What Juices To Use In Your Cocktail

There are over a million possible combinations of different ingredients, flavours and liquids you could find in a Cocktail, something as simple as modifying the amount of alcohol you use can change the flavours.

You can dedicate your whole life to the Cocktail world and still never experience it all. I could go on forever with the possible combinations but today we are focusing on the different Juices you can effectively use in your Cocktails.

Here’s a quick overview of all the Juices on the list, keep reading on to find out a bit more.

• Pineapple Juice
• Apple Juice
• Orange Juice
• Tropical Juice
• Exotic Juice
• Mango Juice
• Blueberry Juice
• Cranberry Juice
• Cherry Juice
• Pomegranate Juice

Picking a Juice will largely depend on your preferences, but sometimes it’s good to try a Cocktail with a juice you might not gravitate to, I am not the biggest fan of Orange Juice but do very much enjoy a Tequila Sunrise Cocktail which contains Orange Juice, the extra flavours create a whole new experience for me.

Pineapple Juice

The Pineapple Juice, perfect to enjoy on those Tropical Holidays and golden sand beaches, Pineapple Juice makes its way into a lot of Tropical Cocktails and so it should, the Pineapple is always associated with tropical paradises, so why not indulge yourself in its flavours, in a Cocktail.

When looking for the perfect Pineapple Juice Cocktail, you don’t have to look far, it has an outstanding selection including the Piña Colada, Bahama Mama, Painkiller, Jungle Bird, Malibu Sunset and the Blue Hawaiian.

Apple Juice

One of the two most popular Juices in the world, Apple Juice is enjoyed by millions, so you’d think you would find a lot of great Apple Juice Cocktails and no doubt there are some, but perhaps not as many as you’d think with such a popular Juice, you’re more likely to find either a small amount of Apple Juice or having Apple flavoured spirits or liqueurs instead.

Apple Juice has made its way into some classics while adding its own apple twist, like the Apple Margarita, with others being the Metropolis, Apple Cooler and the Apple Spritzers.

Orange Juice

The other most popular Juice and a classic go-to for many Cocktails, like the Mimosa, Screwdriver, Harvey Wallbanger, Hurricane of the Tequila Sunrise.

Orange Juice contains a strong and powerful flavour which when placed in a Cocktail will take up a big portion of the flavour, the Mimosa for example creates a mostly just a Fizzy Orange Juice, with, depending on the Champagne, some very subtle yeasty, nutty or brioche flavours, but you’ll need a strong Champagne for this.

But if we look at the Tequila Sunrise, a Cocktail with prominent Orange Juice with added Tequila and Grenadine, the sweetness from the Grenadine really complements the Orange Juice creating a balanced Cocktail.

So when looking at Orange Juice, you’ll need to have an equally powerful addition or simply make your Orange Juice a little more interesting by making it fizzy with Champagne, creamy with Rum or Strong with Vodka.

Tropical Juice

My favourtie of the bunch, nothing quite beats sitting at your desk trying to imagine yourself on a beach in Hawaii while sipping a Tropical Juice Cocktail, well, maybe if I was actually in Hawaii sipping a Tropical Juice Cocktail, maybe that would beat it.

Except Tropical Juice doesn’t make its way into a ton of Topical Cocktails, the Tropical aspect is normally achieved by the combination of different flavours, most commonly with Pineapple Juice or Orange Juice.

So if you’re looking for a quick and easy way to create a Tropical Cocktail, then Tropical Juice is the best way to do it.

Exotic Juice

Exotic Juice is simular to Tropical Juice in the way that it doesn’t have many Cocktails which use it, again, if you want an Exotic Cocktail, you’ll normally combine different flavours to achieve it. But when looking to make lots of Exotic Cocktails at a very affordable price, then using an Exotic Juice will do the trick.

Exotic fruits consist of lychee, persimmon, kiwi and pineapple, which is considered both exotic and tropical, plus many more.

Mango Juice

Mango is one of the most well-known Tropical Fruits out there, with its juice delivering a deliciously smooth texture, which makes it a perfect ingredient for a Tropical Cocktail.

If you want to keep the smooth texture going strong, then consider adding some smooth Rum, especially if it has a Tropical character or woody/vanilla.

As Mango comes in a solid outer shell, it makes it a perfect fruit to enjoy a Cocktail out of: Impress your friends with simple yet effective Fresh Fruit Fizz Cocktails!

Blueberry Juice

Blueberry Cocktails normally contain Blueberry flavoured ingredients, like spirits or sweeteners, as Blueberries are a small and costly fruit, Blueberry Juice can also contain the likes of other fruit juices such as blackberry, apple, cherry and pomegranate, meaning that there are not many Blueberry Juice Cocktails around, you’re more likely to find real Blueberries in a Cocktail, either as a whole or crushed.

Cranberry Juice

A great Juice to use in a bittersweet Cocktail, Cranberries are rather sharp and sour in flavour, the Juice form has added sugar and is blended with other fruit juices, but it still has a sharp taste to it.

If you’re looking for some Cranberry Juice Cocktails then why not try out the Sea Breeze Cocktail, Vodka Cranberry or the Bay Breeze.

Cherry Juice

You normally find a Tart Cherry Juice in Cocktails, which is a sweeter version of Cherry Juice, but the Kirsch Cobbler or Let’s Kiss Cocktail are two which incorporate Cherry Juice.

Pomegranate Juice

You can find Pomegranate twists on many of the classic Cocktails, like a Pomegranate Margarita, Pomegranate Martini or a Pomegranate Gin Fizz, all of which utilise the Pomegranate Juice.

 

Image Credit: Blueberry – Cranberry – Cherry – Pomegranate