ice is created equal. If you can, try to use clean ice made with distilled or filtered water, and avoid using ice that’s more than a week old. This will ensure your drink tastes fresh. While cubed ice is the standard, crushed ice is a great alternative if you don’t have a blender handy.

All About Blending

While not a necessity for making frozen treats, a blender definitely makes creating the perfect consistency quick and easy. Some tips for blending the best frozen cocktail include:

• Not using too much alcohol (or the ice might melt too quickly)
• Start blending at a slow speed for the smoothest finish
• Don’t use too much ice at first (you can always add more)
• Use pulse mode to get out any chunks

If you’re making a frozen fruit cocktail recipe, you can also use frozen fruit (ensuring it doesn’t have freezer burn). Either blend in fruits when completely frozen or let them thaw a bit before use and you can have a slushy tropical drink in minutes while using less ice.

Don’t Be Afraid to Be Bold

While classic frozen cocktail recipes usually call for liquor, ice, and some kind of fruit or juice, don’t be intimidated by branching out! Margaritas and Piña Coladas are classic, but they aren’t the only frozen alcoholic beverages on the market. Try a frozen Daiquiri, for example, and experiment with different fruits to find your perfect flavor. Strawberry Daiquiri, anyone?

If you have ice cream in the fridge (or in the pantry!), think about making a frozen White Russian or espresso martini. Or enjoy the classic comfort of a frozen Mudslide!

A scoop of vanilla can add a touch of sweetness to tropical cocktails like Piña Coladas, making them taste more like sherbet than a drink. Adding in seasonal ingredients, like fresh peaches, berries, or herbs can also be a way to instantly elevate and customize your frozen cocktails.

ColdSnap® Frozen Cocktails

Want to enjoy a refreshing frozen cocktail without worrying about stocking ingredients or being stuck behind a blender all night? With ColdSnap, you can enjoy perfectly blended frozen cocktails in minutes with zero work.

Contact us today to learn more about ColdSnap, a soon-to-be-released rapid-freezing appliance that produces single servings of frozen confections and frozen beverages in approximately 2 minutes. Or check out our blog for frozen cocktail machine recipes and more.