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Red, White and Blue Patriotic Cocktails for Your July Fourth Festivities

Celebrate America in style with these wonderful concoctions

Marcia Kester Doyle,

AARP

En español

Published July 03, 2024

Photographs by Scott Suchman (Food and Prop Stylist: Lisa Cherkasky)

Nothing says the Fourth of July more than burgers sizzling on the grill, red, white and blue flags flying high and patriotic music playing in the background while fireworks light up the sky.

To kick your holiday celebration into gear, try these delicious America-inspired beverages that will please your guests.

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Star-Spangled Banner Cocktail

These layered drinks are a festive way of saying Happy Independence Day. The pop rocks in the recipe add to the fun!

Makes two glasses

2 ounces grenadine
6 ounces lemonade
3 ounces rum or vodka
2 ounces blue curacao
Honey for the glass rim
Red and blue pop rocks for the rim

Pour a little honey into a dish and the Pop Rocks into another dish. Place each tall glass upside down into the honey and coat the rim. Next, dip the rim into the Pop Rocks (the honey will make the candy adhere to the glass). Pour grenadine into the two glasses in even amounts. Fill glasses with ice cubes but don't stir the drinks!

In a separate container, mix lemonade and rum (or vodka). Place a spoon upside down over the glass and very slowly pour the lemonade evenly over the spoon into each glass so that it doesn't blend into the grenadine. Repeat the same process with the spoon when you add the layer of curacao (slowly) to the top. Serve with maraschino cherries and a few blueberries speared on a toothpick.

Red, White and Blue Shots

Shots are best served cold on a hot summer day, so be sure to chill the ingredients in the refrigerator for at least an hour before making the shots.

Makes two shots

1 ounce grenadine
1 ounce peach schnapps
1 ounce blue curacao

Pour grenadine into the bottom of two tall shot glasses. Place a spoon upside down over the glass and very slowly pour the schnapps evenly over the spoon into each shot glass. Do the same for the last layer with the curacao and serve immediately.

Non-Alcoholic Independence Day Slushies

This chilly beverage will cool down the kids and the non-alcoholic drinkers at your Fourth of July party.

Makes three to four drinks

2 cups non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri mix (or Red Hawaiian punch)
2 cups non-alcoholic pina colada mix (or clear Gatorade)
2 cups Cool Blue Gatorade (zero sugar)

Be sure to keep all liquids chilled in the refrigerator before assembling the drink. Fill a blender with 2 cups of ice. Add strawberry daiquiri mix and blend until it reaches slushie consistency. Pour into a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer.

Clean out the blender and do the same process with the pina colada mix, and then the Gatorade drink. Keep the slushie mixes in freezer until ready for use. Pour equal amounts into a 3-4-inch-tall glass, starting with the red, then the white, followed by the blue. Top with maraschino cherries and serve.

Fourth of July Jell-O Shots

What I love about Jell-O shots is that you can make them well in advance and store them in the refrigerator until the guests arrive.

jello shots decorated in patriotic colors

Makes 26 (2-ounce) cups

1 cup vodka, divided
3 cups boiling water, divided
1 (3-ounce) box blue Jell-O
1 envelope plain gelatin
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 (3-ounce) box red Jell-O

In bowl, whisk together 1 cup boiling water with blue Jell-O packet until dissolved. Add 1/2 cup cold water and 1/2 cup vodka. Mix until combined, then pour evenly into the 26 mini cups. Chill for 60-75 minutes in the fridge. For the white layer, whisk 1 cup of boiling water with the plain gelatin until dissolved.

Stir in the condensed milk. Pour over blue Jell-O in the cups. Return to fridge and chill 60-75 minutes. For the red layer, repeat the same instructions as the blue Jell-O. Once the red is mixed, add it on top of the white layer and chill for 60-75 more minutes in fridge. Serve cold.

Patriotic Wine Slushies

This patriotic beverage is perfect for wine drinkers. However, the fruit can be tart, so if you prefer a sweeter drink, I recommend a pinot grigio and adding a few drops of simple syrup to the strawberry and blueberry slushy mix.

Makes 2 large glasses

2.5 cups white wine
2 cups frozen strawberries
2 cups frozen blueberries
3/4 cup ice

Combine strawberries and 3/4 cup wine in blender. Pour into two tall glasses and place them in the freezer. Clean out blender then blend ice with 3/4 cup wine until slushy. Add this to the glasses and return them to the freezer while you make the last layer.

Clean out blender again and blend blueberries with remaining wine. Take glasses out of freezer, top with blueberry slush and serve cold.

Marcia Kester Doyle is a Yahoo Life Columnist and the author of Who Stole My Spandex? Life In The Hot Flash Lane. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Independent, U.S.A. Today/Reviewed, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, AARP, Woman's Day, Country Living, House Beautiful, and many others. You can find her at marciakesterdoyle.com.

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