The Tip That Will Keep Frozen Cocktails From Becoming Too Watered Down
When temperatures soar — or when you're simply craving something cool — a frozen cocktail cannot be beat. Piña coladas and margaritas are ideal for sipping poolside, though everything from a martini to a daiquiri can embrace an icier iteration. The key to delicious and texturally sound frozen cocktails, however, is in the proper balance between your drink's ingredients and ice. You don't want to overly dilute your drink's flavor, even though ice is often used to achieve a desired, frozen consistency. Enter: resealable bags and a pre-freezing process, which allow home mixologists to forgo the uncontrolled variable of additional, melting ice — without sacrificing on texture.
This trick presents an alternative that allows you to bypass all the ice you would typically add to a frozen cocktail. Common frozen drink-making strategies suggest blending your ingredients together with the frozen cubes. This ice, however, tends to melt the longer your drink sits, and can result in a watered-down — albeit frozen — version of your once-flavorful and complex cocktail. So, rather than blending it with ice, simply start your drink's preparation in the freezer. This suggestion is as easy as it sounds, and even easier to enjoy.
Tips for making ice-free frozen cocktails
For frozen cocktails, all you really need is a freezer (though a blender may come in handy later on). Rather than mix your ingredients with ice, which eventually melt into water, simply freeze your cocktail ingredients as they are. Some strategies suggest freezing each ingredient separately in plastic bags, so you can later blend them together. If you don't have any plastic bags on hand, however, other recipes point to any freezer-safe container, so you can break out your jars, plastic containers, and the like. Once your cocktail components have had enough time to freeze, toss them in the blender, and your drink will be perfectly mixed — and perfectly frozen.
Of course, if you don't have a blender, it's not a problem. Some cocktail recipes don't even require the appliance, while, for others, shaking by hand does the job. You want to break up those icy chunks, creating a frozen, harmonious drink. Without the extra ice, you don't have to worry about over-dilution. But you'll still want to drink your cocktail before it melts. Luckily, with the right recipe and technique, drinking your frozen cocktail quickly isn't likely to pose a problem.