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Frozen cocktail

Style

A frozen cocktail is a drink blended with ice until it is thick and slushy, usually built from a spirit, citrus and syrup.

Also called: blended cocktail

Ice to liquid
1 to 1.5 parts ice to 1 part drink
Extra citrus and syrup
About 0.25 oz (7 ml) more of each per drink
Frozen margarita machine
1971, Mariano Martinez, Dallas
Formula
2 oz (60 ml) spirit, 1 oz (30 ml) citrus, 1 oz (30 ml) syrup, blended with an equal weight to 1.5 times as much ice

What frozen cocktail means

Blending is what changes the drink. The ice goes into the blender with the other ingredients, so the whole drink turns thick and cold. You will find frozen versions of classic drinks, such as a frozen margarita or a frozen daiquiri, listed next to the shaken ones.

The base spirit still sets the flavor. A frozen margarita tastes of tequila, and a piña colada tastes of light rum, cream of coconut and pineapple juice. Start with the base you like, then add the ice.

It is easy to assume you can blend your usual recipe with ice and get the same drink. You cannot. The cold dulls flavor, and the melting ice adds water, so the sour and sweet balance tastes flat unless you adjust it.

How to make a frozen cocktail

You blend this drink, so the ice goes in with the other ingredients rather than over the top.

  1. 1.Chill the spirit, juice and syrup before you start, so the ice melts more slowly.
  2. 2.Measure 2 oz (60 ml) spirit, 1 oz (30 ml) citrus and 1 oz (30 ml) syrup into the blender.
  3. 3.Add about 0.25 oz (7 ml) more of both citrus and syrup, since the ice dulls the flavor.
  4. 4.Add ice with the drink, starting at about 1 part ice to 1 part drink by weight.
  5. 5.Add more ice a little at a time, up to 1.5 parts, since it is easier to thicken a drink than to fix one that is too icy.
  6. 6.Blend until just smooth, then pour straight into a chilled glass.

Frozen cocktail compared

  • Slush machine drinkBars with a frozen drink machine churn a batch like soft-serve. At home, a blender makes one drink at a time.
  • Crushed iceA drink on crushed ice is shaken, then poured over the ice. A frozen cocktail blends the ice into the drink itself.

Examples

  • Frozen Margarita
  • Frozen Daiquiri
  • Piña Colada
  • Frosé
  • Mudslide
  • Bushwacker

Related terms

Ingredients

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