Frosty Bourbon Slush

Frosty, citrusy, sweet, and boozy, a Bourbon Slush is a frozen drink that’s easy to make in advance.  Rock your summer cocktail hour.

I don’t know why, after so many years, I recently started thinking about my mother’s Brandy Slush again.  I even texted my siblings to see if either of them had the recipe.

A favorite party beverage back in the 70s, Mom would make up a giant tray then scoop out glassfuls as party guests conversed on the patio.  Similar to today’s Bourbon Slush, the refreshing frozen drink was always the hit of a summer party!

So it must have been fate when my daughter and I went to Mackinac Island over Memorial Day, popped into Mary’s Bistro Draught House and found they were serving up Bourbon Slushies. 

Even better, the bartender confided that they were made simply of Orange Juice, Lemonade, Sweet Tea and Bourbon.  Yup, can’t argue when life gives you a Bourbon Slush, complete with ingredient list! 

How I Reduced Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup

When I set out to duplicate the Bourbon Slush I’d tried, I noticed that most recipes included Frozen Lemonade Concentrate, which usually has high fructose corn syrup as the biggest ingredient.  And if that wasn’t enough, they also had up to a couple cups of added sugar.

I happened to have some True Lemon Lemonade mix, sweetened (mostly) with stevia, so that (plus 2 cups of water) was an easy substitute for the lemonade.  You could probably accomplish the same thing by juicing a few lemons into the same 2 cups of water and sweetening to taste with sugar or stevia.

Then I added sugar a little at a time, until it tasted like I remembered.  Of course, using a sugar substitute like allulose or erythritol is also an option here.

Finally I noticed that some recipes topped the mixture with lemon lime soda or ginger ale when serving.  Since this was not an ingredient in the slushie I’d had–and I don’t keep soda on hand, I nixed that as well.  If you do want to cut the alcohol some, however, go ahead and stir in some soda.

Tips & FAQs

I am not a Bourbon connoisseur and just used what I had on hand.  But all the online comments said that given all of the other ingredients, don’t bother to use a high quality Bourbon. 

I put this into a 9 x 13 lidded lasagna pan to freeze.  I figured this would make scooping easy and speed up the freezing time.  The other thing I did to facilitate freezing was to stir the mix periodically as it froze.  By moving the frosty edge mixture into the middle I figure I cut an hour or two off the freezing time and possibly made it freeze slightly less hard.

Once done, I scooped myself up a glass.  And it was just as good as I remembered!

More Cocktail Recipes:

• Bomb Pop Cocktail by Our Crafty Mom
• Adult Capri Suns by Easy Recipes for One
• Prickly Pear Margaritas by Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box
• Bee’s Kiss Cocktail by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Campari Spritz by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Dill Pickle Martini by The Best Drink Recipes

Bourbon Slush

Frosty, citrusy, sweet, and boozy, a Bourbon Slush is a frozen drink that's easy to make in advance. Rock your summer cocktail hour.

Author: Inger

5 from 1 vote

Print

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

freezing time 8 hours hrs

Course Beverage

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Calories 220 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• Low or no sugar powdered lemonade mix--enough to make 2 quarts e.g. for True Lemon, 4 individual drink packets (since each makes 16 ounces)
• 2 cups water
• 12 ounce frozen orange juice concentrate
• 2 cups bourbon
• 4 Cups black tea prepared, unsweetened since sugar added separately
• 3/4 cup sugar or sweetener
• Optional garnish sliced orange, maraschino cherry

Instructions

 

• Mix together all of the ingredients, then put in the freezer to harden.
• Scoop a scant cup of frozen mix into a rocks glass, stir, then garnish as desired.

Notes

Using a sweetener such as monkfruit/erythritol or allulose will reduce the calories by about 50 for each serving.

 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 220kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 1gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.02gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.03gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.02gSodium: 8mgPotassium: 250mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 129IUVitamin C: 49mgCalcium: 14mgIron: 0.2mg

I am not a health professional and nutrition data is calculated programatically. Accuracy may vary with product selection, calculator accuracy, etc. Consult a professional for the best information.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

• ← Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion Pizza with Pears
• Tropical Blue Hawaii Cocktail →