Remember the joy of chasing down and catching the ice cream truck? These boozy brain-freezers with a twist of alcohol will maybe not remind you of your childhood but will satisfy the best-sophisticated palate. To chill your guests out properly, here are our five can’t-miss recipes for 2021.
Screaming Greenie
Recipe courtesy The Tippler, New York City
Ingredients
1 ounce Pernod absinthe
2 ounces Finlandia vodka
8 basil leaves
½ ounce lemon juice
½ cup of ice cubes
In a blender, combine all the ingredients except a single basil leaf and blend to a slushy consistency. Serve in a Champagne cocktail glass. Garnish with the lone basil leaf. Serves.
Frozen Ginger Julep
Recipe courtesy Alex Rein, Kelvin Natural Slush Co., New York City
Ingredients
4 ounces Bourbon
3 ounces’ fresh lemon juice
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup spiced ginger syrup (recipe below)
8 cups of ice cubes
4 mint sprigs
Combine all the ingredients except the mint sprigs in a blender and mix until smooth. Pour into stemmed or silver julep cups garnish each with a mint sprig. Serves 4.
Sidewinder Fang Tiki-Cone
Recipe courtesy Daniel Warrilow, general manager & bar director, Son of a Gun, Los Angeles
Ingredients
1 ounce Smith & Cross rum, or another Jamaican rum
1 ounce Atlantico Private Cask, or another molasses-based rum
1-ounce passion fruit purée
½ ounce lime juice
½ ounce orange juice
Lime peel curl
Combine all the ingredients except the lime curl in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake gently. Pour over crushed ice in a Sno-cone cup* (or Martini glass). Garnish the glass with the lime peel curl. Serves 1.
Frozen lychee & Mint cocktails
Ingredients
400g can lychee
A small bunch of mint leaves
100ml vodka (or use lychee juice for a non-alcoholic version)
Juice 2 lime juices
Take a can of lychees and drain the syrup into a blender. Add 4 of the lychees, a small bunch of mint leaves (reserving a few to garnish), the vodka, and lime juice.
Add ice and blend until slushy. Serve in glasses garnished with a mint sprig and a lychee.
Lovely Bunch of Coconuts
Recipe courtesy The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas
Ingredients
6 gelatin sheets
8 cups coconut cream
5 cups simple syrup (4 cups for mix; 1 cup for the garnish)
2 cups pineapple juice
6 ounces Don Q Coconut rum
1 cup pineapple chunks
Toasted coconut flakes
Follow the instructions on the box to soften and bloom the gelatin sheets (typically, you’ll need to soak them in a bowl of cold water for 5−10 minutes).
Mix the softened gelatin sheets with the remaining ingredients, except the coconut flakes. Pour into Popsicle molds, and insert wood or plastic sticks. Freeze until the pops are solid. While you wait, about 3 hours, prepare your garnish.
Spread coconut flakes on a baking sheet and roast at 200˚F until light brown (about 10 minutes). Remove and let cool. Once the ice pops are frozen, dip the end of the pop in simple syrup then coat with toasted flakes and refreeze—or eat away! Serves.
