Memorial Day Layered Drinks

Can you believe Memorial Day is THIS WEEKEND?! 

Seriously, I thought April went fast, but May is flying by.

We're so excited for this weekend! 

Adam G. graduates from Dental school on Friday, 

(you might remember when he took his last round of boards?)

and then Friday night is the graduation party of the century! 

AND Kedron and her family are coming in to help celebrate 

(you remember her right? From some Barista Banter posts?).

So yes, big stuff coming up over here. And to make things even more festive, we are making these layered drinks to show our patriotic colors!

To make some too here's what you need:

The key is to get drinks that are like 30g of sugar for the bottom layer, 15g (ish) for the middle layer, and sugar free for the top layer.

We used:

Sobe Pina Colada drink (white)

Gatorade (Red)

G2 or another no sugar drink (blue)

***TIP: Go for the darker blue Gatorade, not the lighter. Learned that the hard way. The lighter one just ends up too light! So instead, we just used food coloring and water and it worked just fine. I guess that's more of the appropriate USA blue anyway***

Here's how to do it:

Start first, by putting a couple ice cubes at the bottom of your glass.

Then pour in your pina colada drink, just about 1/3 of the way, maybe less, since you'll be adding more ice.

Add the rest of the ice to the glass to fill it up completely.

Next SLOWLY pour in your red drink. It'll mix a little but it separates out again almost entirely.

Finally, SLOWLY pour in your blue drink.

Careful not to move it around too much before serving it to your guests, otherwise it'll mix.

This one took us a couple practices to get the proportions down so don't be discouraged if your first one goes awry.

Kids will love them, and adults will too! The best part is that you can tailor the colors to whatever you're doing: Christmas, a birthday party, the possibilities are endless really...

Happy Memorial Day weekend (coming up)! And thanks to any of you who have served or are currently serving. We're thankful for you!

How are you guys planning to celebrate Memorial Day this year?

Madras Slushes

Is it me or does everything taste better in slush form?

Remember our Brandy Slush post? I mean really, who knew Brandy could taste so good?

For whatever reason, at the first sign of warm weather, my instinct is to go get a slushy. Ask Adam, it's true.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I think it has something to do with my childhood "Slurpee after soccer practice" routine. Perhaps that, paired with the fact that it was rarely warm outside where we went to college, (Grove City College--go Wolverines!) and so when it was, we'd treat ourselves with slushies from Sheetz.

Whatever the reason, I crave slushy things when it's hot outside.

A couple weekends ago, I ventured off from my normal recipes and tried making a Madras. In the process I thought to myself "why not get crazy and make it a slushy Madras?" So that's what I did.

For those who don't know, a Madras is easily confused with its vodka-cranberry cousins like the Cape Codder(vodka-cranberry), Sea Breeze (vodka-cranberry-grapefruit) and Bay Breeze (vodka-cranberry-pineapple).  It obviously has the vodka-cranberry components, but adds in a bit of orange juice into the mix.

Want to make one too?

Here's what you need:

1 1/2 oz vodka

3 oz cranberry juice

1 oz orange juice

10-12 ice cubes

(though I would have probably added more ice so it was a bit slushier)

a clementine for garnish

Here's how to do it:

combine all ingredients into the blender

blend until smooth

 

serve in your favorite glass

garnish with a clementine slice (it's more petite)

The combination of tart, sweet, and slush was perfect way to satisfy my warm-weather cravings.

summer's best drink- coconut iced tea

Ok, I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself. It is, in fact, barely spring. But the weather in Denver has been absolutely gorgeous lately. In celebration of the 70+ degrees, I've been making myself Summer's Best Drink. It's super easy, but I thought I'd pass along the how-to so that y'all don't miss out on this yumminess.

A word of caution- don't let your kids try this stuff unless you want to share it every time you make it from now on.

First of all, the secret ingredient is Starbucks' Coconut Syrup that I bought last year. I'm pretty sure they don't sell it right now, but you could probably use another coconut syrup (though, it might not be as good... I am pretty sure that Starbucks adds a little magic in theirs somehow). If Starbucks brings back Coconut again this year, I can't recommend highly enough getting yourself a bottle of this stuff. So there's that.

Anyhow, back to the Coconut tea (and how to make it). First, brew some strong black tea (I used decaf and couldn't tell a difference). To make it strong enough, I used four tea bags and let then let it steep for a bit.

Then, I poured the strong-tea into a pitcher halfway full of ice.

Add two tablespoons of Heaven Syrup (aka coconut syrup)...

                                                                ...and some stirring...

                                               ... and you have Summer's Best Drink.

Cheers to the gloriously warm weather!

If you're visiting from Skiptomylou's linky party, thanks for stopping by, we're glad to have you!