4th of July Drink Recipes

Doing a little research, at the request of a lifelong friend, I have found these holiday drink recipes for the Fourth of July.

The first one is from About.com and is simply called:

Red, White and Blue Shooter

• 1/3 oz blue curaçao
• 1/3 oz grenadine
• 1/3 oz peach schnapps

This is a layered shot so each ingredient is poured on top of the previous.

1. Pour the grenadine into a shot glass.
2. Float the peach schnapps on top of the grenadine.
3. Float the blue curaçao on top of the peach schnapps.

Red, White and Blue Martini drink recipe for the 4th of July, from OneMartiniAtATime.com!

Photo by onemartiniatatime.com

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces Pinnacle Rainbow Sherbet flavored vodka
• 1 ounce DeKuyper Blue Curaçao Liqueur
• 1 ounce grenadine
• Splash of fresh lemon juice

Directions:
For a layered effect, pour the grenadine into a chilled martini glass. Pour vodka over a spoon slowly. Next, slowly pour in the Blue Curaçao. The blue will float below the vodka.

This recipe is brought to you by Hpnotiq and barnonedrinks.com.

Red, White, and HPNOTIQ Blue Martini

2 oz. Hpnotiq
1 oz Citrus Vodka
splash of Lemon Lime Soda
splash of Grenadine

Shake with ice, strain into a martini glass and slowly add a touch of grenadine. Garnish with chopped coconut.

CoastalLiving.com has given us their Patriotic twist on the common margarita.

Patriotic Margarita

To make this festive cocktail, follow these simple steps.

1. Puree thawed frozen strawberries.

2. Blend 2 tablespoons each of the strawberry puree, dark rum, coconut milk, pineapple juice, fresh lime juice, and ½ cup crushed ice in a blender until smooth.

3. Pour 2 to 4 tablespoons HPNOTIQ into a glass, and top with 2 to 4 tablespoons of the strawberry mixture.

This one sounds delicious.

If you would like to try your own twist on a Red, White and Blue drink for Indepence Day, here are a couple of tips to help keep the layers separated.

First of all, when picking your layers, the drinks should be layered by the most sugary.  Here's an example of a non-alcoholic drink recipe for the holiday.

1/3 cup Cranberry juice
1/3 cup Sprite
1/3 cup Blue Gatorade

You would pour the cranberry juice in first, as it has about 30 grams of sugar.  Then the Sprite which is a shy second with 26 grams of sugar, and finally a far third the Blue Gatorade contains only 5 grams.

This recipe and tip, thanks to Recipe ShoeBox.

Another tip for pouring the layers into your Red, White and Blue shooter....Obviously, you are going to pour the second layer above the first, however trying to pour it directly onto a chunk of ice that is above the previous layer or pouring it over a spoon held upside down, will help keep your layers separated.

Have a Happy 4th of July and remember to drink responsibly!

Lemonade Drink Recipes

Just in time for summer, here are a few lemonade drink recipes.  Lemonade is a great way to enjoy a hot summer day.  These recipes are all from their respective vodka web sites.

Key Lime Lemonade

2 parts Pinnacle Key Lime Whipped
1 part Lemonade
Splash of fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.  Garnish with a lime wedge.

Melonade

1 part Pinnacle Cucumber Watermelon
2 parts Lemonade

Mix in a glass with ice and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Peachy Lemonade

1 part Pinnacle Peach
2 parts Lemonade
Splash of Cranberry juice

Mix in a glass with ice and garnish with an orange slice.

Bourbon Street Lemonade

3 parts Absolute New Orleans
1 part Mango Napa Valley Puree
4 parts Lemonade

Combine in a cocktail shaker, shake vigourously.  Pour into a cocktail glass.  Serve over ice with diced mango.

Classic Lemonade

2 oz Burnetts Citrus Vodka
Sweet & Sour Mix
Lemon Lime Soda

Pour citrus vodka over ice.  Fill glass with sour mix and top off with lemon lime soda.

Loopade

1 part Three Olives Loopy Vodka
2 parts Lemonade
Splash of grenadine.

Mix all ingredients together with ice.  Serve on the rocks.

Pom-Ade

2 parts Three Olives Pomegranate Vodka
4 parts Lemonade

Mix in a glass filled with ice and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Laid Back Lemonade

1 1/2 parts Three Olives Vodka
1/2 part Orange Juice
1/4 part Fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 part Grapefruit Juice (optional)
1/2 tsp. sugar

Shake all the ingredients.  Serve on the rocks.

Burnett's Maple Syrup Vodka

I will be getting some summertime drink recipes out to you pretty soon, however, I just heard Burnett's has released a new Maple Syrup flavored vodka.  So, here's a few drink recipes for you, straight from Burnett's web site....

Orange Pastry
3/4 oz Burnett's Maple Syrup Flavored Vodka
3/4 oz Burnett's Whipped Cream Flavored Vodka
4 oz Orange Juice or Orange Soda (try it both ways)
Dash of Grenadine

Shake first 3 ingredients over and pour into glass. Top with a dash of grenadine.

Buttered Pancakes

3/4 oz Burnett's Maple Syrup Flavored Vodka
3/4 oz Burnett's Whipped Cream Flavored Vodka
6 oz cola

Build ingredients in a glass full of ice and stir gently.

Maple Fudge

3/4 oz Burnett's Maple Syrup Flavored Vodka
3/4 oz Creme de Cacao or Chocolate Liqueur

Shake with ice and strain into a shot glass.

I just love the fact that drink recipes are so much quicker and easier than cooking recipes.

Enjoy and remember to drink responsibly.

Sparkling Wine instead of Champagne

A number of common drink recipes call for Champagne, however, did you know that you can choose your favorite sparkling wine, instead of champagne. 

Champagne is actually just a wine region in France.  Sparkling wine from that region is the only wine that can be called 'Champagne'.  So the next time you decide to make mimosas, or any of your other favorite drink recipes that call for champagne, consider one of your local sparkling wines.

Here's a drink recipe for you, using sparkling wine, or champagne, if you prefer.  This one is from Alize.

Red Carpet + Rock Stars

3 oz - Alize Red Passion
3 oz - Champagne or sparkling wine

Serve in a champagne flute.  Garnish with a lime twist.

Enjoy and remember to always drink responsibly.