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Saturday Spirits

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The final month of Summer is here and I’m trying to soak in as much as I can of these late nights with friends. One recent summer evening we enjoyed an evening out amongst the glow of the fire pit and these beautiful beverages served in LED barware from PremierGlow.Com. The Blueberry Tangerine Cocktail features Ménage à Trois Vodka. I was sent a bottle of  Ménage à Trois Vodka and PremierGlow LED Barware for purposes of creating a recipe to share with readers. All opinions are my own. For more information about my sponsored content please visit my policies page. 

 

Blueberry Tangerine Cocktail featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

When I received these fun LED Black Tie Martini Glasses I knew I wanted to do a girls night or a summer glow themed party. Really though, they would work simply as a way to keep track of glasses since the LED lights can be set to a desired color.

I wanted a flavorful summer beverage that would accentuate the glow of the glass. The flavors of blueberry and orange came to mind almost immediately! I chose a blue/purple colored light to accentuate the drink. They turned out beautiful!

 

Blueberry Tangerine Cocktail featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

Blueberry Tangerine Cocktail

This was an easy party beverage because it didn’t require a ton of different ingredients and very little prep. I picked up the Blueberry Juice and Tangerine Italian Soda at our local 365 by Whole Foods Market, though you can likely find similar products at your local natural grocery store.  You can absolutely make this more of a craft blueberry tangerine cocktail by creating a blueberry simple syrup and orange or tangerine simple syrup and topping with soda water. The drink can also easily be made in a pitcher or served over ice instead of up.

Ingredients/Supplies:

  • Shaker with ice & strainer
  • 1 1/4 oz of your favorite vodka – I used Ménage à Trois Vodka
  • 1 oz of your favorite orange liqueur
  • 1 oz of blueberry juice
  • 3 oz of tangerine Italian Soda (orange soda would work in a pinch)
  • Optional: Sugar & orange juice for a sugared rim on glass
  • Optional: Frozen and sugared blueberries on a skewer for garnish

Directions:

  1. Sugar the rim of your martini glass by dipping the rim into orange juice (or rubbing an orange slice around the rim) and dipping rim into a plate of sugar.
  2. Pour 1 oz of blueberry juice into your martini glass.
  3. Pour vodka, orange liqueur and tangerine Italian Soda over ice in a shaker.
  4. Shake just to chill, strain into the martini glass.
  5. Garnish with a skewer of sugared blueberries and enjoy!

 

Blueberry Tangerine Cocktail featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

Want more cocktails featuring vodka?

Check out the posts below!

  • Salted Caramel Apple Hot Toddy
  • Spiked Ice Cream
  • Classic Martini
  • Twists on the Classic Martini
  • Lemon Ginger Drop Cocktail
  • Vodka Slushies

Two words—Vodka Slushies. My first job was at a drive-in that served delicious, sweet slushies in a variety of flavors. I drank those things ALL SUMMER LONG. Now days I try to stay away from that much sugar and typically enjoy my sweet drinks in the form of an adult beverage. So, for today’s Saturday Spirits I combined my summer-time favorite and favorite vodka cocktails for two fantastic vodka slushies featuring Ménage à Trois Vodka. I was sent a bottle of  Ménage à Trois Vodka for purposes of creating a recipe to share with readers. All opinions are my own. For more information about my sponsored content please visit my policies page. 

 

Vodka Slushies -Grown Up Summer Goodness from A Well Crafted Party

Vodka Slushies Inspired by Classic Cocktails

Vodka is such a versatile beverage. It is one of my favorite cocktail ingredients hands down. My bar ALWAYS has vodka stocked. I love all the classic vodka cocktails from a classic vodka martini to a bloody mary.  Two classic vodka cocktails inspired these delicious vodka slushies that are perfect for summer— a salty dog and screwdriver! Read on to see how to make both the classic versions of these cocktails and the slushie version!

Vodka Slushies -Grown Up Summer Goodness from A Well Crafted Party

 

Classic Screwdriver & Classic Salty Dog

These two drinks are good ALL day long from brunch to sundown.

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz Ménage à Trois Vodka (or your favorite brand vodka)
  • 4 oz of fruit juice (either Orange or Grapefruit)
  • Ice
  • Rocks Glass

Screwdriver

Fill a rocks glass with ice. Top with 2 oz of vodka then add 4 oz of orange juice. Stir to incorporate. Garnish with an orange and enjoy!

Salty Dog

A Salty Dog is a Greyhound cocktail with salt on the rim. To make a Salty Dog rim a rocks glass with kosher salt, fill with ice, pour 2 oz of vodka on ice, and then add 4 oz of grapefruit juice. Stir to incorporate. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge and enjoy!

 

Freeze your fruit juice and blend with your favorite vodka for a tasty summer cocktail! Recipe from A Well Crafted Party

 

Make them into slushies

There are two ways to make these classic cocktails into slushies. The first is if you are in a rush. the results will be tasty, but they won’t have quite the same consistency as the second.

Vodka Slushies -Grown Up Summer Goodness from A Well Crafted Party

 

First Method:

Pour your completed cocktail into a blender and blend away! Pour the blended cocktail into a glass serve with garnish and a straw!

 

Vodka Slushies -Grown Up Summer Goodness from A Well Crafted Party

 

Second Method (preferred method):

The night before you plan to make the cocktails fill a few ice cube trays with your juice of choice and freeze. Use the frozen fruit juice to build your drink in the blender. Each drink takes approximately 6 ice cubes to 2 oz vodka. Garnish and then serve with a straw!

 

Pro Tip: Keep frozen fruit juice cubes in a ziplock in your freezer for impromptu vodka slushies or deliciously cold mimosas!

Tell me… what is your favorite cocktail that features vodka?

Summer just calls for a nice iced cocktail. While I typically go for bourbon straight or in cocktails fit for Fall, I was excited to try creating a tasty Summer recipe of Bourbon Peach Tea featuring Makers 46 Bourbon. I was sent a bottle of Makers 46 for purposes of creating a recipe to share with readers. All opinions are my own. For more information about my sponsored content please visit my policies page. 

 

Over the Fourth of July weekend we hosted our annual low country crab boil. The Southern speciality just called for a sweet tea beverage to be served alongside it. Peach Tea is my favorite sweet tee, the vanilla and spice notes of Makers 46 just makes it even better.

 

I partnered with Maker's 46 to create this recipe of Bourbon Peach Tea - a perfect summer cocktail!  Featured on A Well Crafted Party.

Perfect Summer Cocktail – Bourbon Peach Tea

 

First off, yes, you can just add bourbon to your favorite peach tea. However, the below concoction is a little bit more concentrated and would be good over ice or as a cocktail straight up.

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 oz Maker’s 46 Bourbon
  • 1 3/4 oz Peach Syrup (see recipe below)
  • 2 oz concentrated black tea (see recipe below)
  • 1 collins glass filled with ice (or shaker with ice and a martini glass for those who wish to enjoy this beverage straight up)
  • 1 spoon
  • mint and peach for garnish
  • optional – raw sugar to rim glass

Directions:

Optional: Rim your glass in raw sugar. I chose not to do this because it was sweet enough for me, but it would be tasty and beautiful touch whether served over ice or straight up!

In Collins Glass:

  1. Pour the Maker’s 46 Bourbon, Peach Syrup and Concentrated Black Tea over ice.
  2. Stir.
  3. Garnish with mint leaf and peach slice.
  4. Enjoy!

Straight Up:

  1. Pour the Maker’s 46 Bourbon, Peach Syrup, and 1 3/4 oz (not two ounces as in the collins glass) Concentrated Black Tea over ice in a shaker.
  2. Shake well.
  3. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
  4. Garnish with mint leaf and peach slice.
  5. Enjoy!

 

I partnered with Maker's 46 to create this recipe of Bourbon Peach Tea - a perfect summer cocktail!  Featured on A Well Crafted Party.

 

How to make concentrated black tea:

I used the Lipton Iced Tea bags that are family size, though you could use any black tea bags that you like. I did 5 tea bags for 32 oz of boiling water to make my concentrated tea. Once the bags steeped for 8 minutes I pulled them out and let the tea cool before using in my cocktail.

 

I partnered with Maker's 46 to create this recipe of Bourbon Peach Tea - a perfect summer cocktail!  Featured on A Well Crafted Party.

 

How to make peach syrup:

Combine 1 16 oz bag of frozen peaches, 2 cups water, and 2 cups sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the sugar has dissolved and the peaches begin to break up. Smash peaches into the mixture. Strain mixture using a fine mesh colander over a pourable container. Store the peach syrup in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

 

What is your favorite Summer cocktail?