Over the past few years, wine slushies (frozen wine slush drinks) have been gaining huge popularity all across the country. The combination of wine, fruit flavors, sugar, and other sometimes exotic ingredients combine to create a tantalizing taste. However, when you freeze this concoction, that's when your tongue throws a party for your mouth. Freezing it, or making it in a blender, makes all the difference. Refreshing beyond description.
There are two ways you can go about making wine slushies. One is to find a good recipe, buy all of the ingredients and make it from scratch.
Wine
The other way is to buy a dry wine slush mix that you just add your favorite wine (any kind of wine, even champagne) and water to. You just mix it up all together and freeze it. That's all there is to it.
Let's explore option number one: Here are some recipes for wine slushies to make from scratch.
WINE SLUSH RECIPE
1 (12 oz.) frozen orange juice
1 (48 oz.) Hawaiian punch
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 c. sugar
1 bottle wine
Stir and freeze. Use 1/2 of 7-Up and 1/2 slush.
WINE SLUSH RECIPE
2 c. sugar and 1 c. water, boiled, simmered 10 minutes and cooled
1 (12 oz.) orange juice concentrate
1 (12 oz.) lemonade concentrate
2 c. water
1/2 gallon Hearty Burgundy
Mix and freeze. To serve: Make individual glasses. Fill glass half with frozen mixture and half 7-Up.
CELEBRATION WINE SLUSH RECIPE
4 (6 oz.) cans frozen tangerine or orange juice concentrate
2 pt. pineapple sherbet
3 c. water
Orange, lemon, or lime slices or wedges
Dry white wine, champagne, rum, vodka, sparkling water or lemon-lime carbonated beverage, chilled
Thaw concentrate slightly; stir sherbet to soften. Stir concentrate and water into sherbet. Freeze 5 hours. Spoon 2 tablespoons slush into glass; pour in choice of beverage. Garnish with fruit slice. makes 9 1/2 cups slush or about 60 to 75 servings.
********
These are all delicious frozen wine drinks, however, they are expensive because of all of the many different ingredients you have to buy. Plus, they require a trip to the store to buy all of the ingredients. Some recipes are also a hassle to make. This doesn't say much for convenience.
Our next option is the dry wine slush mix. This option eliminates all of the negatives mentioned above. As a manufacturer of a dry wine slush mix myself, I can tell you that people are buying these mixes for a variety of reasons.
First, they are super convenient. All you need is the mix and your favorite wine. You just add wine and water to the mix, and stir it up until the mix is thoroughly dissolved. Stick it in the freezer for 4 to 8 hours, or overnight. Take it out and use a spoon to stir it all up to the proper consistency and serve.
No measuring out sugar, no slicing lemons or limes, no scooping sherbet, no simmering water and sugar on the stove, etc. You just stir up the wine and water with the mix and you're done. That's convenience.
Convenience isn't all that wine slush mixes have to offer. No matter how convenient a product is, if it doesn't taste good - it's no good. The fact that millions of bags of wine slush mix are sold and enjoyed every year speaks for itself. If it didn't taste good, no one would buy it. It obviously tastes good. Very good.
If you have any left over or if some melts, just stick it back in the freezer and it will be just as good next time. This is not always true with some of your "from scratch" recipes. It will stay frozen in your freezer for at least 9 months and taste like you made it last night. Before you make up a batch, it will stay in your cabinet just fine for a full year.
Versatility comes into play here also. The mixes don't need any certain kind of wine. It takes on the profile of any kind of wine you use, even champagne. However, you may be surprised that many, many people buy it because you can use it for a non-alcoholic slush mix. You can use it with non-alcoholic wine, ginger ale, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, apple juice, grape juice and sparkling juices. Moms love this for the kids.
Another nice aspect of some of the wine slush mixes is that they also come in pretty, decorated gift bags. These make for wonderful hostess gifts, birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, etc. A bag or two of the wine slush mix with a bottle of wine makes for a perfect gift for any occasion. Some companies even have other wine related items such as wine charms, flattened, decorated wine bottles, wine dip mixes, and so forth that you can add to make an entire custom wine themed gift basket.
Whether you choose option number one or the dry mixes, wine slushies are so delicious and here to stay. Enjoy!
Frozen Wine Slush Drinks
James L. Miller is the owner of Vino Slush, a frozen wine slush mix company. http://www.vinoslush.com
Mr. Miller also owns Cherry Orchard Foods http://www.cherryorchardfoods.com featuring dip mixes, dessert mixes, bread dipping mixes, and cinnamon roasted almonds.