Easy 4th of July Layered Drink
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Raise a toast with our patriotic 4th of July drink, boasting enticing layers. Follow our guide for a memorable celebration!
Perfect for Memorial Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, or any hot summer day! You can use this technique for any layered drink, as the secret is in the sugar content of each ingredient.
The variations are endless! They are made extra fun with the addition of popping candy on the rims of the glasses!
The layers are made by stacking the liquids from most sugar dense to least sugar dense!
We had so much fun trying all these combinations and purchased everything at Walmart and Target. Let your kids pick out their favorite red layer, white layer, and blue layer. You could even set up a mocktail table where kids use their basic math skills to create their specialty drinks.
Capture the deliciousness! Pin the tantalizing image to your favorites board on Pinterest and have the recipe at your fingertips whenever you yearn for a delectable drink!
Let’s make your new favorite Patriotic drink!
Supplies for your 4th of July layered drink:
- Tall glass (collins glass is a good choice because it has straight sides and you can easily see the layers)
- Large tablespoon
- Small bowls
- Paper straws
Ingredients for your Patriotic mocktail:
- Lemon wedge or fresh lemon juice
- Popping candy – remember Pop Rocks? This is the new and improved version from Walmart. Imagine the fun as the kids take a drink and get an explosion in their mouths!
- Ice cubes (lots and lots of fresh ice)
- Red Layer beverage
- White Layer beverage
- Blue Layer beverage
These are the beverages that we tried. I’ve provided feedback on what each tasted like (to me) so that you can start searching for the perfect ingredients for your taste buds. “Cool frost” didn’t help me much in the store as I was looking for flavors that would go together (I thought it tasted like fruit punch).
RED Beverages | Sugar Content | Tasted Like To Me |
Powerade Zero Fruit Punch | 0g | Fruit Punch |
Rose’s Grenadine Syrup | 20g | Grenadine |
Body Armor Fruit Punch | 21g | Fruit Punch |
Ocean Spray Cran Raspberry | 26g | Cranberry Raspberry |
Body Armor Watermelon Strawberry | 28g | Watermelon |
Mr & Mrs T Strawberry Daiquiri-Margarita Mix (non-alcoholic) | 43g | Strawberry |
Fanta Strawberry | 45g | Strawberry |
WHITE Beverages | Sugar Content | Tasted Like To Me |
Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut | 18g | Coconut |
Rose’s Simple Syrup | 19g | Sugar Water |
Gatorate Frost Cool | 21g | Fruit Punch |
Powerade White Cherry | 21g | Cherry |
Favorite Day Piña Colada Mix (non-alcoholic) | 29g | Coconut |
Schweppes Ginger Ale | 33g | Ginger ale |
Texas Roadhouse Margarita Mixer (non-alcoholic) | 37g | Bottled ReaLemon |
7Up | 39g | Lemon Lime |
Milos Lemonade | 65g | Lemonade |
BLUE Beverages | Sugar Content | Tasted Like To Me |
Powerade Zero Mixed Berry | 0g | Cotton Candy |
Hawaiian Punch Polar Blast | 13g | Fruit Punch |
Powerade Mountain Berry Blast | 21g | Fruit Punch |
Gatorade Fierce | 22g | Grape |
Icee Slush Blue Raspberry | 23g | Raspberry |
Gatorade Cool Blue | 34g | Raspberry |
Optional Garnish:
- Fresh Blueberries
- Fresh mint leaves
- Fresh raspberries
- Fresh Strawberries
- Lime wheel
Directions for making your layered drink:
1. Rub a lemon wedge on the edge of the glass.
2. While it is still wet, dip the glass into a small bowl filled with popping candy (aka Pop Rocks).
Your glass will look like this:
3. Pour in your first ingredients, filling 1/4 of your glass.
4. Fill the glass with ice. Look at the first layer to ensure it does not go more than 1/3 of the way up the glass. The ice will make the first layer rise to 1/3 of the glass. If there is too much of the first liquid in the ice-filled glass, sip some of it out with a straw.
5. Slowly pour your second layer over the back of a spoon so that the liquid does not forcefully mix with your first layer.
6. Repeat for your third layer.
7. Garnish with fresh berries if desired.
Additional ideas for red, white, and blue beverages:
- RED: Cranberry Juice, Red Koolaid, Simply Fruit Punch,
- WHITE: Club Soda, ginger beer (ginger beer does not contain alcohol), grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, SoBe pina colada, soda water, tonic water, light agave nectar.
- BLUE: Butterfly Pea blue tea (cooled)
Our combination ideas for 4th of July layered drinks:
Tips & Tricks:
- Adding your first layer before the ice cubes is ideal.
- If you use straws, put them in after your first liquid so the insertion does not disturb the layers.
- Pouring your second and third liquid slowly over the back of a spoon will allow the liquid to sit on top of the previous one without the force of gravity, making it go into the one below it.
Perfect for your Fourth of July cookout, this refreshing drink will be a kid’s favorite. The best part will be letting them make different drinks and watching as they make their own drink recipe. Just have plenty of crushed ice on hand!
Love this recipe? We would love your support by giving it a 5-star rating and spreading the deliciousness by sharing it on Facebook. Don’t forget to pin the mouthwatering image to your favorites board on Pinterest for later cravings!
Any way you make it, our layered 4th of July layered drink is a refreshing way to cool down a hot day. Let us know in the comments what combinations were popular at your July celebration.
More special occasion posts can be found here:
- Graduation Cupcake Ideas
- Mother’s Day Chocolate Roses
- Panoramic Sugar Easter Eggs
- Easy Patriotic Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Easy 4th of July Layered Drink
Raise a toast with our patriotic 4th of July drink, boasting enticing layers. Follow our guide for a memorable celebration!
Materials
- Lemon wedge or fresh lemon juice
- Popping candy - remember Pop Rocks? This is the new and improved version from Walmart. Imagine the fun as the kids take a drink and get an explosion in their mouth!
- Ice cubes (lots and lots of fresh ice)
- Red Layer beverage
- White Layer beverage
- Blue Layer beverage
Tools
- Tall glass (collins glass is a good choice because it has straight sides and you can easily see the layers)
- Large tablespoon
- Small bowls
- Paper straws
Instructions
Rub a lemon wedge on the edge of the glass.
While it is still wet, dip the glass into a small bowl filled with popping candy (aka Pop Rocks).
Pour in your first ingredients, filling 1/4 of your glass.
Fill the glass with ice. Look at the first layer to ensure it does not go more than 1/3 of the way up the glass. The ice will make the first layer rise to 1/3 of the glass. If there is too much of the first liquid in the ice-filled glass, sip some of it out with a straw.
Slowly pour your second layer over the back of a spoon so that the liquid does not forcefully mix with your first layer.
Repeat for your third layer.
Garnish with fresh berries if desired.
Notes
Additional ideas for red, white, and blue beverages:
- RED: Cranberry Juice
- WHITE: Club Soda, ginger beer (ginger beer does not contain alcohol), grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, SoBe pina colada, soda water, tonic water, light agave nectar.
- BLUE: Butterfly Pea blue tea (cooled)
Tips & Tricks:
- Adding your first layer before the ice cubes is ideal.
- If you use straws, put them in after your first liquid so the insertion does not disturb the layers.
- Pouring your second and third liquid slowly over the back of a spoon will allow the liquid to sit on top of the previous one without the force of gravity, making it go into the one below it.
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