Frozen treats are summer staples. To cool off during cocktail hour and get off the beaten path, why not give poptails a go? Follow our small guide to making these delicious frosted cocktails and impress your guests. Prepare for a festive, colourful, refreshing treat!
Get inspired by your favourite cocktails
Mojito, Margarita, Gin-Tonic, Piña Colada, Negroni, Spritz, Rum & Coke . . . these classics can easily be turned into a frozen alcoholic treat. Simply use your favourite cocktail recipes and turn them into poptails. Whimsical and deliciously colourful, poptails allow you to control the amount of alcohol and integrate organic ingredients to the preparation—think fruits, veggies, and fresh herbs. You can also create non-alcoholic versions, drawing inspiration from your favourite mocktail recipes instead.Presentation tip
Another alternative for a guaranteed wow factor: drop a homemade, fruit-based popsicle into a clear glass filled with a colourful cocktail. It will take your happy hour to a chic, gourmet, refreshing new level!Use fruits and fresh herbs
For maximum freshness and to make your poptails, well . . . POP, you can count on the abundance of fruits and fresh herbs available in large quantities this time of year! Add berries—raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries—to your vodka- or gin-based poptail recipe. Craving a Gin-Tonic? Add some thinly sliced cucumber to your mix for a mouth-watering presentation.Try them for dessert
Heavy, rich desserts are not as popular this time of year. Consider serving poptails for dessert after a meal. Need some inspiration? Think Baileys, chocolate milk, and cookie crumbs, or coffee liqueur with coconut milk and vanilla.How to make them?
Even though poptails are super easy to make, there are a few basic rules you should follow to ensure they turn out their best:- Follow your cocktail recipes, adding a cup of water or juice. This is a must to ensure you mixture freezes well (alcohol doesn’t freeze!).
- Divide your mixture into popsicle moulds and leave them in the freezer a few hours—poptails take longer to freeze.
- Enhance the flavours and look of your poptails by adding a few pieces of fruit of fresh herbs.
- Making poptails on the fly? Make sure you respect the following proportions: 1 part strong alcohol (gin, vodka, rum) for 4 parts mixture (juice, syrup, fruit purée, etc.). These proportions will help ensure your poptails freeze. If you’re using wine, you can put a little more, given that it has a lower alcohol content.
Tips for achieving the perfect texture
- Avoid crystallization by minimizing the water content. How? Use puréed fruit instead of juice.
- For an oh-so-creamy texture, opt for high-fat dairy (10% Greek yogurt, 14% sour cream), as fat does not crystallize in the cold.
- Do not underestimate the power of sugar when it comes to your frozen desserts’ texture! Opt for honey or maple syrup. If you choose granulated sugar, be sure to dissolve it by boiling it with a little water, and then add it to your mixture.
