[1] Alcohol slush drinks made in the Zoku Slush Maker (photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma). From top to bottom: Bellini Slush, Gin & Tonic Slush, Screwdriver Slush. [2] Turn your favorite liqueur into a slush (photo courtesy Godiva Liqueurs).

Call it an Icee®, Slurpee*, slush or slushy*, adult versions of shaved ice drinks with alcohol are certainly an delightful advance on the shaved ice or snow with syrup enjoyed in China 4,000 years ago.

This is the frozen dessert that traveled to Persia and later to Italy. On the dinner table along with plenty of wine, surely someone must have splashed some alcohol on it. (Arabic people drank alcohol until the early 7th century C.E., when the Holy Prophet Muhammad proscribed it.)

(That shaved ice evolved into granita, sorbet, snow cones and modern shaved ice (a form of granita). A Florentine Renaissance Man adapted the idea and made the first ice cream. Here’s the history of ice cream.)

Then there’s the present: A company called Beyond Zero has developed a technology that will freeze alcohol. It will be available soon, and will not likely be priced for home use (unless your home has 100 rooms).
 
FROZEN DRINKS: AMERICA LOVES THEM!

The beginning of the American frozen drink trend, frozen Margaritas, started in Houston around 1935 with the blender Margarita.

It reached its zenith with the invention of the frozen Margarita machine in 1971, which greatly enhanced the demand for Mexican restaurants. The history of that machine is below.

Then there’s the present: A company called Beyond Zero has developed a technology that will freeze alcohol, but it’s not yet available and will not likely be priced for home use (unless your home is a mansion).
 
SLUSH DRINKS WITH LOW-PROOF ALCOHOL

The alcohol’s proof is double the ABV, alcohol by volume. So if a wine is 12% alcohol, it is 24 proof. Standard spirits are 80-proof: too much alcohol to freeze in a home freezer. You need to take some extra steps.

So first, let’s look at lower-proof spirits that will freeze into slush:

 
Mixologists nationwide are creating recipes for low-proof cocktails. You can turn them into slush cocktails. Here are low-proof recipes from Liquor.com

Even the strongest is 26 proof; and light beer is just 3 proof. Here’s more on ABV, or alcohol by volume. You double the ABV to get the proof.
 
HOW TO MAKE SLUSHIE WITH 80 PROOF SPIRITS

You can’t use high-proof spirits and liqueurs straight to make slush. You have to lower them to 40 proof or less.

Do this by diluting the spirit: with water, a carbonated beverage or juice, even iced tea or coffee. If you dilute it beyond a 1:1 ratio, you can bring the mix to 40 proof, which will freeze (we used a 2:1 ratio).

You can make, for example:

 
We used a 2:1 ratio of non-alcohol (orange juice) to spirit (vodka) for our Screwdriver Slush and a 1:1 ratio of peach nectar and Prosecco for a Bellini Slush, since wines are under 13% proof.
 
HOW TO MAKE AN ALCOHOL SLUSHIE

Technique #1: Combine the alcohol in a blender with ice cubes or better, with crushed ice.

Technique #2: Pour the alcohol into ice cube trays and allow to freeze thoroughly (at least four hours). The cubes won’t freeze rock-hard like ice cubes. Tip: Smaller slush cubes will melt more quickly than large ice cubes; it’s a matter of personal preference.

Technique #3: The easy way to do it is to buy a Zoku Slush Maker; but one 8-ounce slush maker is $19.99. That could be for two people; but if you want more portions, you need to purchase others.

Technique #4: The easiest way is to invest $30 in an electric shaved ice machine).

Technique #5: The hard way is to make a granita.

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*Icee®, and Slurpee® are trademarked names. You can use them at home when presenting your drink to guests, but the names cannot be used commercially (e.g., at a bar or restaurant) without a license from the owner. Instead, use the generic, slush or slushy. It’s the same deal with Popsicle®, the generic of which is ice pop.

†Check the bottle. Some favorites, like Grand Marnier, are not liqueurs but liqueur blended with brandy and a higher proof (70% for Grand Marnier). Even the generic triple sec orange liqueur ranges from 30 to 60 proof.

‡St-Germain liqueur is Saint-Germain l elderflower liqueur is our personal favorite and the best-selling liqueur in history. It is a favorite mixer with sparkling wines.
 

The original Margarita on the rocks began appearing in bars and restaurants along the U.S.-Mexico border in the late 1930s. An improvement on the first electric (1922), the Waring Blender appeared in 1935.

The Waring, which could efficiently chop ice, enabled the creation of “frozen” drinks”—a conventional cocktail made in a blender with chopped ice.

By the 1960s, slushy soft drinks (non-alcoholic) had become the craze among kids and adults alike. The concept and the machine to make them was invented by in the 1950s by Omar Knedlik, a Dairy Queen franchisee. He did not have a soda fountain, so he served semi-frozen bottled soft drinks, which became slushy and were immensely popular.

This gave him the idea to create a machine that made slushy sodas, resulting in the ICEE Company. They were a huge hit, and in 1966 7-Eleven purchased machines to sell their proprietary-brand Slurpees.

Yet no one made the leap to using the machine for frozen cocktails.

At that time, frozen drinks were made by bartenders in a blender with ice cubes.

But it wasn’t a great solution.

One day in 1971, Martinez stopped for a cup of coffee at a 7-Eleven and saw the Slurpee machine. The light bulb flashed on, and Martinez bought and retrofitted an old soft-serve machine to make frozen Margaritas.
 
The rest is history. The frozen Margarita was responsible for the growth of tequila in America, as well as the growth of Tex-Mex cuisine to go with all those frozen Margaritas.

According to Brown-Forman, in 2006 the Margarita surpassed the Martini as the most ordered alcoholic beverage, representing 17% of all mixed-drink sales.

Martinez’ original machine is now in the Smithsonian. You can see a photo here.

[1] Salsa-based gazpacho (photo © R.W. Knudsen).

[2] Shrimp cocktail with salsa; add avocado and lime wedge for a “Mexican shrimp cocktail” (photo © Mackenzie Ltd).

[3] Grab your favorite salsa from the shelf and check out the 15 ideas below (photo © Mrs. Renfro’s).

There is no one salsa recipe: Every region of Latin America has its own style, with recipes divided between tomato-based red salsas and tomatillo-based green salsas. Within each category are many different salsa styles (see our Salsa Glossary).

You can find dozens of ways to use salsa beyond Tex-Mex. It’s a great pantry item to grab when you need to make—or fix—something, as you’ll see in the list below this salsa recipe.
 
BONUS: ¼ cup of tomato-based salsa counts as a one serving of vegetables!

See many more uses for salsa below.
 
 
RECIPE: SALSA GAZPACHO

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. ROLL the room temperature lemon or lime on the counter, pressing down. This will release more juice.

2. PURÉE the salsa in a blender or food processor. Mix with the other ingredients (except garnishes) in a mixing bowl.

3. REFRIGERATE for an hour or more, covered, to allow the flavors to meld.

4. POUR into serving bowls or cups, garnish and serve.
 
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*Use diced avocado, chopped fresh herbs, carrot coins or radish slices, corn kernels…just look in the fridge and the pantry.

Salsa is a versatile ingredient. Beyond Tex-Mex cuisine, you can use different types of salsa for even more variety. For example, you can use a sweeter fruit salsa to make omelet toppings/fillings or sauces for grilled meats, even as a garnish for pound cake or sorbet.
 
Condiment, Dip, Garnish Or Spread

 
Flavor Booster

 
Have other ideas for salsa? Let us know!

[4] Make a queso dip with salsa and cheese sauce (a quick substitute is Velveeta; photo © El Original | NYC [now closed]).

[5] This “Chicken fajita” grilled cheese adds a layer of salsa, which also works on a plain grilled cheese sandwich. Here’s the recipe from Closet Cooking (photo © Closet Cooking).

[6] A salsa-topped burger or cheeseburger hits the spot (photo © Pace Salsa).

[1] Grilled mushrooms and grilled pineapple with baby arugula and shaved parmesan. Enjoy the earthy mushrooms with a darker beer: amber lager, porter, or stout (photo courtesy Urban Accents). [2] Corn should be enjoyed with a lighter beer: American lager, German wheat beer or saison. Here’s the recipe for this delicious plate of elote, Mexican corn on the cob (photo courtesy Good Eggs | SF.

Even in the depths of winter, where there is no fresh produce in our region, we go to buy apple cider, applesauce, baked goods, kimchi, pickles and anything else they make.

The folks at (Let’s Grab a Beer) took the opportunity to pair beer styles with particular types of produce. They selected some summer fruits and vegetables and paired them with beer styles that bring out the flavors in the food.

For your next cook-out or hang-out, try these recommendations and see if you agree.

If you need an explanation of a particular beer style, head to our Beer Glossary.
 
Chile Peppers
Beer Styles: American Lager or IPA.
Pairing Notes: Spicy, hoppy beers are a great choice for chiles, whether served raw in a dish, grilled shishito peppers or roasted poppers (stuffed jalapeños). Lager can help to tame the heat if the dish is too fiery.
 
Corn
Beer Styles: American Lager, German Wheat Beer or Saison.
Pairing Notes: A light and slightly sweet beer will complement each bite of the sweet corn and salty butter. Try it with everything from corn salad to elote, Mexican seasoned corn on the cob.
 
Green Beans
Beer Styles: English Brown Ale or Belgian Wheat Beer (Witbier).
Pairing Notes: Green beans tend to go well with beers that are both malty and sweet like the English Brown Ale. If you prefer your green beans with a citrusy dressing, try a Belgian Wheat Beer instead.
 
Grilled Mushrooms
Beer Styles: Amber Lager, Porter, Stout.
Notes: The roasted flavor of malted barley in these darker beers complements the earthiness of mushrooms. Try them with grilled stuffed mushrooms, or in a portabella salad with feta, this one with goat cheese or a grilled corn salad (no cheese). For a great beer snack or warm-up to dinner, try this Mexican layered salad, great as a beer snack.
 
Melons
Beer Styles: American Light Lager, German Wheat Beer, or Belgian Wheat Beer.
Pairing Notes: The fruity flavors produced by the yeast in German Wheat beers will often match up well with certain melon flavor profiles.

For a cheese course, snack, or an accent to other recipes, try these pairings:
 
Acidic Cheeses (e.g. Sharp Cheddar)
Beer Styles: American Pale Ale, IPA, Porter.
Pairing Notes: Sharp cheeses are generally more bitter, and thus well suited to the bitterness found in hoppier beers. For some contrast to an acidic cheese, also try porter.
 
Nutty Cheeses (e.g. Gruyère)
Beer Styles: American IPA, Dark Lager, Oktoberfest Ale.
Pairing Notes: For harder cheeses that have a nutty aftertaste, pick a beer that is more barley-forward yet balanced. For contrast, try an American pale ale.
 
Tangy Cheeses (e.g. Goat Cheese)
Beer Styles: American Light Lager, Belgian Wheat Beer.
Pairing Notes: The fruity and citrusy flavors of wheat beers sync up beautifully with tangy cheeses. These bright, carbonated beers are refreshing in warmer weather.
 
Nuts
Beer Styles: Amber Lager, English Brown Ale.
Pairing Notes: For nuts that are both salted and roasted, go with a darker beer that has some complementary roasted barley flavors. These two styles also have a refreshingly crisp finish.
 
Now, put some pairings together to see what you like best.

[1] Melon dishes like this honeydew and cucumber salad are delicious with wheat beer and light lagers (photo courtesy Good Eggs). [2] The best tomatoes of the summer—heirloom tomatoes—are splendid with an American ale, lager or IPA. [3] A classic Italian dessert, strawberries with a balsamic drizzle (and optional shaved Parmesan) pair best with citrussy beers and dark beers. Here, the berries are served with raw sugar and lemon zest for dipping (photo courtesy Driscoll’s.

Rum can be a confusing spirit for the everyday consumer. What’s silver versus white rum? What’s silver versus gold rum? Which one should you use for a rum cocktail?

The 8 different types of rum are below. But first:
 
 
THE YEAR’S 15 RUM HOLIDAYS

 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF RUM

Sugar cane grew wild in parts of Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated sometime around 8,000 B.C.E., probably in New Guinea. It arrived in India, where better extraction and purifying techniques were developed to refine the cane juice into granulated crystals.

Sugar then spread quickly. By the sixth century C.E., sugar cultivation had reached Persia; and, from there to elsewhere in the Mediterranean, brought by Arab expansion and travel.

In 1425, sugar arrived in Madiera and the Canary Islands. In 1493, his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus brought sugar cane seedlings. They were grown, first in Hispaniola and then on other islands. The main sugar-exporting countries in the Caribbean today are Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Guyana and Jamaica.

In the 17th century, Caribbean sugar cane planters produced sugar by crushing sugar cane, extracting and boiling the cane juice, then leaving the boiled syrup to cure in clay pots. A viscous liquid would seep out of the pots, leaving the sugar in the pot.

The seepage was molasses—and no one wanted the thick, cloying by-product. It was fed to slaves and livestock, but a monumental amount of molasses was still left over. Sugar was a great cash crop for European planters, but two pounds of sugar yielded a pound of molasses!

There were no customers or known uses for molasses, so the planters dumped it into the ocean: very sweet industrial waste.

Finally, slaves figured out a use, and a great one at that. They fermented the molasses and distilled it into alcohol, to yield what became known as rum (source).

Then, playing around with the now-valued molasses, it was discovered to be as good as sugar in baked goods, and more flavorful.
 
 
HOW RUM GOT ITS NAME

No one knows. The origin of the name rum (ron in Spanish, rhum in French) is unclear. Historians have offered these possibilities:

 
Our vote is for saccharum, sugar, since rum is made from sugar cane.
 
 
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF RUM

There are several types of rum, known as grades of rum, in the industry.

[2] Add the basic grade, known a light, silver, white and other names, to an iced coffee for Jamaican Iced Coffee (both photos courtesy Appleton Estates rum).

[3] A Cuba Libre, known by many Americans as a Rum & Coke (photo © Bacardi).

Aged rums will differ based on the type of barrel and length of time in the barrel. Anejo means old in Spanish; Extra-Anejo is the most aged rum you can buy.

The better rums are made with high-quality molasses, which contains a higher percentage of fermentable sugars and a lower percentage of chemicals.*

[5] The classic rum drink: the Daiquiri (photo © Tempered Spirits).

For mixed drinks, use the basic light/silver/white rum. Here are the top rum cocktails.

For sipping, look to aged rums. Compared to aged Scotch, they’re relatively inexpensive.

Here are some tasting notes from Ethan Trex at Mental Floss, with some recommended brands. Unlike pricey aged whiskey, you can pick up some for $25 and $40.

 
WHAT ABOUT CACHAÇA?

Cachaça (ka-SHA-suh) is a sugar cane distillate made in Brazil, in the style of gold or dark rum. It is the ingredient used in the popular Caipirinha (kai-puh-REEN-ya), Brazil’s national cocktail.

Cachaça is often called “Brazilian rum,” but the Brazilians take exception to that. They consider their national drink to stand in a category of its own.

The actual difference between rum and cachaça, which taste very similar, is that rum is typically made from molasses, a by-product after the cane juice has been boiled to extract as much sugar crystal as possible. Cachaça is made from the fresh sugar cane juice (but so are some Caribbean rums, particularly from the French islands). Both are then fermented and distilled. The style is usually like that of light rum, but some cachaça brands are in a style similar to gold rums.
 
Cachaça has its own holiday: International Cachaça Day is June 12th.

Here’s more about cachaça.

*The chemicals, which are used to extract sugar crystals from the sugar cane, can interfere with the actions of the yeast that fermentat the molasses into rum.

†Black rum is so-named for its color; brown rum and red rum are dark rums described by their colors.

‡Cachaça and rum are both spirits distilled from sugarcane, but they differ in their raw material and production methods, leading to distinct flavor profiles. We include Cachaça as a “cousin” of rum—it’s been called Brazilian white rum. It’s the national spirit of Brazil, made there exclusively from fresh sugarcane juice, giving it a bright, vegetal, and grassy flavor. Rum, on the other hand, is typically made from molasses, a byproduct of sugar production, resulting in a sweeter, sometimes caramel-like or spicy flavor. The Caipirinha (kai-pee-REEN-yah) is Brazil’s national cocktail, made with lime juice and sugar like a Daiquirí but with cachaça instead of rum. Here’s more about it.

[1] Champagne with gummy bears. [2] Mojito with a gummy worm garnish—although a Mezcal drink might make more sense with the worms (photos 1 and 2 courtesy Monarch Rooftop). [3] Gummies slithering in a Tequila Sunrise (photo courtesy Drinking In America).

They’re not just multivitamins but biotin, fiber, fish oil, melatonin, vitamin C and more. (Caveat: Before you get too excited, check the grams of sugar on the bottle.)

Let us introduce you instead to our kind of adult gummies: soaked in wine or spirits.

Some background: A few months ago, a candy boutique in Los Angeles, Sugarfina, introduced rosé-infused gummy bears. Thanks to social media, they were sold out by pre-order before they even arrived from Germany; there’s a long waiting list (Monarch Rooftop says the number now exceeds 14,000).

We had tried the Champagne Gummies, which are still available. There also are Cuba Libre Gummies, infused with rum and Coca-Cola.

We wouldn’t have known the Sugarfina gummies were infused with Champagne, much less with Dom Perignon. (We deduced that the amount of champagne used was “just a splash.”)
 
REAL ADULT GUMMIES

Monarch Rooftop, a lounge with a view of the Empire State Building (71 West 35th Street, Manhattan), infuses its own gummies for a selection of creative cocktails. The current menu offers:

 
They inspired us to infuse our own gummies by soaking them in alcohol. We first tried spirits, then wine. We briefly considered a Boilermaker: beer with whiskey-infused gummies instead of the shot. Maybe for the Super Bowl?

Whatever you want to infuse, the recipe is below.
 
National Gummy Worms Day is July 15th, giving you plenty of time to test your own cocktail menu.

MAKE YOUR OWN ALCOHOL-INFUSED GUMMY CANDY

The hardest part of this is deciding which spirit and which fruit juice to use. You can halve the spirits and juice and make a split batch to see which you like better. Flavored vodka is even better.

Beyond Gummy Bears & Worms

So many decisions! There are gummy butterflies, Easter bunnies, fish, flower blossoms, frogs, fruits, gummy rings, lobsters, peaches, penguins, pigs, rattlesnakes, sharks, Smurfs, soda bottles and turtles.

You can make your own adult gummy recipe book, with different shapes and flavors for different occasions. Tequila-infused gummies for your Margarita? Certainly: And get the Mexican Hat gummies.

Check out the novelty gummies on Nuts.com.

 
RECIPE: ALCOHOL-INFUSED GUMMY CANDIES

Plan ahead: The gummies need to infuse in alcohol for five days.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PACK the gummies into a lidded container and cover with the spirit. The alcohol should barely cover the top of the gummies.

2. STIR, cover with the lid and place the container in the refrigerator.

3. STIR twice a day for five days. If you use a large enough container, you can simply shake it. When ready, drain and serve.

That’s it!
 
What If They’re Too Alcoholic?

First, taste them on the third day. If they’re what you expect, drain them and enjoy. If they’re still too boozy, try them with a cocktail. The combination may provide the right counterpoint. If not…

You can fix the batch by draining the alcohol and covering the alcohol in apple juice. Shake and taste in a few hours. They may need to juice-infuse overnight.
 
THE HISTORY OF GUMMY CANDY

Gummi candy was first produced by Haribo, a Bonn, Germany, confectioner. Haribo is a contraction of Hans Riegel Bonn.

Founder Hans Riegel invented the Dancing Bear, a fruit gum made in the shape of a bear, in 1922. It was succeeded in 1967 by what would become known worldwide as Gummi Bears, which would spawn an entire zoo of gummi animals.

Gummi worms, however, were introduced by another gummi candy manufacturer, Trolli (named for forest trolls), in 1981.

Many Americans use the English spelling, gummy, instead of the German gummi.
 

[1] Wine-infused dummies with sangria. Given all the fruit, we’d serve them on the side. Here’s the recipe from TrendHunter.com. [3] A root beer float with soda bottle gummies. Add vanilla vodka along with the root beer and ice cream. Check out these alcoholic root beer float recipes on Yummly.com. [4] What to drink while watching “Shark Tank.” At the Sugar Factory in New York City, it’s called The Ocean Blue (photos 2 and 3 courtesy Sugar Factory).

Beyond filling candy bowls, you can: