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My partner Demián and I live in the desert in Baja California Sur, Mexico. This time of year the heat is rising and the humidity is heavy. Two of our favorite ways to cool off is to crank up the blender for frosty libations and to pull out the vintage Tupperware popsicle sets for adult ice pops.
Here are a few tips if you're going with a blender drink:
• People always fret over how much ice to use, but an easy way to figure it out is to simply build the drink in the glass you're going to use, then dump all of the ingredients with the ice into the blender. You'll wind up with a tiny bit extra that you can mound up at the top of the glass, making your drink look all pretty.
• For easier blending, add liquid, fruit chunks, and then the ice.
More tips and a recipe for Strawberry Margarita Ice Pops after the jump.
• Crushing ice puts a lot of strain on a blender, so get the best one you can afford with a very strong motor. Crushing your chunks of ice into smaller bits before putting it into the blender is easier on your machine. If you don't have an ice crusher in your fridge dispenser (or one of those hand-crank antique ones you can pick up off e-bay), just put your ice in a bag and pound with a frying pan, hammer, rolling pin, or the flat side of a meat tenderizer.
• After you add the ingredients to the blender, run the machine for 20 to 30 seconds on high. Turn it off, making sure the blades are at a complete standstill, then stir with a long spoon (like the typical bar spoon). Blend once more. Listen to the blender talk to you: When you hear that the machine's stress level just went down, the drink should be whirling all perfectly smooth inside.
• Cut up fresh fruit pieces into small chunks to make it easier on the blender. You can also cut down on the ice used by freezing your fruit in advance. Strawberries, bananas, mangoes, and peaches are all frozen favorites for all those foofy frozen margaritas and daiquiris that you know you love.
Sometimes we are so busy we don't want to have to deal with the blender. We just want to reach into the freezer and pull out an icy treat. We love frozen combinations of gin and blueberry, tequila and strawberry, and bourbon and peach. Here's one of our favorite popsicles recipes for big boys and girls from the book MARGARITA ROCKS by our London pals from the Worldwide Cocktail Club Henry Besant and Dré Masso.
Strawberry Margarita Ice Pops
1 1/4 pounds (500g) strawberries, hulled and halved
1/2 cup (100ml) silver tequila
1/2 cup (100g) superfine (caster) sugar
1/2 oz (15ml) fresh lime juice
1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Press the mixture through a fine sieve into a non-metallic jug.
3. Pour into molds and add sticks.
4. Freeze for at least 24 hours.
Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of Casa Cóctel with partner Demián Camacho Santa Ana. She's owned her own whiskey label, called Red Hook Rye, and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.
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7-04-2010 @7:15PM Angiebaby said... You could also make up a batch of libations early and freeze it in the form of ice cubes. If you make Sangria or whatever, then you could use the ice cubes to keep your drink cool without diluting it.
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7-04-2010 @7:27PM Keepitlow said... Too much sugar!
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7-04-2010 @7:41PM rick said... nice idea but you forgot to mention one minor detail booze doesnt freeze so i dont know how this would stay together
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7-04-2010 @10:16PM Rusty said... Au contraire, mon frere! Even 190 proof Everclear can freeze if you chill it in a Dewar flask bathed in liquid nitrogen. (In the case of mixed concoctions, we'd be talking fractional freezing and eutectic compositions with their own specific, ingredient-dependent freezing temperatures.) I quaffed some slushy Everclear, got meself into a wee bit of a donnybrook, and ended up spittin' bloody chiclets. The extraordinarily low temperatures, you see, had caused me teeth to become brittle. They broke like GLASS, b-Jesus! And a mighty blow from some Fomorian giant's fist knocked me bottom jaw into ARBIT, b-Jesus! I left Dublin for Paris soon thereafter (as the lassies would point and laugh at me funny, jawless skull). The Froggies are a wee bit more sympathetic to me plight. The moral of this story: Never mix liquid nitro and Everclear in Eire!
7-04-2010 @10:33PM AC said... Rick,, you mean to say that...not all alcohol freezes , but with blending, the alcohol,fruit, and ect becomes incorporated into one slurry type of mixture. Hence, it would freeze
7-04-2010 @11:52PM Lisa said... Kinda chinzey on the tequila.
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7-05-2010 @12:27AM Dee said... Hey just a guy, your not doing to good if your trying to sell something, "just take out the stuff we have", better luck next time, keep your day job.
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7-05-2010 @2:55AM lois said... Too much sugar. Not a healthy drink. Sugar is very toxic to the body and destructive to the health. Stay away from sugar !
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7-05-2010 @10:44AM mike said... i have 1 veryimportant question. i have always believed alchohol doesn't freeze . i have tried making lolipops , icecubes and more but the alchohol never came close to freezing. one night in my favorite bar a discussion took place about the very same topic. an elderly gent(i was 18 or 19) told us a tale that if true settled the discussion our little group stood with comical looks on our faces. the tale was about a group of climbers and their attempt to scale mt. everest. with frost and ice all over uncovered eyelashes and mustaches they came to an abandoned kiosk and set their tents around it. one of the climbers looked around the old kiosk and found the usual foods that climbers leave for the next group and down the line and through the years it's a custom as a group may be stranded without any food. anyway this certain man found a bottle of brandy showed it to his pals and took a long pull on the bottle and soon dropped dead. although the brandy wasn't frozen it was cold enough to freeze his throat and the poor guy couldn't brearhe. true or not i don't know . but it was entertaining to say the least. never saw that gentleman again
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