Spark Up Your Party With Fourth Of July Cocktail Tips By Margaritaville
Happy 236th birthday America! As we get ready to celebrate one of our country's most important (and fun!) holidays, we asked our Margaritaville party pro experts to share their favorite ideas and tips to help you plan the ultimate star-spangled party.
While the British may have been the first to experiment with mixed drinks and spirits, the Americans are credited with creating the cocktail as we know it today. As David Wondrich suggests in his book, Imbibe!, the cocktail is a reflection of our native genius, as American as apple pie and baseball — a toast to our heritage!
Heather Turner of Margaritaville Congo, is shelling out her tips to a successful Fourth of July, filled with cocktails, tunes, and all the right fixings.
Choosing which cocktail to serve for the Fourth of July is like spinning the roulette wheel — a lot of fun and many options. Since drinks will be high in demand, especially if you serve a "mean" cocktail, we recommend serving simple beverages that are likely to suit the palate of every guest, allowing you to mingle and enjoy the afternoon or evening rather than sitting behind the bar mixing complicated concoctions.
Top Fourth of July cocktails chosen by our Margaritaville bartenders:
• The Margarita: Whether you like it on the rocks, shaken with ice, blended, or straight up, the margarita is sure to be a party pleaser. This popular cocktail is a favorite because it not only tastes good, but it offers many variations that can easily be made by just changing one or two ingredients. If you have a red, white, and blue theme, you can make a cranberry or strawberry margarita (red), a traditional margarita (whitish), and a blue Curacao margarita (blue).
• Punch: Punch cocktails are refreshing, easy to make, versatile, and even the kids can have one (without alcohol of course). Some of the most popular punch drinks are made with rum, vodka, or tequila. Our favorites for the Fourth include the Ruby Punch (vodka and cranberry based), Rum Punch (rum, cranberry and orange juice, sour mix), and the Knockout Punch (tequila, cranberry and orange juice, sour mix).
• Screwdriver: You have to love a drink that allegedly got its name thanks to American petroleum engineers in Saudi Arabia that added vodka to their orange juice cans and stirred the mixture with their screwdrivers. This cocktail is a summer favorite and is also easy to make and very versatile. Besides vodka and orange juice, we also like our screwdrivers with tequila or rum.
Cocktail Garnishes to Sparkle Your Party
Mouthwatering cocktails are important, but by adding a few decorations to your beverages, you are sure to host a party your guests will not forget.
Margaritaville's favorite cocktail garnishes for the Fourth of July:
• Red, white, and blue cocktail parasols
• Star-shaped ice cubes
• Fruit-infused ice cubes (blueberry, strawberry)
• Fresh fruit or citrus
• Blueberry and/or raspberry skewers
• Pop Rocks-rimmed cocktail glasses
• Cocktail glasses with flare — why not serve your cocktail in a pineapple shell?
Music
Music and cocktails go hand in hand. While we are a bit partial to Jimmy Buffett, some of our favorite, all-American artists for the Fourth of July also include:
• Bruce Springsteen
• Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Creedence Clearwater Revival
• John Mellencamp
• Carrie Underwood
• Martina McBride
• The Beach Boys
• The Eagles
• Kenny Chesney
• Lenny Kravitz
So go on, turn up the tunes, pass out the cocktails, and have a blast this Fourth of July.
Heather Turner is Margaritaville Cargo's product manager of the Mixed Drink Maker, the only home appliance on the market that effortlessly makes 48 different cocktails. With just the push of a button, the perfect cocktail is served in minutes — and party givers don't have to spend the entire evening behind the bar. Enter the Mixed Drink Maker's free sweepstakes for a chance to win Salt & Lime Trays and Margaritaville branded sunglasses.