Every time I hear Jimmy Buffett's "Dreamsicle" I think of summer and dreaming and popsicles and, well, boozesicles.
"He sits, he quips, dreams a lot about sailing ships…"
It's a weird song, but it brings me back to college, driving around in my Plymouth Horizon (hey, it was 1991) and waiting for summer. Of course, it's always summer in Florida, so, you know, not that much of a wait. But the point is, Jimmy Buffett music is always about summer or almost being summer, and that's why I loved it then — and, as much as my coworkers may laugh at me (let's face it, he'll never play State Theatre), I love it now: He sings about paradise.
And dreams of paradise… and dreamsicles.
And that's why when I hear Jimmy Buffett in May, I will think about creamsicles. Except I don't like creamsicles, so I make my own popsicles, and when I'm in the mood I make boozy popsicles.
It's easy, really — the only rule is that they can't be all booze. Booze — the good stuff, not the Keystone Lights or whatever it is broke college kids drink these days — won't freeze. Too much alcohol. So if you want boozy popsicles, you need mixers. In years past, I'd relied on watermelon Sapphires, but the night before I was going shopping, Bombay Sapphire was recalled for having almost twice the amount of alcohol it was supposed to have. Good for high-roller alkies everywhere, not so good for this article. Back to the drawing board.
For our Summer Guide research, we tried four kinds — sour orange margarita, Kozuba blueberry vodkasicle, spiced rum and banana, and bubbly organic mixed berry. Spoiler alert: Only one of these froze: The margarita had too much booze (see our revised recipe below), the vodkasicle left us with blueberry-flavored vodka, and the rum and banana thing left us with a Slurpee-like banana rum thing (it tasted good, but it wouldn't stay on the stick). So we went (mostly) back to the drawing board, because we care about your summer experience. You're welcome.
If you want to do this, you'll need molds. Don't try the paper-cup-popsicle-stick thing, because 1) The liquid will soak into the cup and freeze the paper into the popsicle, and 2) Be classy, OK? Here's what I use. They cost about $10, and they're free to ship for you people with Amazon Prime.
The best way to make a boozesicle freeze is to add frozen fruit to the mold first, or fresh. Then add your liquor and freeze for six hours. Each of these recipes should fill two standard-size popsicle molds. If they do not, add water or soda water to fill popsicle molds almost to the rim, then put it all back in a mixing bowl and mix it, then pour back into the molds. This is so the water and booze don't freeze in layers.
Sapphire Watermelon
Stuff pieces of watermelon in molds. Mix together one shot of Bombay Sapphire, any watermelon juice from cutting the watermelon Trader Joe's lemonade. Pour into molds.
Bubbly Berries
Stuff mixed berries into molds, then pour sparkling wine of your choosing over berries.
Melon Rum
Stuff pieces of frozen watermelon into molds. Mix together one shot of rum and between one and two ounces of soda water. Pour into molds.
Sour Orange Margarita
Mix together a four count of tequila, a three count of sour orange juice, a two count of key lime juice and two teaspoons sugar. Pour into molds.
Cathy Salustri is CL's Arts + Entertainment editor. Contact her here.
This article appears in May 11-18, 2017.
