While sitting on the porch in the evening surrounded by your friends, sometimes deep questions about life pop up in the conversation. Where do you see yourself in five years? What person brings a smile to your face no matter what dilemmas you are currently embroiled in? What do you call a popsicle and a cocktail hybrid?
You read that right, and YES, it is an important question. Are they Popsi-tails? Cocksicle? (Uh, that one is vetoed..). It is true, each option sounds worse than the last. Instead, we can opt for “refreshingly delicious frozen libations”.
My first frozen libation popsicle was at a Spirits Fest in New Jersey. Kyle had his first popsicle-cocktail at a.bar in Philly (their sister restaurant, a.kitchen, introduced him to the Ridiculously Crispy Smashed Potatoes). Philly’s a.bar has an ever-rotating selection of boozy popsicles, creating quite a buzz around town. When Kyle visited, their popsicle of the day was a vodka-grapefruit juice-and-rooibos tea pop dipped in a coupe glass of sparkling rose wine. That’s a lot in pop, eh? However, it proved to be refreshing, delicious, and the perfect antidote to the heatwave that was slowly melting the city.
This was a flavor-packed pop! After one taste of it, the floodgates burst open and his mind was swirling with ideas regarding all the flavor combinations for popsicle-based drinks. Now, the inaugural taste of the buzz pop at a.bar happened the same week as we posted our French 75 Slushie. So, the popsicle post would have to wait a short time to debut – there is only so much space for frozen cocktail-dessert hybrids in one summer, right?
Wrong! The popsicle cocktail won out – and here we are. Kyle was focused on crafting a cherry-based popsicle, a fun summer flavor. Sour cherries were his preference, but they are usually only in season for a few weeks, so he incorporated fresh lime juice into the popsicle puree to recreate the sweet-to-tart balance of the sour cherries. The cherry and lime combo paired really nicely with the gin, the preferred liquor in his repertoire (surprise, surprise) while brainstorming flavor ideas for his pop.
The use of fresh cherries are quite delicious; however, the prep work for them in recipes can be quite painstaking. To pare down these troubles, Kyle resorted to a technique that he learned last summer while making Old Fashioned-Inspired Sangria. Instead of pitting each cherry individually, you cook together some sugar with the cherries (pits, skins and all!), until the cherries have burst and create a jammy looking cherry syrup. From there, you simply strain the mixture, getting rid of all the pits in one fell swoop, saving a lot of time and aggravation – and stained fingers!
Once the cherry syrup was made, a bit of fresh lime juice, water, tonic and a bit of gin were added. It is true, liquor does not freeze solid, which is why many ice creams call for a splash of vodka – to keep the ice cream from firming up. So, Kyle used the tiniest bit of gin in the popsicle base, figuring the rest of the booze could be incorporated into the drink on the side.
Well, no, that didn’t work out. The first batch resulted in a cherry slush (still delicious, just not a popsicle). He made a subsequent batch – completely booze-free to yield the perfect frozen cherry-lime popsicle. The popsicles at a.bar contained vodka, so we are curious to know their secret to fully frozen, boozy pops – most likely it is an industrial freezer, OR, witchcraft. For the sake of home preparation, the booze-on-the-side method works just great!
There are times when happy little cooking accidents lead good things! In this case it led to having a batch of family-friendly popsicles that kids of all ages could enjoy. The grown-up libation embellishments can just be on the side for the adults to savor.
Dipping your popsicle in some gin with a splash of tonic water (of course, we know, we like to recommend gin and tonic into A LOT), but, much like the flavor combinations of the popsicles themselves, the cocktails possibilities are endless! Vodka/tonic, some white wine, or some bubbly (following in the a.bar’s footsteps) would all be great ways to indulge. Enjoy your pop-tail, buzz pop, or boozy pop – well, whatever you wish to name them. Cheers!
- 1 lb cherries (about 3 cups), stemmed
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice (from about two limes)
- ½ cup tonic water
- ½ cup water
- To serve: gin and more tonic water, if desired
- Combine cherries and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir to coat cherries in sugar. Bring to a simmer, then use a potato masher or the back of a large spoon to squash the cherries and release their juice. Cook at a simmer, stirring occasionally, until cherries are soft and start to break down, about 15 minutes.
- Set a strainer over a medium bowl and pour cherry mixture into the strainer. Press down on the solids until all the juice has gone through the strainer. Discard solids. Add the lime juice, tonic and water, then stir to combine.
- Fill your popsicle molds with the cherry-lime mixture (it should fill six 4-ounce popsicle molds). Freeze until completely firm, about 4 hours. Run popsicle molds under warm water for 5 to 10 seconds to make them easier to unmold.
- To serve “grown-up style” - add an ounce or so of gin and a couple ounce of tonic water to a wide-mouthed glass. Dip the popsicle in the drink and enjoy!
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