Lesson 14: Frozen Blended Cocktails and Recipes

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Free Online Bartending School. An awesome way to learn about bartending for free on the web.

Today, we would like to go over Frozen Blended Cocktails.

Frozen drinks are usually a party favorite. There's something about a frozen cocktail that makes things fun. They are easy to drink. Often times frozen drinks are blended with frozen fruits with a lot of sugar, so they taste great too. You would think you're drinking a great smoothie but it has alcohol to get you wasted.

As a bartender, frozen drinks are popular during hot weather. You will be making a lot of them on a hot summer night, or if you're working by the pool. Or if you're fortunate enough to live in places where people call "paradise" like the Florida Keys or Hawaii, you will also be making them a lot throughout the year.

Some of the most popular frozen drinks are:

• Frozen Margarita
• Strawberry or Mango Daiquiri
• Piña Colada

The ability to make a frozen cocktail takes a little practice. You don't want the frozen cocktails to be too watery or too icy. It has to have that smooth texture that we've gotten used to from drink too much Jamba Juice during the summer. The Jamba Juice smoothie consistency is what you are looking for when making a frozen cocktail. Nice, smooth, and tasty.

Practicing how to make frozen cocktails at home maybe a bit difficult for two reasons. One, the ice cubes that your freezer makes is not the best type to make a frozen cocktail with. The ice cubes we are used to seeing at our homes tend to be very "hard" and difficult to blend to a smooth consistency. Which leads to the next reason, which is that the blender at home is usually not strong enough to blend the ice cubes properly. Bartenders at a bar usually use a blender which costs at least $300, and they are powerful blenders which produce quality cocktails. Without having the right type of ice, and the right blender, practicing at home will yield somewhat of a sub-par experience.

Crushed ice helps to make your job easy too.

Of course, you can go out and buy an ice bag at your local grocery store, and a powerful blender from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. That may help you remedy the situation.

Another alternative you have is to buy a device that has become popular in recent years to make a frozen margarita. The Margaritaville Cargo frozen margarita makers are pretty nice devices that will make you a quality frozen margarita at home. Though I've never owned one or used one in person, it looks like a good alternative to using a regular blender to make a good frozen cocktail at home.

http://www.margaritavillecargo.com/default.aspx

In a real life situation, more and more bars have started to adopt the Island Oasis frozen drink makers to make quality, consistent frozen drinks. These machines are amazingly easy to use. All you do is add the premixed frozen drink mixes with some juices and alcohol. There is a blend button that you push to get it started. The machine will blend the ice and the mixes at the right consistency to create an awesome drink.

http://www.islandoasis.com

This machine is for commercial use, and difficult for any home owner to purchase one for themselves. Basically, they're like the Margaritaville machines, just bigger and even more powerful. You are however able to purchase the mixes online, so you can mix and play around with frozen cocktails at your home with it.

Here is a cool video on how to make a frozen cocktail properly.

I personally like to add the ice in first and adjust it with the liquid to make it to the right consistency. As you can see his cocktail seems a bit runny. I may have added a little more ice in order to make it a little thicker in consistency.

All right, and the rest of the section will be dedicated to recipes. Be sure to memorize all of the recipes below in order for you to become a good bartender.

Frozen Blended Cocktails

Banana Daiquiri

1 1/2 oz light rum

1 Tbsp triple sec

1 banana

1 1/2 oz lime juice

1 tsp sugar

1 cup crushed ice

maraschino cherry for garnish

Blue Bayou

1 cup of ice

1 1/2 oz vodka

1/2 oz blue curaçao

1/2 cup fresh or canned pineapple

2 oz grapefruit juice

chunk of pineapple for garnish

Blue Hawaii

2 oz pineapple juice

3/4 oz rum

3/4 oz blue curaçao

3/4 oz creme de coconut

maraschino cherry for garnish

pineapple wedge for garnish

Chi Chi

1/2 cup ice

2 oz vodka

1/2 oz triple sec

1/2 oz cream of coconut

1/2 cup fresh or canned pineapple

scoop of vanilla ice cream

chunk of pineapple for garnish

Frozen Daiquiri

2 oz light rum

1 1/2 oz fresh lime juice

3/4 oz sugar syrup

lime wedge for garnish

Golden Dream

3/4 oz cream

3/4 oz orange juice

3/4 oz Cointreau

3/4 oz Galliano

Frozen Margarita

1 cup of ice

1 1/2 oz tequila

1/2 oz Triple Sec

1/2 oz lime juice

3 oz sour mix

lime wedge for garnish

salt for rimming glass (optional)

Peach Margarita

1 cup ice

1 1/2 oz tequila

1/4 oz Triple Sec

1/4 oz Peach Schnapps

1/4 oz Lime Juice

1 skinned, pitted, fresh medium peach or equivalent canned peaches

Frozen Pina Colada

2 oz white rum

6 oz pineapple juice

1 1/2 oz Coco Lopez Coconut Cream

1 oz heavy cream

maraschino cherry for garnish

pineapple wedge for garnish

Mudslide

1 oz vodka

1 oz Bailey's Irish Cream

1 oz Kahlua

1 oz cream

8 ice cubes

1 scoop of vanilla ice cream

2 scoops of chocolate ice cream

Strawberry Daiquiri

2 oz light rum

1/2 oz triple sec

1 oz Strawberry Daiquiri Mix

1/2 tsp sugar

1 cup ice

5 strawberries

Strawberry Margarita

1 1/2 oz tequila

1 oz triple sec

1 oz Strawberry Daiquiri Mix

1/2 cup strawberries

1 cup ice

fresh strawberry for garnish

Okay, hope you enjoyed this lesson.

So until next time, good luck studying and cheers!