Casie Vogel - The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book: 55 Unofficial Recipes for White Claw® Slushies, Truly® Mixers, and More Spiked-Seltzer Drinks

The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book

55 Unofficial Recipes for White Claw Slushies, Truly Mixers, and More Spiked-Seltzer Drinks

Casie Vogel

Independently Authored and Published

To Michael

Nothing sounds sweeter than the crack of that slim aluminum can, home to a 100-calorie bubbly beauty. Spring, summer, whatever the time of year, its hard seltzer season.

At 4 to 6 percent alcohol content, its not a bad deal! But sometimes you have to take it up a notchor several. I mean, thats what were all here for if were being honest, right? Hard seltzer (also called spiked seltzer) is the perfect mixer to make a boozy drink that much boozier.

Whats the right ratio? What actually tastes like a cocktail, doesnt skimp, but also doesnt immediately send you to blackout town? Well, my friend, that is where my help comes in. The recipes from here on out are dangerously delicious and designed to get the party going, whether its a Friday night pregame or your next big partyor if its just been a tough day (girl, you do you). Instead of that next round of probably (always) regrettable tequila shots, pick up this book and lets get bubbly.

You may have noticed in stores that hard seltzer is in the refrigerated display case with all the beer. But its not exactly beer, is it? The production process is very similar to beer, but seltzer is made from fermented cane sugar instead of malted barley. Most seltzers are advertised as being made with real fruit juice, which is true (at least for the major brands)! Thats where the flavor comes fromnot from artificial sweeteners. As a result, we get to enjoy drinks that are low in calories and low in sugar. As an added bonus, most seltzers are gluten-free as well!

As of this writing, there are a ton of different seltzer brands. Wherever youre reading this from, you have no doubt encountered the major players, such as White Claw, Truly, and Spiked Seltzer; but there are also tons of local booze players trying to get into this game. My scientific research has shown that for the most part the seltzer flavors listed here often overlap between brands. In this book Ive tried to use an assortment of the readily available flavors, so you should be able to find them at most stores. If youre having trouble, you can and should definitely trust your taste buds in terms of substitutions. Heres my advice on improvising with the various seltzer flavors:

Citrus flavors. When it comes to the classics, citrus flavorslike lemon, orange, tangerine, clementine, grapefruit, and limeare a must-have and are the easiest to swap out. Lime is by far the strongest of the citrus flavors; I personally feel it has a little more kick. When replacing, make sure to taste test.

Berry flavors. Berry flavors include strawberry, raspberry, cranberry, and mixed berry; they are pretty strong, so I wouldnt recommend mixing them with a dark liquor. They are great for upgrading your basic drinks without adding flavored syrup. For example, upgrading a classic lime daiquiri to raspberry would just require swapping out lime (or any other flavor) seltzer for raspberry seltzer!

Black cherry. Youre either a black cherry person or youre not. If you are, youre in luck because the superstrong flavor profile will overpower most drinks. If youre looking to mask a ton of liquor, even tequila, black cherry is your new BFF. I dont include black cherry as a suggestion in many of these recipes because it is so overpowering. But if you really love it, feel free to swap it in.

Tropical flavors. Choices like passionfruit, pineapple, mango, and strawberry kiwi really shine in the frozen/slushy drinks, but feel free to mix and match.

Seasonal flavors. As of this writing, many of the major brands have come out with seasonal flavors that may or may not be available depending on when youre making these drinks. For example, in fall 2020, Bud Light debuted the Ugly Sweater variety pack, which included fall/winter-themed flavors like Apple Crisp and Ginger Snap. For the seasonal drinks, Ive noted where you could give such seltzers a try. Ive only suggested seasonal flavors for the holiday drinks and have offered substitutions if you dont have them on hand.

Sparkling hard cider. Many cideries are also making hard seltzer, or sparkling cider. Those are more apple-flavored than many of the traditional spiked seltzer flavors, but they work great in sangrias and tropical drinks. While sparkling cider is not technically a hard seltzer, Im open to the substitution if you have it on hand!

Hard lemonade. Some of our go-to brands, such as Truly, have lemonade flavors that are particularly nice in the frozen cocktails. But brands like Mikes Hard Lemonade have been around forever and are essentially the same thing. You can absolutely use those as well!

Trust your taste buds and use the flavors that you like. If you dont like pineapple, swap it out for another flavor. If youre not sure how to choose a substitution, just use a flavor you do like from the same variety pack. The other flavors that come in the box are often good choices.

The recipes in this book range from classic martinis to jungle juice. If you want to make them all, you may need to start stocking your bar. Classic liquors are always good to have around, but make sure to check recipes for some of the more out-there punches, which use some less common liquors and liqueurs!

While there are plenty more liquors out there that you can have on your bar cart, the necessary ones for this book are listed below. Believe it or not, its not just clear liquors on this list!

• Bourbon
• Brandy
• Cognac
• Cointreau or triple sec
• Gin
• Rum (dark and light)
• Rye
• Tequila (the blanco, or silver, variety)
• Vermouth (dry and sweet varieties)
• Vodka

I hope that this is obvious, but dont go using that bottle of wine youve been saving since your trip to Paris for the recipes in this book. Use wines that you like, but certainly dont spend more than $20 on a bottle. Here are some suggested wines to have around:

• Prosecco or other sparkling white wine
• Red wine, ideally Spanish for sangria
• Ros
• White wine

You dont need to go crazy here, but you may need some less common liqueurs to round out these drinks. Its always smart to have a bottle (or two) of Aperol at the readyevery party loves a spritz!

• Aperol (a bitter, bright orange Italian apritif)
• Blue curaao (a bright blue liqueur from Curaao thats flavored with laraha, a native bitter orange)
• Campari (a bitter, dark red Italian apritif)
• Coconut-flavored rum (such as Malibu)
• Peach schnapps

Its not just about the booze! Youll need some nonalcoholic additions to make your cocktails complete. This list has everything, from your classic mixers (like orange juice and cranberry juice cocktail) to the unexpected (like soy sauce and vanilla ice cream).