How to Use a Juicer to Make Incredible Cocktails

When whipping up easy-to-make juicy cocktails like the Screwdriver or the Greyhound, the difference between a good drink and a great one lies in the quality of the ingredients.

This is true for any cocktail, but it’s especially true when mixing two-ingredient drinks. With both components in the spotlight, there’s no room to hide imperfections. So, how do you make a good cocktail great?

Always Juice Your Own Fruits 

First thing’s first, as a rule of thumb, you should always use fresh pressed fruits in your drinks. So, in the case of The Screwdriver, skip the store-bought orange juice and juice your own fresh oranges instead. Trust us, once you taste a cocktail with fresh pressed juice, there’s no going back.

And when it comes to juicing fruits, there’s one tool that will take your home bartending skills to a whole other level and enable you to create drinks you thought you could only get a bar. The name of that tool? A centrifugal juicer.

Using a Centrifugal Juicer for Cocktails

A centrifugal juicer is a kitchen appliance that quickly and efficiently extracts juice from fruits and vegetables. It uses a high-speed spinning blade to grind produce into pulp. The pulp is then forced against a fine mesh filter, where centrifugal force separates the juice from the pulp. The juice flows through a spout, while the pulp is collected in a separate container.

What’s so special about a centrifugal juicer, you ask? Check out the ‘Absolut Drinks with Rico’ episode where Ricardo ‘Rico’ Dynan, Bartender and Absolut Global Brand Ambassador, makes a Greyhound using a centrifugal juicer. You’ll quickly discover what a centrifugal juicer can do to your drinks.

You’ll notice that the juice that comes out from the spout takes on a frothy, almost milkshake-y texture. This comes from the millions of tiny air bubbles that get whipped into the juice as the juicer runs. Talk about a silky mouthfeel!

It might sound crazy, but using a centrifugal juicer makes juice smell and taste just like the real thing—because it is! It’s as fresh as it gets. For example, orange juice will have that incredible aroma you get the moment you cut into a fresh orange, and the juice tastes exactly like the fruit itself. No preservatives, no additives – just pure juice.

Using a Blender to Make Cocktails

OK, so not everyone has a centrifugal juicer at home. But as Rico suggests, another way of juicing your fruits for your drinks is using a normal hand blender aka an immersion blender. “The result won’t be as good…but it’s a good alternative,” says Rico.

Place the fruit pieces into a tall, deep container to prevent splattering. Insert the immersion blender and blend at high speed for about 5 minutes or until it reaches a milkshake-like consistency. Move the blender up and down to ensure all the fruit pieces are thoroughly blended.

Again, while a hand blender won’t match the quality of a centrifugal juicer, it’s a handy trick that can significantly improve your homemade drinks. Don’t miss the essential bartending tools every home bartender needs.

OK, now that you know the importance of using fresh ingredients in your cocktails and how a centrifugal juicer can take your cocktail to bar-level heights, it’s time to make some drinks.

Head over to AbsolutDrinks.com to discover endless drink-spiration!