11 Frozen Cocktails to Try Right Now
What better reason is there to break out your blender?
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/chi-chi-organico-720x720-primary-d31bf1e983674c258f778d94dd4a6aa3.jpeg)
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
Summer’s hottest days call for drinks that are freezing cold and deliciously boozy. After all, is there any better way to beat the heat? We’ve rounded up some of the best frozen cocktails, from classic to creative, to give you plenty of options for cooling down in the most delicious of ways.
-
Coco Batida
Leblon
Brazil’s immensely popular national spirit, cachaça, stars in this recipe. The spirit is similar to rum—the main difference is that it’s distilled from sugar cane instead of molasses—so it lends itself nicely to tropical flavors like coconut, as this recipe proves. Blend equal parts cachaça, coconut cream and condensed milk with a bit of simple syrup and ice, then serve it garnished with shredded toasted coconut for a boozy and creamy treat you’ll want to drink all summer.
-
Strawberry Daiquiri
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
This recipe isn’t the saccharine, artificially flavored drink of chain restaurants in decades past. Instead, this homemade frozen version uses rum, lime and real strawberries to provide a natural hit of sweet flavors. Just be sure to use a rum that won’t overpower the lighter flavors that fresh fruit brings.
-
Pearl Diver
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
Gardenia mix takes the stage in this cocktail from Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, giving the drink a spiced sweetness thanks to its combination of honey, butter, vanilla and spices. Blend it together with two kinds of rum, lime and orange juices, and a dash of bitters, then garnish with an edible orchid and a pineapple leaf to be transported straight to Tiki heaven.
-
Frozen Absinthe Frappé
The Bluebird
Absinthe makes a surprisingly refreshing base for this blended drink, in which the anise spirit’s herbaceous notes combine with mint extract, simple syrup and ice for an instant plunge into minty coolness.
Continue to 5 of 11 below. -
Tasman Sea
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
Another Tiki modern classic from Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, this drink, a mix of orange curaçao, lemon and lime juices, demerara syrup and two kinds of overproof rum is best served in an elaborate mug. But with the focus on that much 151-proof rum, any old glass will probably do just fine.
-
Frozen Daiquiri
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
The classic version of the Daiquiri is served up, not frozen. But when you’re craving something boozy and cold, it’s fine to throw authenticity to the wind and the ingredients into a blender with ice. The usual combination of rum, lime juice and simple syrup gives you all the familiar flavors, now with a pleasingly slushy texture.
-
Miami Vice
Miami Vice. Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
If you like a Piña Colada (of course you do!) and Strawberry Daiquiri (who doesn’t?), you’ll love this drink, in which the two are swirled together in one glass to render the best of two-in-one rum cocktails.
-
Bourbon, Vanilla & Chocolate Milkshake
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
Feel like you’re a kid again with this adult version of the milkshakes from your childhood, which combines ice cream with booze to make a dessert and nightcap in one. This recipe serves four, so grab a few friends and some bourbon, vanilla ice cream, whole milk and chocolate syrup, then get to blending and enjoy.
Continue to 9 of 11 below. -
Saturn
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
Go out of this world with this gin-based Tiki cocktail. As New York City tropical-drink expert Garret Richard says, it “carries the regality of a Mai Tai with the drinkability of a Tom Collins,” so it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Just blend gin together with lemon juice, passion fruit syrup, orgeat, falernum and a scoop of ice, and serve in a Tiki mug garnished with an edible flower and an orange twist.
-
Frozen Margarita
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s the theory behind this tried-and-true classic, in which the beloved Margarita combo of tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice gets blended with ice for a slushy-textured version of the favorite cocktail. It’s easily scaled up for enjoying with a group; just multiply the ingredients by your number of guests to make a big batch in the blender.
-
Chi Chi Organico
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog
From bartender and brand ambassador H. Joseph Ehrmann, this coconutty concoction will take you straight to the tropics. A vodka-based take on the Piña Colada, it calls for pineapple-flavored vodka, cream of coconut, heavy cream, pineapple puree and bitters to make a twist on the summer favorite—hollowed-out pineapple optional.