The Five O'Clock: Get Frosted
Does the phrase “Let’s go outside” make you start to sweat? If so, let us introduce you to a few frozen drink options from four ‘Burgh hangouts known for fresh and frosty blender drinks. Our offering runs the gamut from a crisp, slushie Aperol Spritz, to a fruit-filled frozen Tangerini, and a white-wine-based Friesling.
Now break out your blender and let’s get this party started.
Frozen Aperol Spritz
By Cameron Lehman of Muddy Waters Oyster Bar
Bitter, bright,and highlyInstagram-able. Serve it in a frosty wineglass with striped paper strawand a big orange slice for the full effect.
Makes 1 cocktail
Ingredients
2 oz. Aperol
3 oz. Prosecco
1 oz. orange juice
½ oz. simple syrup (dissolve equal parts sugar in hot water)
2 cups ice
Directions: Add ingredients into a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into a frozen wine glass. Garnish with an orange slice.
Recipe Notes: Lehman tells us this is what he’d blend up at home while entertaining friends. It’s fun, casual and laid-back—exactly what a summer party should be.
Fernet & Caffeine
By Cameron Lehman of Muddy Waters Oyster Bar
Equal parts brunch beverage and nightcap material, it’s bitter and sweet, with cold-brew coffee, Coca-Cola, and fernet.
Makes 1 cocktail
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. Fernet Branca
1 oz. cold brew coffee
½ oz. simple syrup
1 ½ cups of frozen Coca-Cola ice cubes
Directions: Add ingredients to a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Serve in frozen rocks glass.
Recipe Notes: This recipe is inspired by one of Lehman’s best friends and regulars, who would always ask for a fernet and cold brew cocktail at the bar. Lehman added soda for sweetness and a new drink was born.
Frozen Painkiller
By Amy Kluczkowski of Harris Grill
Instructions for enjoying this classic tiki cocktail: Find a beach. Apply SPF, hat, and sunglasses. Commence chill mode.
Makes two larger cocktails
Ingredients:
4 oz. gold rum
2 oz. spiced rum
4 ½ oz. pineapple juice
8 ½ ounces fresh-squeezed orange juice
2 oz. coconut cream
Ice cubes
Ground nutmeg
Directions: Add ingredients to a blender. Add ice until it reaches the top of the liquid and blend until smooth. Garnish with nutmeg.
Recipe Notes: Aside from a few tweaks, the Harris Grill team stayed true to the traditional flavor of this beachy blend. An important piece of advice: “Garnish with LOTS of fresh groundnutmeg—more than you think!”
Frozen Tangerini
By Amy Kluczkowski of Harris Grill
This cutie is a crowd-pleaser. Fresh and fruit-forward, sweet but never cloying, and oh-so easy to drink.
Makes two larger cocktails
Ingredients:
2 oz. vodka
5 oz. peach vodka
3 ½ oz. triple sec
1 ½ oz. lemon juice
3 ½ oz. tangerine juice, if available; can substitute fresh-squeezed orange juice if necessary
½ oz. grenadine
1 oz. passion fruit puree
1 Tbsp. sugar
Ice cubes
Directions: Add ingredients to a blender. Add ice until it reaches the top of the liquid and blend until smooth. Garnish with a tangerine slice.
Recipe Notes: This is one of Harris Grill’s most popular summer drinks. Of course, nothing could top the Frozen Cosmo, but the Tangerini is a close second.
Friesling
Recipe by Cecil Usher of Lorelei
Move over Frosé. With German Riesling as its base, the drink sings with floral and stone fruit notes. It’s been on the menu at Lorelei since day one.
Makes 1 cocktail
Ingredients:
½ oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
½ oz. apricot liqueur
¼ oz. elderflower liqueur
¼ oz. raw agave syrup
2 oz. decent Riesling
2 dashes orange bitters
¾ cup ice cubes
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a blender pitcher. Blend until smooth.Pour into a coupe or other stemmed glass. Garnish with a wildflower or whatever you see fit, and sip.
Recipe Notes: This recipe first appeared on Lorelei's opening menu in the summer of 2018. Here’s atip from the Lorelei team: “If you don't have apricot or elderflower liqueur—or even if you do!—try substituting other floral and fruit liqueurs.”
Derby Daiquiri
Original Recipe by Mariano Licudine, Mai-Kai, 1959; Adapted by Hidden Harbor, 2019
A classic daiquiri meets the nostalgic flavor of Orange Julius. Try to sip slowly. The Hidden Harbor team tells us this blend “goes down easily—perhaps too easily.”
Makes 1 cocktail
Ingredients:
1 ¾ oz. light Puerto Rican rum
¼ oz. dark Jamaican rum
¾ oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 oz. fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 oz. honey syrup (1:1 mix of honey and water)
¼ oz. orange liqueur
3 drops real vanilla extract
1 cup ice cubes
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a blender pitcher. Blend until smooth. Pour into a stemmed goblet. Garnish with a mint sprig and orange slice, or whatever tropical garnish you have on hand, and sip through a wide straw.
Recipe Notes: The teamat Hidden Harbor shares the story of this tropical beauty: “LegendaryMai-Kai barman Mariano Licudine created this orange-y Daiquiri riff for the Florida Derby horserace in 1959, and then used it to win a major cocktail competition sponsored by the Rums of Puerto Rico. We tweaked his original recipe in several ways, which together give it a bit of an Orange Julius kiss. Beware: goes down easily—perhaps too easily.”
Tired of making cocktails at home? Check out our rundown of our favorite restaurants and bars offering cocktails to-go.
STORY BY NICOLE BARLEY // PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURA PETRILLA // STYLING BY JUSTIN MATASE AND KEITH RECKER
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