Whether you’re cooking on the grill, toting a cooler to the beach, tanning in your jean-inspired speedo — the jeado, if you will — or just relaxing by the pool, there are plenty of activities you’ll be partaking in this summer that will require a drink to be in your hand.
May I propose the frozen blue vodka lemonade slushie?
This colorful cocktail seems like a great way to cool down in the summer heat and, thankfully, it won’t take you long to make — because the sooner you can get back to your outdoor activities, the better!
The recipe comes from Lemon And Mocha and it shows just how simple it can be to whip up a batch of these delicious adult beverages in the blender.
All you need is some vodka, blue Curaçao (a liqueur), lemonade, lime juice, and plenty of ice cubes.
You can garnish with berries if you’re feeling extra fancy.
In other words, the most challenging part of making these spiked slushies will be deciding if you’re going to share.
If you’d like to make a non-alcoholic version for the kiddos, the Lemon And Mocha blog also recommends substituting the vodka and blue Curaçao for a blue sports drink, such as Gatorade, to give the lemonade its fun blue coloring and an added bit of flavor.
If you garnish with red berries, this becomes the perfect, festive drink to have on hand for the Fourth of July.
But the Homemade Hooplah website points out that you can take your patriotism a step further by adding white and red to the blue drink mixture, too.
To pull off this layered drink, you’ll have to be mindful of the thickness of the liquids you’re using.
The Homemade Hooplah recipe points out that grenadine, which is mixed with ice to form the red layer, is the thickest of the three liquids in the drink, so it should be poured in the glass first. Next up, add the layer of blue Curaçao and ice.
Last but certainly not least, lemonade and vodka get combined with ice and added to top off the glass.
In the end, you’ve got an impressive red, white and blue cocktail for all of your Fourth of July activities!
We imagine a red punch along with a blue sports drink would be great substitutions for the alcohol in this version. However, those liquids aren’t thick like grenadine or Curaçao, so you’d need to play around with how much ice you add to each layer so that you can get the different colors to stack without blending.
Looking for more fun and colorful patriotic recipes for celebrating the Fourth? Check out this recipe from Cincy Shopper for firecracker Jell-O shots.
This layered dessert with a cherry on top is the perfect flag-inspired treat for a hot summer holiday.
Or for another patriotic adult beverage that sparkles, try your hand at this recipe from Gimme Some Oven for sparkling sangria with star-shaped fruit garnishes.
This combination of apple, berry, and grape flavors — plus some white wine and sparkling wine — is deliciously refreshing.
Cheers!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
