Summer is frozen drink season (sorry, we don’t make the rules). Even though we tapped the Naked & Famous as our 2025 drink of the summer, we still save plenty of room for a frozen cocktail—especially at peak temperatures.
There’s already a lot of science and technique that goes into making a cocktail. Adding in the frozen element requires even more precision. If you get the ratios wrong, reach for the wrong ingredients, or mess up your blender settings, you can end up with a drink that’s watery or lumpy.
To avoid a frozen drink flop, there are a few tips to keep in mind. Bartenders Camille and Cody Goldstein of Muddling Memories share all of the dos and don’ts you should remember when blending a frozen cocktail. If you keep these tricks in mind, you can sip on refreshing drinks all summer long.
Add Ice Last
Unless you’re one of the lucky people with a Ninja SLUSHi in your kitchen, you’ll need some ice to make a frozen cocktail. You may be tempted to throw ice in the blender first. But the key to a smooth, flavorful drink is adding all of your liquid ingredients first. Who wants their ice to melt before you even turn on the blender? Not us.
Freeze Alcohol Beforehand
To avoid a watered-down drink, it’s always best to start with cold ingredients. And that includes your base spirit—a room temperature bottle of liquor sitting on your bar cart is guaranteed to melt some of your ice once it’s in the blender.
Hold Back On The Liquor
Look, we love a strong drink as much as the next person, but a frozen cocktail is not the place to do a double shot. Alcohol doesn’t freeze, so adding too much of it can compromise the texture of your drink. That being said, you also don’t need to deprive yourself of booze. The solution: add a floater!
Use Frozen Fruit
All of the quintessential frozen cocktails use some sort of fruit as a flavoring. When making your own drinks at home, the best fruit you can use is found in the freezer aisle. For one, the added chill helps thicken your drink without using plain ice. Also, it’s all going to be blended anyway—so save your fancy summer fruit for snacking.
Use Liquid Sweetener
A blender can make almost anything smooth (especially if you have a high-powered model like a Vitamix). But that doesn’t mean you should stray from the simple syrup. You want to avoid granulated sugar because the granules are too fine for the blades of your blender—and the drink is too cold to successfully dissolve them.
Add Salt
You might reserve salt for the rims of your margaritas, but it’s a powerful tool for nearly any cocktail (and it’s why many mixologists keep saline solution behind the bar). Cold temperatures dull your sense of taste. Salt, on the other hand, amplifies flavors. Adding a pinch to your blender will make your drinks taste even more delicious—don’t worry, your cocktail won’t end up salty.
Blend On Low
It’s easy to get excited when you’re about to enjoy a frozen cocktail, but the best batches require some patience. It’s tempting to let the blender whirl at high speed, but running it on low speed for longer is the best way to go. You’re more likely to avoid stray ice chunks, your drink will pour more smoothly, and you’ll prevent your blender motor from overheating.
Secure That Lid Tightly
It should go without saying, but almost everybody has a blender explosion horror story (us included). To protect yourself from splattering strawberry daquiri all over your kitchen, double check your lid is secured before turning on your blender.
