Thirsty Thursday Eve - Margaritaville Drink Mix

For the first time in Thirsty Thursday Eve history, I'm covering a non-alcoholic drink. Don't worry, there's still alcohol involved. It wouldn't be Thirsty Thursday otherwise.

Name: Piña Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri drink mix
Source: Margaritaville
Price: $1 for 6 packets

My wife loves flavored water drink mixes. I mean, she LOVES flavored water. And because she drinks so much of it, I've kinda picked up the habit at well. Admittedly, it's better than the sodas we were drinking, so I suppose it's an improvement. And I would say she has a problem, but they're so ridiculously organized, it's kinda just how things are.

Regardless, she's always on the hunt for new flavors and brands. She's tried pretty much every variant of every brand regularly offered at Walmart, Target, and a Ingles. Oddly enough, Dollar General has a stellar selection of drink mixes, it's closer to my house, and it's often cheaper. Therefore, we've taken to making regular DG runs to restock the flavor center.

On the last run, she discovered Margaritaville brand, with Strawberry Daiquiri and Piña Colada flavors. She picked up a Strawberry Daiquiri for herself, but I had to try the Piña Colada. We grabbed one box of each to try them out.

At home, I made a standard ratio Strawberry Daiquiri to try. It was decent, but a little watered down. I normally do 2 packs in a 40 Oz insulated water bottle ice. That's decently close to the prescribed 16.9 fluid ounces, but I think these could do with slightly more concentration.

It reminded me of the strawberry Daiquiri mix you can get in bottles, but far less syrupy. And where those are usually intended to be blended with ice and still have some body, the Margaritaville powder was definitely intended to use water rather than ice.

To round it out, I had to try the Piña Colada as well. I mixed a pack with a rounded down pint of water in a mason jar (I love a mason jar) to see how a slightly more concentrated version would taste. It tasted a lot like a Piña Colada shaved ice, but without the shaved ice (obviously). Again, it didn't have the characteristic heaviness of the syrup, but the flavor profile was near identical.

It occurred to me, these would be great as a shelf stable mix for cocktails. The branding SCREAMS "mix with alcohol." I decided to give it a shot and play around with what I had on hand. The Bacardi Pineapple Rum that I picked up on the cruise seemed like an obvious inclusion in a powdered Piña Colada, it should just play up the pineapple flavor.

I took a pint mason jar (they're a convenient size, they're made of glass so they don't impact the flavor, and they hold a good amount for a beverage) and added a craft ice sphere and a pack of Piña Colada mix. I wasn't sure how much alcohol to add, since I was playing with the powder to liquid ratio at the same time as the alcohol to mixer ratio. I started with a single 1oz shot of pineapple rum, and filled up the rest of the glass with water, leaving a little headspace.

After shaking up the concoction, I was pleasantly surprised. This is not something you would confuse with a real piña colada, but dang, it was good. And in the way that I prefer Mountain Dew Baja Blast Zero over the full sugar original, this piña colada didn't taste as syrupy sweet as one with all the standard ingredients. It was light and refreshing, where a normal piña colada makes me feel myself getting dehydrated.

As it was, I think it would be great for someone who doesn't actually like the taste of alcohol. Between the pineapple and coconut flavors, I didn't notice the rum. Personally, I like rum. I added another shot to see how a stronger version would taste. It was a little stronger, certainly, but still a pleasant balance of flavor and burn. You could maybe add a third shot if you were just trying to get immediately blitzed, but I think you'd start to detract from the flavor profile at that point. Maybe a shot of pineapple rum and a shot of Bacardi 151 or something similar?

So the Piña Colada mix was great, but I had to try the Strawberry Daiquiri mix. I didn't have any white rum on hand, and I didn't particularly wanted to mix up strawberry and pineapple for my first experience, so I went with Kirkland Signature American Vodka. I figured it's another inert white liquor of similar proof, and it was available. I could try it again with actual white rum another day. (Which, Costco needs a Kirkland Signature White Rum. Somebody get them on the phone.)

In a mason jar (please, try a mason jar as a drinking vessel. It's incredible.), I mixed a craft ice sphere, 2oz vodka, a pack of Margaritaville Strawberry Daiquiri mix, and topped it with water. Although not quite as convincing as the piña colada, it was entirely clear what it was imitating. And again, it was light and refreshing.

I would never assert that a powdered drink mix could replace an actual piña colada or strawberry daiquiri made by a skilled mixologist with quality ingredients. HOWEVER, if you're looking for a drink you can make at home with minimal effort, this might be for you. It takes up less space than a bottle of daiquiri mix, it's shelf stable, and it's less messy. Sounds like an obvious win in my book.

Margaritaville might have intended these drink mixes to be simply a flavored water option (I doubt it), but they mix great with alcohol. As long as you don't have a problem with artificial flavors and food dyes, they taste great and they're cheap. That's as true to the spirit of Thirsty Thursday Eve as anything I've covered previously.