Thirsty Thursday Eve - Red, White, and Blue Lemonade
It’s been a while, I know, but this one is a cocktail that’s so versatile, I had to talk about it. Basically, it can be as simple or elaborate as you want, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser. Plus, ‘murica.
The whole thing started from a TikTok or something that was really showy, but actually sounded super good. The recipe is very much like this one, but you gotta get the Smirnoff Berry Vodka. I’m sure regular vodka probably works, but I refuse to try it. Red, white, and blue or bust.
So, the first few times I made this was during the summer we spent in the camper. Feels like a lifetime ago, but it was just last year. Either way, we would have friends over and I would make drinks. At the time, it was a big ordeal. Had to get the fresh squeezed (powdered) lemonade in the pitcher, and all the bottles, and of course you gotta throw the rocket pop in at the end for a big splash. It’s great for pool parties and fireworks.
Problem is, there’s just a lot to it. And if somebody wanted one if I wasn’t explicitly planning to make them, geez, it just takes forever to get all the bottles out and you gotta make lemonade since we rarely have some already made. Fortunately, it’s popular enough that then everybody else wants one, but it definitely takes some time and effort.
As the economic alcoholic that I am, and pushed for time with school and work and kids and everything else, I wanted to optimize this process. Surely, this doesn’t have to be the cumbersome process that it is, especially if I’m going to have to make a ton of these. What if we could consolidate some steps or ingredients into a pre-made mixer of some sort?
At first, I had the idea of mixing the three alcohols together in a mason jar and mixing those with lemonade. It makes things more convenient, with one bottle instead of three, and it gives the additional benefit of smaller portions. Normally, this is a three shot drink. Sure, you could do half shots, but that’s just messy and annoying. Instead, if the portions are mixed into a single vessel, I can just dole out a shot of the mix at a time. Triple for full strength, or I could scale it up or down as appropriate for the drinker. That still leaves me making a pitcher of lemonade, but it’s still easier.
But wait. The lemonade is a powder that I mix with water, and then pour into a cup. WHAT IF… I just put the powder straight into the mason jar with the alcohol? Lemon essence is already present, and then you just mix with water. Pour a shot or two into a cup, add ice, and then cut it with water to the desired concentration. It literally doesn’t get any easier to make a cocktail.
OBVIOUSLY, if you’re doing this right, you’re still adding the rocket pop. Everybody loves a rocket pop. That’s non-negotiable. But if you don’t have any and you still want a drink, you could theoretically just use regular ice. I suppose. If you had to.
So now, I have a single pint mason jar. I add three shots each of the alcohol: blue curacao, grenadine, and (berry) vodka. Add three heaping spoonfuls of lemonade powder. Shake it up, and you’re good to go. The powder settles, so it does need to be shaken again before you pour, but that’s a small price to pay for the utter convenience of pouring shot by shot out of a single container.
In the proper situation, I still might bring out all the bottles and flex my mixologist skills. For the standard get-together, I think I’ll just use the mason jar. If you’re having a big enough party, you could mix it in a quart jar, or make multiple pints. I’d recommend multiple pints, since somebody might have a little too much and drop the jar, wasting this nectar. Keep the backups in the fridge.
But yeah, thought you guys should know. It’s super delicious, and with the mix, it’s also super easy. If you want to be fancy with fresh squeezed lemonade and stuff, do your thing. But I wanted to set the barrier for entry as low as possible. Give it a shot.
The whole thing started from a TikTok or something that was really showy, but actually sounded super good. The recipe is very much like this one, but you gotta get the Smirnoff Berry Vodka. I’m sure regular vodka probably works, but I refuse to try it. Red, white, and blue or bust.
So, the first few times I made this was during the summer we spent in the camper. Feels like a lifetime ago, but it was just last year. Either way, we would have friends over and I would make drinks. At the time, it was a big ordeal. Had to get the fresh squeezed (powdered) lemonade in the pitcher, and all the bottles, and of course you gotta throw the rocket pop in at the end for a big splash. It’s great for pool parties and fireworks.
Problem is, there’s just a lot to it. And if somebody wanted one if I wasn’t explicitly planning to make them, geez, it just takes forever to get all the bottles out and you gotta make lemonade since we rarely have some already made. Fortunately, it’s popular enough that then everybody else wants one, but it definitely takes some time and effort.
As the economic alcoholic that I am, and pushed for time with school and work and kids and everything else, I wanted to optimize this process. Surely, this doesn’t have to be the cumbersome process that it is, especially if I’m going to have to make a ton of these. What if we could consolidate some steps or ingredients into a pre-made mixer of some sort?
At first, I had the idea of mixing the three alcohols together in a mason jar and mixing those with lemonade. It makes things more convenient, with one bottle instead of three, and it gives the additional benefit of smaller portions. Normally, this is a three shot drink. Sure, you could do half shots, but that’s just messy and annoying. Instead, if the portions are mixed into a single vessel, I can just dole out a shot of the mix at a time. Triple for full strength, or I could scale it up or down as appropriate for the drinker. That still leaves me making a pitcher of lemonade, but it’s still easier.
But wait. The lemonade is a powder that I mix with water, and then pour into a cup. WHAT IF… I just put the powder straight into the mason jar with the alcohol? Lemon essence is already present, and then you just mix with water. Pour a shot or two into a cup, add ice, and then cut it with water to the desired concentration. It literally doesn’t get any easier to make a cocktail.
OBVIOUSLY, if you’re doing this right, you’re still adding the rocket pop. Everybody loves a rocket pop. That’s non-negotiable. But if you don’t have any and you still want a drink, you could theoretically just use regular ice. I suppose. If you had to.
So now, I have a single pint mason jar. I add three shots each of the alcohol: blue curacao, grenadine, and (berry) vodka. Add three heaping spoonfuls of lemonade powder. Shake it up, and you’re good to go. The powder settles, so it does need to be shaken again before you pour, but that’s a small price to pay for the utter convenience of pouring shot by shot out of a single container.
In the proper situation, I still might bring out all the bottles and flex my mixologist skills. For the standard get-together, I think I’ll just use the mason jar. If you’re having a big enough party, you could mix it in a quart jar, or make multiple pints. I’d recommend multiple pints, since somebody might have a little too much and drop the jar, wasting this nectar. Keep the backups in the fridge.
But yeah, thought you guys should know. It’s super delicious, and with the mix, it’s also super easy. If you want to be fancy with fresh squeezed lemonade and stuff, do your thing. But I wanted to set the barrier for entry as low as possible. Give it a shot.
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