cheerwine bourbon slush cocktails

Made with just two ingredients, these Cheerwine Bourbon Slush Cocktails will become your go to sippers for the rest of summer.

While my blogging is still pretty intermittent, I’m back today to celebrate Freaky Friday with a delicious frozen cocktail that is perfect because:

• It will help you survive hot summer days.
• It’s made with just two ingredients (no extra common cocktail ingredients like simple syrup, triple sec, lemon juice, lime juice needed!)
• This original recipe is inspired by a cocktail at one of my favorite restaurants in Asheville, NC (check out my whole Asheville Travel Guide!)
• It was created by one of my blogging besties!

WHAT IS FREAKY FRIDAY?

Freaky Friday is a good old-fashioned blog hop.

What’s a blog hop?

A blog hop is where a group of bloggers get together and make each others’ recipes! Michaela, from An Affair from the Heart, organizes this virtual event 5 times a year…she secretly assigns each of us another blog to cook from…we make the recipes, take photos, write our blog posts, and then on the same Friday, we all reveal our recipes. 

I’ve done a few Freaky Fridays (and have made extra crispy air fryer chicken wings, grilled vegan guacamole,  fresh garden salsa, and a beer margarita recipe) and today I’m so excited to be back with another Freaky Friday post featuring my friend Susannah from Feast and West! not only be blogging again but dusting off the ol’ blog with a Freaky Friday post!  

My favorite thing about Freaky Friday is seeing what everyone made…it’s so fun to hop from blog to blog looking at everyone’s posts. And for our readers, there’s a collection of seasonal recipes all in one place, and a great way for y’all to meet some new bloggers!

See all of our 2022 Freaky Friday Summer Edition Recipes

Hosted by – An Affair from the Heart

1. An Affair from the Heart – Moose Munch Popcorn
2. Aunt Bee’s Recipes – Breakfast Egg Bites
3. The Culinary Compass – Pull Apart Garlic Bread
4. Devour Dinner – BBQ Nachos
5. Family Around the Table – Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Salad
6. Feast + West – Peach Whiskey Smash
7. Home Cooked Harvest – Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
8. Hostess at Heart – Peanut Butter Cookie
9. Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog – Cilantro Lime Shrimp Recipe
10. Life Currents – Jalapeño Poppers Puffs
11. Off the Eaten Path –  Cheerwine Bourbon Slush Cocktails
12. The Speckled Palate – Lemon Cooler Cookies
13. Sue Bee Homemaker – Fruit Dip Without Marshmallow Cream
14. The Wimpy Vegetarian – How to Make Enchilada Sauce

LET’S MEET SUSANNAH!

Susannah and I go way back…to 2014? 2015? I’m not sure exactly but I do know that we’ve been Internet friends and IRL friends going on seven or eight years and time flies when you’re having fun!

Susannah and I have a lot in common: we’re both cat lovers, cocktail connoisseurs (well I don’t know if I am on connoisseur level but Sus definitely is!) and Charlotteans (she was one of my first blogging buddies in Charlotte)!

We kicked off our friendship at a few blogging meetups in Uptown and it has been so fun to eat our way through the Queen City ever since; I love having a pal I know I can always text or call or try new restaurants with.

Susannah’s blog, Feast and West, is one of my favorite websites because has so much knowledge and creativity when it comes to making cocktails at home, and shares all of it through beautiful photography, fun videos, and well-written posts and recipes that are so easy to follow.

If you want to make cocktails at home, Susannah should be your go-to girl: you can search her site based on spirit or season, plus she has tons of cocktail resources, tips and tricks, and some delicious appetizer and bar snack recipes too! 

I have this issue every single Freaky Friday…with so many good recipes, how do I pick just one to make?

I knew I wanted to make a cocktail, even though I was tempted by appetizers and snacks like caprese skewers, cheddar cheese popcorn and beer cheese dip. 

Since it’s so dang hot in Charlotte right now, frozen drinks were really calling my name; although I did browse through her classic cocktail recipe index and several of her tiki & tropical drinks and let me just say I can’t wait to try a boozy Dole whip or a strawberry basil margarita soon! 

It was still tough to narrow it down because Susannah has so many drooloworthy frozen drink recipes that look like they would help me beat the summer heat; like who can say no to a frozen lemon daiquiri, frozen margarita (one of my favorite cocktails), or frozen moscow mule? 

I finally settled on the Cheerwine Bourbon Slush Drinks because they are something we always order when we go to Buxton Hall BBQ in Asheville and I couldn’t wait to make a homemade slushie. 

WHAT IS A SLUSH DRINK MADE OF?

Who else drank slushies growing up?

Slushies, also spelled slushy or slushee, is a frozen drink made of flavored ice and another liquid (in a non alcoholic version it’s usually soda). It can also be called a slush, frozen drink, Icee, or a Slurpee (we always loved riding our bikes as kids in the summer to 7-Eleven to buy Slurpees). 

When it comes down to it, a slush drink is made from sugar and water.

WHAT DO YOU CALL AN ALCOHOLIC SLUSHIE?

While slushies can come in all sorts of colors and flavors, you can also make them with a variety of alcohol including tequila, rum, vodka, bourbon or even wine, creating a slushie cocktail, frozen alcoholic slushy, or adult slushie. 

Usually when making a slush recipe at home, you combine the alcohol and other ingredients in a blender to create the cold, icey, slush texture.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE CHEERWINE BOURBON SLUSH COCKTAILS

There are just a few tools you need to make these alcoholic slushies:

• An ice cube tray
• A blender (you just need a blender to make slush cocktails at home, no slushie machine necessary!)
• A measuring cup
• A highball cocktail glass (if you don’t have highball glasses any tall glass will do)

You just need two ingredients to make these simple and delicious slush cocktails:

• A 12 ounce can of Cheerwine
• Your favorite bourbon whiskey (Susannah says the type of bourbon you use will change the taste of the slushy cocktail, so it’s fun to experiment and try different bourbons depending on your taste preferences!)

HOW TO MAKE BOURBON SLUSH COCKTAILS:

Pour the can of Cheerwine cherry soda in an ice cube tray and stick it in the freezer for a few hours until frozen.

Once frozen, pop the cubes of cheerwine out of the ice cube tray and into a blender. 

Add ½ cup of bourbon and blend. 

And that’s it! 

Pour into two glasses and top with a little extra soda for fizz and flavor, and enjoy…but watch out for brain freeze! 

Cheerwine bourbon slushy drinks are the perfect summer cocktail for any occasion: happy hour, a day at the pool, or the neighborhood cookout; they are the best way to survive a hot summer day where you need to sip on something to beat the heat and high temperatures and cool off.

LOOKING FOR MORE SLUSHIE COCKTAILS? 

Looking for more warm weather, summer drink inspiration? Check out these delicious and easy to make alcoholic slush recipes!

Frosé: also known as frozen rosé or wine slushies (can be made with rosé or white wine and frozen or fresh fruit including fresh strawberries, watermelon, blackberries, raspberries, peaches or cherries)

Peach Whiskey Smash Recipe (another summer cocktail featuring bourbon and peach schnapps)

Frozen Gin and Tonics

Beer Margaritas

Corona Floats

Patriotic Pina Coladas

Strawberry Lemonade Vodka Slushies