If you're looking to add some new big-batch drinks to your repertoire, I'm here to tell you that Jerry Nevins' Sloshies is full of punny freezer cocktails for summer your friends will love to help you finish. The book doesn't come out until June 13, but I've got a sneak peak at four of its pop culture-inspired potables for you to sample below.
Nevins is the co-founder of Snow & Co., the Kansas City, Missouri pub that Paste dubbed the No. 1 Best Frozen Cocktail Bar in the U.S. back in 2014. Snow & Co. deals in well-named drinks, such as the bourbon-and-peach Miss Scarlett and the earl grey-based Rikki Tikki Toddy. At least two of Snow & Co.'s signature cocktails — the Limey Bastard and the Sunshine Boulevard — made it into Sloshies, but with 102 recipes between its covers, Nevins' book has much more than his restaurant's menu to offer the at-home bartender.
The freezer cocktail recipes included below are full of inside jokes that make them perfect for theme nights, but I think you'll want to make them anytime the summer heat hits and you just need a slushie. Check out the four Sloshies recipes excerpted below, and be sure to pick up the book when it hits store shelves on June 13.
Sloshies by Jerry Nevins, $8.69, Amazon
1For A Floral Cocktail... Benny and de June
A perfect pairing of two kindred spirits. The nose of the drink is decidedly juniper, while the flavor is a delicate melding of the one-of-a-kind Esprit de June vine flower liqueur — yes, that’s a spirit made from the tiny white flowers of grapevines — and woodland pine notes from the gin.
ABV
9.34%
Glass
Flared
Garnish
juniper berries
- 9 1/2 ounces water
- 10 1/4 ounces Simple Syrup (page 18)
- 10 1/4 ounces lemon juice
- 5 ounces Koval Gin
- 5 ounces Esprit de June Liqueur
- 1 teaspoon Angostura Bitters
Combine • Place the ingredients in a medium-size metal bowl and stir.
Freeze • Pour the liquid into a large freezer bag and place it in the freezer until frozen, approximately 4 hours. Alternatively, pour the liquid into an ice cream maker and proceed per the manufacturer’s instructions (see page 11).
Serve • When you’re ready to drink, massage the freezer bag by hand until it’s a wet, slushy consistency. If it’s not breaking up, run the bag quickly under hot water and massage some more.
Yield • Makes at least 4 drinks.
Simple Syrup
- 1 1/2 cups pure cane sugar
- 1 1/2 cups boiling water
Yield: 2 1/4 cups (18 ounces) simple syrup
- Place water and pure can sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil
- Reduce heat to a simmer and stir the mixture, letting the sugar dissolve until the liquid looks uniform, without any visible granules from the sugar, about 3 minutes
- Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks
Excerpted from Sloshies by Jerry Nevins (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017
2For A Spiced Cocktail... Catcher in the Rye
Don your houndstooth coat and relive your teenage angst as you mix up this frozen version of an old-fashioned.
ABV
8.46%
Glass
Up & Down
Garnish
houndstooth stencil (see page 23) with infused cherry and orange wheel
- 10 ounces Simple Syrup (page 18)
- 5 ounces lemon juice
- 15 3/4 ounces orange juice
- 8 1/4 ounces Cherry-Infused Old Overholt Rye Whiskey (page 21)
Combine • Place the ingredients in a medium-size metal bowl and stir.
Freeze • Pour the liquid into a large freezer bag and place it in the freezer until frozen, approximately 4 hours. Alternatively, pour the liquid into an ice cream maker and proceed per the manufacturer’s instructions (see page 11).
Serve • When you’re ready to drink, massage the freezer bag by hand until it’s a wet, slushy consistency. If it’s not breaking up, run the bag quickly under hot water and massage some more.
Yield • Makes at least 4 drinks.
Cherry-Infused Old Overholt Rye Whiskey
- Place 1 dark, sweet cherry (frozen works really well) per ounce of Old Overholt Rye Whiskey in a tightly sealed container
- Store in a cool, dark place for at least 72 hours, then strain out the cherries to use as garnish, if desired.
Excerpted from Sloshies by Jerry Nevins (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017
3For A Sweet Cocktail... Fetch
A gentle freeze is just the kind of cool you need for a strawberry basil shrub with chardonnay and St-Germain elderflower liqueur. And we will not stop trying to make “fetch” happen, Gretchen.
ABV
7.38%
Glass
Wendy Winer
Garnish
strawberry on a skewer, with Mean Girls
- 12 1/4 ounces water
- 3 1/4 ounces Simple Syrup (page 18)
- 6 ounces Salt & Flint Strawberry Basil Shrub
- 12 1/2 ounces Toasted Head Chardonnay
- 6 ounces St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Combine • Place the ingredients in a medium-size metal bowl and stir.
Freeze • Pour the liquid into a large freezer bag and place it in the freezer until frozen, approximately 4 hours. Alternatively, pour the liquid into an ice cream maker and proceed per the manufacturer’s instructions (see page 11).
Serve• When you’re ready to drink, massage the freezer bag by hand until it’s a wet, slushy consistency. If it’s not breaking up, run the bag quickly under hot water and massage some more.
Excerpted from Sloshies by Jerry Nevins (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017
4For A Tart Cocktail... Nights of Ni
Get puckered with a double dose of grapefruit — a fruity, fizzy soda and a ruby-red shrub — blended with finely aged Altos Reposado Tequila. “Bring us a shrubbery” will take on a whole new meaning.
ABV
9.88%
Glass
Bubbles Bubbles
Garnish
vodka-infused jalapeño wheel (see page 20)
- 9 1/2 ounces water
- 5 1/4 ounces Agave Syrup (page 18)
- 14 ounces Izze Sparkling Grapefruit soda
- 1 3/4 ounces Salt & Flint Pamplemousse + Thyme Shrub Syrup
- 3 1/2 ounces Tito’s Handmade Vodka
- 6 1/4 ounces Olmeca Altos Reposado Tequila
Combine • Place the ingredients in a medium-size metal bowl and stir.
Freeze • Pour the liquid into a large freezer bag and place it in the freezer until frozen, approximately 4 hours. Alternatively, pour the liquid into an ice cream maker and proceed per the manufacturer’s instructions (see page 11).
Serve • When you’re ready to drink, massage the freezer bag by hand until it’s a wet, slushy consistency. If it’s not breaking up, run the bag quickly under hot water and massage some more.
Excerpted from Sloshies by Jerry Nevins (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017
