This is one gorgeous cocktail to add to your roster of 4th of July recipes. A simple cranberry vodka mixed drink is electrified by dramatic blue ice cubes infused with hibiscus flavor.

Make your blue ice cubes a few days before so they are ready to drop into your cranberry mixer day of. Freeze the blue water in regular ice cube trays or get creative with different shapes. Serve in vintage champagne glasses to display your patriotic cocktails.

A brilliant Australian company has come up with a natural alternative to blue food coloring or blue Curaçao which is often filled with additives and is certainly an acquired taste. These B’lure cocktail mixers turn your drinks blue and red depending on whether you add citrus and at the same time deliver a very subtle herbal hibiscus flavor.

Red and Blue Cranberry Vodka Cocktail

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1/4 cup agave nectar
4 oz vodka 
4 cups cranberry juice 
2 tablespoons B’lure blue hibiscus concentrate (or replace 6 of the 12 ounces of water with blueberry juice)

Directions

In a pitcher, combine 12 ounces of water with 2 tablespoons blue hibiscus concentrate. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Stir the cranberry juice, vodka and agave together in a pitcher or large jar. Divide into cocktail glasses and add two blue ice cubes to each.

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Photos by Ally-Jane 

The post 4th of July Recipes to Impress: Red Cranberry Vodka Cocktail Recipe with Blue Ice Cubes appeared first on EcoSalon.

The Moscow Mule is a popular cocktail with mixologists and drinkers.  Made with ginger beer, lime and vodka and served elegantly in a dazzling copper mug. But for something divine, change up your Moscow Mule recipe by replacing the vodka with tequila and muddle a slice of jalapeño at the bottom of your glass.

Ginger beer and lime are a match made in heaven. These two ingredients are married perfectly in so many classic cocktails. A sweet and refreshing Dark and Stormy mixes ginger beer, lime and dark rum.

To celebrate Cinco De Mayo and the coming of spring, leave the freezing winter of Moscow for the warm spring sunshine of Mexico and swap out the vodka for tequila for a Mexican Mule. Add muddled jalapeños peppers for some kick and this cocktail will have you and your guests toasting “Ole!” in no time.

Make sure you select a hearty, unfiltered ginger beer for a spicy ginger flavor to mix perfectly with the jalapeño peppers. Because this cocktail is stirred, not shaken, make sure that the tequila you use is very cold. I keep my tequila in the freezer…just in case.

Mexican Mule

Makes 1 6 ounce cocktail over ice 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 shots (1.5 ounces) tequila (very cold)
1 shot (1 ounce ) fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)
1 jalapeño 
4 ounces ginger beer (very cold)

Directions 

Slice the jalapeño into very thin pieces and add two (remove the seeds) to a highball class or mason jar. Add the tequila and use a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon to crush the jalapeño.

Add the lime juice and stir. Add 3 large ice cube then top off with the lime juice and ginger beer and stir gently.

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The post Moscow Mule Recipe Redux: The Mexican Mule with Tequila appeared first on EcoSalon.

Memorial Day is just around the corner and nothing screams warm weather and an impending summer quite like a fruity gesture. The following four cocktail recipes gear you up for a buzz-worthy summer. And these cocktail recipes are not only delicious, they are also good to your waistline! The ingredients are fresh and the recipes easy to prepare. Enjoy!

1. Watermelon Margarita

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen watermelon
• 1.5 ounces tequila
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 packet (or a few drops) stevia
• 2 ounces lime seltzer

Directions: Blend all together and serve in a margarita glass rimmed with a salt/sugar mix.

2. Mango Berry Sangria

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of white wine
• 1 cup fresh apple juice
• ½ cup orange liquor
• 1 cup mango puree
• 1 cup of assorted berries
• ¼ cup lime juice
• Handful of fresh mint leaves
• 1 ½ cups ginger ale
• 1 lime, sliced
• Ice
• Stevia for added sweetness (optional)

Directions: In a pitcher, stir together the apple juice, orange liquor, mango puree, berries, lime juice and mint. Cover the pitcher and let sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Before serving, remove the mint leaves and fill the pitcher with ice. Then add in the ginger ale, lime slices, and wine. Stir until combined. For additionally sweetness, add stevia. Garnish with fresh mint.

3. Sparkling Barefoot Peach Bellini

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 3 fresh peaches (or 2 cups frozen sliced peaches)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoon agave syrup
• 1 bottle Champagne or sparkling wine, chilled
• Sliced fresh peaches and mint for garnish

Directions: Puree the fresh or frozen peaches with the lemon and agave until smooth. Pass through a sieve if using fresh peaches in order to separate the peels from the mix. Pour into a large pitcher and add sparkling wine. Stir and serve in champagne flutes. Garnish with sliced fresh peaches or fresh mint.

4. Limoncello Collins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces Limoncello
• 6 ounces gin
• ½ cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• Paper-thin slices of lemon (10-12)
• Ice
• Club water
• Mint for garnish

Directions: Mix together the Limoncello, gin and lemon juice in a pitcher. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Line glasses with the slices of lemon, pressing them to the sides. Fill with ice and divide the Limoncello mixture among the four glasses. Top with club soda.

Aylin Erman is founder of GlowKitchen. There she shares step-by-step picture recipes of her plant-based creations. Aylin lives and works in Istanbul as a writer and editor at the country’s first-ever green-living and sustainability platform, Yesilist. Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter to keep up with food news and recipes.

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Photo Credit: David Leong

The post 4 Swanky (and Skinny!) Memorial Day Cocktail Recipes appeared first on EcoSalon.