Creative Cocktail Hour
With summer rolling in and the sun shining we are all missing our cocktail hour and time with friends. As social distancing measures ease a bit and we can have small outdoor gatherings with 4 people it’s the perfect time for us to get creative with making our own cocktails. Many of us are also avoiding going to the grocery store frequently, making it hard to keep fresh fruit and herbs ready for those drinks. A great tip we received was to freeze a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice in an ice cube tray for the perfect citrusy splash for any drink. We decided to share some of our favourite recipes below.
INGREDIENTS
- limes
- mint
- sugar
- water
- Freeze 1 part fresh lime juice in square ice cube molds.
- Once frozen, add fresh mint leaves, pinch of sugar, and 3 parts water and freeze.
WHAT TO DO WITH THESE PUREED FRUIT ICE CUBES
- Citrus Water: Add them to water to make infused citrus water.
- Citrus Iced Tea: Add them to iced tea to make infused citrus iced tea.
- Moscow Mule cocktail: Add to ginger beer and vodka for a refreshing summer drink.
ANTIOXIDANT RICH BLUEBERRY ICE CUBES
INGREDIENTS
- 1-1/2 cups organic blueberries
- 1/2 cup water
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons pure clover honey
- Blend all of the ingredients in a blender.
- Pour into ice cube trays.
- Freeze until solid (3-4 hours or overnight).
WHAT TO DO WITH THESE PUREED FRUIT ICE CUBES
- Blueberry Water: Add them to water to make infused blueberry water.
- Blueberry Lemonade: Add these blueberry ice cubes to a glass pitcher then fill it with fresh squeezed lemonade.
- Blueberry Iced Tea: Add them to green iced tea to make infused blueberry iced tea.
- Blueberry cocktail: Add them to a mix of 1/4 cup good quality vodka and 1/2 cup seltzer.
SUMMER PEACH ICE CUBES
- 4 cups sliced ripe fresh peaches, peeled and pit removed
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 3-4 tablespoons water (as needed to help blend)
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh ginger juice (optional)
- 2 tablespoons clover honey (optional – depending on desired sweetness)
- Add the peaches, lemon juice, ginger juice and honey to a blender or food processor.
- As the blender is running, slowly add just a few drops of water if needed help the peaches blend.
- For the fresh ginger juice, grate fresh peeled ginger, then squeeze the juice from it using your fingers.
- Press the mixture through a sieve and discard large pieces (if you don’t mind having a few pieces of peach in your ice cubes, you can skip this step).
- Spoon the peach puree into ice cube trays.
WHAT TO DO WITH THESE PUREED FRUIT ICE CUBES
- Peach Water: Add them to water to make infused peach water.
- A quick Bellini cocktail: Serve Prosecco with peach cubes
