Six Fabulous Frozen Dessert Cocktails

Dessert or a drink? How about both in one glass?

There’s something delightful about a frozen drink that’s as pretty, palate-pleasing and carefully constructed as a fancy dessert. They don’t have to be overly sweet. The key difference is thoughtfulness: “taking something basic that everyone affogato-1 understands and building it out to a memorable experience. In this case, sometimes less is more, but a balanced recipe, great ingredients,

elevated glassware, and creative presentation tells a story in itself,” Andrew Pollard, Beverage Innovation Director at Monin,tells Bar Business.

Bartenders are creating sophisticated new takes on frozen cocktails that incorporate fresh, plant-based and housemade ingredients. A high-performance commercial blender is the last ingredient you need to craft frozen dessert drinks with the perfect consistency: no grainy texture or chunks of ice. Consider putting your own spin on a few of these drinks and adding them to your menu.

Frozen Banana Split Cocktail

Banana plus chocolate plus vanilla, mmm. The classic sundae is just as good in cocktail form. This recipe from The Spruce Eats blends chocolate and strawberry vodkas, banana slices, ice cream, milk, and pineapple juice. Freeze the banana first for a creamier drink profile.

For a lighter, vegan take, Cruzan Run’s version omits the dairy and combines three flavors of rum (banana, vanilla and strawberry) with pineapple juice and cream of coconut. The recipe suggests serving over ice, but we think this would be even better blended.

Frozen Tiramisu Cocktail

Tiramisu traditionally contains rum or another liquor, making it easy to translate into frozen cocktail form. Experiment with proportions of espresso syrup, coffee liqueur, cream, and ice. Monin offers a non-alcoholic recipe that’s supremely easy: vanilla ice cream mix, cold brew coffee concentrate, and tiramisu-flavored syrup.

Frozen Grasshopper

The Grasshopper — a bright green, frozen mixture of creme de menthe, creme de cacao, heavy cream, and ice — is one of those drinks that’s not ordered often but is passionately beloved. Punch recently organized a panel of bartenders to taste 10 fresh takes on the Grasshopper.

What makes a great Grasshopper? The texture, the balance between the mint and chocolate, and the temperature, bartender Jon Mullen told Punch. The winning combinations relied on liqueurs by Tempus Fugit, a company that recreates rare spirits and liqueurs. One version added vanilla ice cream, and a few punched up the drink with Fernet Branca.

Frozen Key Lime Colada

This mash-up of key lime pie and a piña colada is like summer in a glass. Blend key lime and coconut rums, pineapple and orange juices, cream of coconut and ice in Blue Chair Bay Rum’s version.

Another popular frozen dessert drink is the key lime martini: vodka, vanilla liqueur, key lime and coconut milk (or a creamy alternative). Don’t forget to add graham cracker crumbs to the rim of the glass.

Frozen Affogato

“The magic of an affogato is that even a bad one can be very good, but a very good one can change your life,” Eric Kim writes in his New York Times homage to the drink. An affogato, which means “drowned” in Italian, has just two ingredients: hot espresso and frozen gelato. As the gelato melts, the drink melds.

There are endless variations on the concept — just switch up the flavor of the gelato or other frozen component. Here’s an Affogato Ubriaco (“Drunken Affogato”) that blends coffee and gelato with rum and Kahlua. Epicurious suggests a refreshing Campari affogato with lemon sorbet. This Caribbean Affogato Cocktail begins with a base of blended frozen banana, vanilla, coconut milk, cacao and agave syrup.

Frozen Mudslide

Last but not least, the Mudslide is known as a way-too-rich dessert cocktail made with ice cream or heavy cream, Bailey’s, Kahlua, vodka and chocolate. A good Mudslide doesn’t have to be heavy, however. Kahlua’s own recipe omits the ice cream and simply combines equal parts of the three liquors.

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