6 Refreshing Red, White, and Blue Drinks for the Fourth of July

The Founding Fathers outlined many inalienable rights in the constitution. Perhaps the most important of all, however, was the freedom to have an incredible 4th of July party with your compatriots. 

America’s birthday is moving in faster than a continental troop taking territory from the loyalists. If you’re trying to throw the greatest Independence Day shindig since 1776, you’ll need to whip up a red, white, and blue cocktail recipe that celebrates the unbreakable spirit of our great nation.

In honor of the occasion, we’ve developed 6 mixes that will make your friends say, “Those 4th of July drinks red, white, and blue me away!” Each colorful 4th of July cocktail recipe we’ve laid out here combines all three hues to produce elixirs that will dazzle your party’s patriots and have them enshrining the right to mix as our 28th amendment. 

#1 The Red, White, and Shoot

Make this cocktail the center of your 4th of July pool party ideas. Nothing gets the party started like a quick blast of liquid liberty, and this triple-layered temptation provides a powerfully patriotic punch. To get your party in the USA going, assemble:

• 1/3 of a SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Vodka Cranberry & Grapefruit Cocktail Pop, melted
• White crème de cacao liqueur 
• Blue curaçao
• As many shot glasses as you have friends
• A bar spoon

In the spirit of freedom, we’ll be pouring this shooter with our hearts and our eyes, rather than precise measurements. To bring these red, white, and blue cocktail babies to life:

1. Slowly pour the SLIQ Spirited Ice until it fills ⅓ of a shot glass.
2. Hold the spoon upside down in the glass and slowly pour over the crème de cacao liqueur until it fills another ⅓ of the glass. This technique, called floating, is used to prevent different liquids from mixing.
3. Float the blue curaçao atop the colorful concoction and serve with a salute.

#2 Wave Jello to Old Glory

If you’re looking to capture the American aesthetic in a shot without an eclectic mix of alcohols, these red, white, and blue jello shots are for you. (Bonus: It’s solid, so you can argue that it’s not subject to the taxes decreed by the colonial government’s 1754 Excise on Spirituous Liquors.)¹

Here’s what you’ll need:

• For the red layer: 1 SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Vodka Cranberry & Grapefruit Cocktail Pop (melted) and one 3 oz package of Strawberry Jell-O
• For the white layer: 1 SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Coconut & Lime Daiquiri Cocktail Pop (melted), 4 oz of sweetened condensed milk, and 2 packets of unflavored gelatin
• For the blue layer: 1 SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Vodka Blue Raspberry Cocktail Pop (melted) and one 3 oz package of Berry Blue Jell-O

You’ll also need:

• Hot water
• Disposable shot glasses
• A pot
• A little patience

Like throwing off the yoke of your colonial overlords, preparing these red, white, and blue shots  takes proper preparation and forward thinking. The day before your party:

1. Stir the Strawberry Jell-O into one cup of boiling water, stirring until it’s well-dissolved. Stir in the SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Vodka Cranberry & Grapefruit Cocktail Pop.
2. Fill the shot glasses ⅓ of the way and set them in the fridge until completely firm.
3. Mix your two packets of unflavored gelatin into 1 cup of boiling water and stir until dissolved. Mix in the sweetened condensed milk, then the SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Coconut & Lime Daiquiri Cocktail Pop.
4. Fill the shot glasses another ⅓ of the way and set them in the fridge until completely firm. With each additional layer, allow the liquid to cool significantly before adding it to the shot glasses, so it doesn’t melt the settled gelatin.
5. Stir the Berry Blue Jell-O into one cup of boiling water, stirring until it’s well-dissolved. Stir in the SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Vodka Blue Raspberry Cocktail Pop. Repeat step 4 for this blue layer.
6. Allow the shots to chill and set overnight. Serve colder than an unwavering loyalist’s heart. 

#3 The American Cincinnatus Spritzer

The Father of Our Nation had a penchant for wetting his whistle. George Washington’s love for Madeira, a fortified Portuguese wine, is well-documented by his Mount Vernon estate.<sup<2 We respect the bitter notes, but you can choose whatever red you prefer for this refreshing delight.

Gather:

• Your favorite red wine
• 1 SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Rum Coconut & Lime Daiquiri Cocktail Pop
• Soda water
• Blue food coloring
• A bar spoon

To assemble:

1. Pulverize the frozen rum ice pop and add it to a tall glass.
2. Fill the glass ⅓ up with wine.
3. In a separate vessel, slowly stir up the soda water with food coloring until you reach your desired blue color.
4. Float the soda water over the back of a bar spoon and into the cocktail.
5. DO NOT STIR! Instead, serve this red, white, and blue layered drink immediately.

#4 Revolutionary Rejuvenator

If you’ve spent most of your 4th of July grilling as you did partying, you’re going to want to sneak some electrolytes into your party favors to keep you and your force’s fighting spirit alive. Serve this refreshing red, white, and blue drink when your soldiers are feeling weak. Grab:

• 1 SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Rum Coconut & Lime Daiquiri Cocktail Pop
• Red sports drink
• Blue sports drink
• A bar spoon

To reinvigorate your unit:

1. Pulverize the frozen rum ice pop and add it to a tall glass.
2. Fill the glass halfway with a blue sports drink like blue Gatorade®.
3. Float the red sports drink overtop until the glass is full.
4. Serve up to your weary warriors and send them back into battle (er, the dance floor).

#5 Musket Mule

This play on the classic summer vodka drink, the Moscow Mule, the Musket Mule honors the arms and animals that helped the fledgling nation of America win the revolutionary war. To prepare this red, white, and blue 4th of July drink, get together:

• 1/2 of a SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Vodka Blue Raspberry Cocktail Pop
• 1/2 of a SLIQ Spirited Ice Frozen Vodka Cranberry & Grapefruit Cocktail Pop
• Ginger beer
• White food coloring

To stir up this masterpiece:

1. Add the vodka freeze pops to a copper cup.
2. Pour the ginger beer slowly until the vessel is 80% full.
3. Drip in a few drops of food coloring, then stir and sip slowly, giving the cocktail pop time to melt and flavor the drink.

#6 A Salute to the Thirteen Colonies

This 4th of July cocktail’s best served as a nightcap, as you might need to take a nap to digest it all. This XL shooter pays homage to all the original 13 states of America. We’re sure you know them by heart. Still, for the others who don’t, they include:

• New Hampshire
• Massachusetts
• Rhode Island
• Connecticut 
• New York
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania 
• Delaware
• Maryland 
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Virginia
• Georgia³

To honor each of them, get:

• 13 different liquors of any kind
• A double-shot glass
• Red, white, and blue food coloring

We think you know where we’re going with this cocktail recipe, but in case you don’t:

1. Pour a tiny amount of each liquor into the shot glass.
2. As you drip in each bit of liquid, name one of the 13 original states and something you admire about it.
3. After four liquors (remember: there should only be a tiny amount of each liquor in the shot glass!), add a drop of red food coloring. Add a drop of white after four more, then blue after another four. Drip the final alcoholic offering on top ever so carefully.
4. Clink your cups in cheers to the new nation and enjoy.

Revolutionize Your 4th of July Party with Frozen Cocktail Pops from SLIQ

If you think the heat of fireworks and sparklers will amuse your partygoers—well, you’re probably right. But when it comes to 4th of July drinks, red, white, and blue is the way to go.

If you want to absolutely blow their minds, however, hand them the frozen cocktail pop that’s the biggest leap forward in flavor since the establishment of the American republic. SLIQ has rum, agave, whiskey, and vodka-based cocktail pops that could sway the staunchest loyalist to switch sides and join the battle for freedom.

Mixing a red, white, and blue cocktail recipe for the 4th of July is certainly fun and a service to our country, but it’s also a time-consuming, tiring exercise. When you’ve had enough of stirring up tributes to Old Glory, serve your friends some SLIQ frozen cocktail pops to have them declaring independence from a boring time.

 

Sources: 

1. University of New Hampshire. The 1754 Excise on Spirituous Liquors. https://www.unh.edu/
2. Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union. Food and Drink. https://www.mountvernon.org/
3. The Smithsonian Institute. U.S. History and Civics for Citizenship. https://americanhistory.si.edu/