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!