5 Quick Cocktails for a fun summer party!
So this weekend we decided to have Cocktails and a Cocktail making session with homemade stonebaked pizza’s. We bought a Pizza oven last year and used it a bit, but so far this year its either been too hot to sit outside or raining on the weekend.
I also got myself a cocktail shaker and was dying to use it.
Now in my mind, I would have a fantastic shoot with loads of lovely pics for you to drool over. In reality, the more cocktails we made the worse the pictures got, but even the earlier ones were not great.
My kitchen is rubbish, and once I had all of the pizza dough on the table and bottles of alcohol out there was not much room to stage a good pic.
I spent £57 in Aldi and £18 in Tesco to stock up on some juice and bottles, plus a few bits for the pizzas and whilst this sounds expensive it should make a fair few cocktails and when you think they can be £6-£8 a go when you go out it’s not too bad. And if we ordered Pizza in it would have been around £30ish.
The Cocktails
In the end, the cocktails we made were mainly based around Tequila; so if you want to have a go you wouldn’t have to buy as much as we did.
Anyway here are the cocktails we tried and the verdict:-
Blackberry Lemonade Margarita Cocktail
Fruity Cocktail recipe!
Ingredients
Blackberry Puree
- 1.5 Cups Blackberries I used fresh ones from Aldi
- 1-2 Tbsp Sugar I wanted to replace this with syrup but couldn't get any
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
The Cocktail
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 2 Lemons or Limes
- 4 tsp Blackberry Puree
- 4 ozs Diet Lemonade
- 4 ozs Tequila
Instructions
First, make the puree
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Put the blackberries into the blender and blender until smooth, next push through a sieve to get rid of all of the seeds. Mix in the sugar (or syrup if you would rather use that)
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Cover and refrigerate until required
Making the Cocktail
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Coat the rim of the glass with lemon/lime juice and sugar – I skipped this step but think it would make the cocktail taste better. In fact, I would use a mix of sugar and salt.
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Chuck a load of ice into the glass
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Put yet more ice into the cocktail shaker, add 2-4 tsp puree (or scale up if making more), 2 oz's Tequilla and a squeeze of lemon/lime. Shaker until its combined and cold. Pour into the glasses and top up with lemonade.
Recipe Notes
I wish I had done the rim as I thought that this cocktail was missing something. If I make it again I am going to add some mint or some orange juice as it just seemed like it needed something extra.
Also look at the picture – this is one for later in the evening when no one cares what the cocktails look like!!!
Verdict on the Blackberry Margarita 4/10 – its a no from me Louis!!
Paloma Cocktail
Sharp cocktail if you like one that's not quite as sweet!!
Ingredients
- 1.5 Shots Tequilla
- 3-4 Shots Grapefruit Juice You could use half a fresh Grapefruit squeezed, but I cheated and bought fresh juice instead
- 0.5 Shots Syrup I had Raspberry icecream syrup in the cupboard so used that!
- 75 ml Club Soda
- 1 Squirt Lime
Instructions
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Prepare rims with Lime juice and Salt (optional)
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Put all of the ingredients except the soda into a shaker and shake (with ice). Pour into a glass with ice and top up with Soda Water
Recipe Notes
This is the cocktail of choice if you do not like the syrupy sweet ones you get. I loved this one.
I wasn’t exact with my measurements and just eyeballed it!
The Paloma Cocktail – 9/10 – loved this one!
Mexican Sunset Cocktail
Strong but tasty cocktail!
Ingredients
- 3 Parts Pineapple Juice
- 2 Parts Tequilla
- 1 Part Peach Snaps
- 1 Part Amaretto
Instructions
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Put all of the ingredients into a shaker with ice, shake and then serve in a glass with lots of ice.
Recipe Notes
This one is so easy to make and tastes delicious. Its so quick and easy to make even whilst entertaining so I would definitely do this one again!
Mexican Sunset = 8/10 – liked this one!
White Russian (ish)
I have seen lots of versions of the White Russian and this is one take on it!
Ingredients
- 2 Shots Amaretto or something similar I used an Aldi Creme Caramel liquor instead
- 2 Shots Baileys I used Aldi Baileys dupe
- 75 ml Cream and Milk (half and half mixed)
Instructions
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Mix all of the liquids with ice in a cocktail shaker!
Recipe Notes
This is a really rich drink and I think its a bit like a desert and drink mixed in to one.
The White Russian – 7/10 – I liked this but it’s so rich and didn’t feel like a summery cocktail.
Pina Colada
Classic Pina Colada – nothing more to be said!
Ingredients
- 1 Part Malibu/Coconut Rum
- 1 Part Reduced-Fat Coconut Milk
- 2 Parts Pineapple Juice
Instructions
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Put the drinks into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake shake shake
Recipe Notes
Classic cocktail make in a cheat way – no bothering with fresh pineapple etc just using a carton of juice. I also used Reduced Fat Coconut Milk rather than Coconut Cream. Delicious!!
Pina Colada 9.5/10 – this is an old favourite and is sooo easy but tastes so good.
Overall Verdict – which cocktail was the best?
I like a nice cocktail and making them can be such good fun, I think if you keep to a theme (ie all tequila ones) then it can be a little bit cheaper (unless you already have a lot of bottles in). My favourites are the Pina Colada, the Paloma and the Mexican Sunset. I didn’t think that the Blackberry one worked. I have got some puree left so may try and tweak it.
Give them ago and let me know how you get on!
Julie x
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