Simply Homemade: Brandy Smash

I know what you’re thinking..what is this recipe? For starters, it’s a holiday go-to for my family and has been for as long as I can remember. It’s also an incredibly (wait for it)…SIMPLE recipe. If you’re like me and dislike brandy, please don’t give up on this before trying it! Brandy smash is most likely a completely made up recipe from someone at some point in my fabulous family’s past. It’s a mildly alcoholic slushie concoction that you can pair with any number of mixers so it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. This is refreshing and light and a great new drink to whip up for the holidays to start a new family tradition of your own!

There are a couple of things you must know about this before you make it for a family or friend festive celebration. Brandy smash, in its original form of a recipe, contained roughly the same amount of alcohol you’d consume if accepting a sip of the wine at church. To add to that low ratio, my family would proceed to take a small scoop of the slush and mix with a pop such as Squirt or 7-Up. The younger in age you were, the smaller the scoop and the higher pop content you got in your glass. But..even the kids were allowed to taste it because it truly was that innocent of a drink. I’m honestly not sure I can recall a family holiday at my grandparent’s house where brandy smash wasn’t there thanks to my own mom or one of her siblings bringing it. We, as kids, used to think we were so grown-up getting to have some sips of the adults’ drink! Ahh youth, how I miss you and your naivety 😉

Now that us kids are older and wiser and my younger sister has taken on the regular task of bringing brandy smash to our own family holidays. To be honest, I think she may have started volunteering to bring this staple to our gatherings with a bit of selfishness involved. You see, the absolute best container to make a batch of this in to freeze and tote along to the party location is a plastic ice cream bucket. Therefore, if you are in charge of bringing the brandy smash you must, at some point, be obligated to purchase and consume one of the endless possibilities of ice cream flavors so you have the right size container. Why not just purchase a freezer container roughly the same size as an ice cream bucket you say? Answer: why would you even think of a reason to not buy and eat a container of ice cream? Also, while not scientifically proven, final brandy smash results could very well vary so I cannot legally attest to the fact that it would even work with some other storage container. And I don’t know about you all but I’m not about to take that chance personally…

Anyway, moving on past the container and onto the recipe itself. Thanks to my sister’s naturally creative nature, this recipe has changed a smidge. For example, there are a lot of brandy and juice flavors out there and a lot of them just so happen to combine into incredibly delicious versions of brandy smash. She no longer only brings the same original version of brandy smash but, instead, switches things up with trying different flavor profiles. Thanksgiving? Cranberry brandy smash. Christmas? Grapefruit brandy smash! She’s also increased the brandy measurement so the flavors come through more and it can be a truer adult drink contribution to any party. Side note on a relatively new revelation, if you’re planning on starting the festivities early in the day this pairs really well with champagne for an amazing mock-mimosa! The possibilities with this are seemingly endless!

Uh oh..this post is getting too long so better wrap it up! See what I did there..holiday drink post and I am wrapping it up? Ha! Anyway, whether you make this for your annual wrapping party, Christmas cookie exchange, or New Year’s Eve celebration, I do so hope that you give it a try! If your family is anywhere close to as awesome as mine is then they will be sure to love you for it 🙂

-9 cups water

-2 cups white sugar

-2 (12 ounce cans) frozen juice concentrate (recommend lemonade and cranberry)

-2 1/2 cups fruit flavored brandy (recommend apricot or blackberry)

-Mixer(s) of choice (recommend squirt, 7-up, or champagne)

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1) Boil water and sugar in large pot until sugar is dissolved.

2) Add in remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.

3) Pour mixture into freezer friendly container and freeze overnight (or at least until slushie consistency is achieved).

4) Remove from freezer and be sure to stir well before serving.

5) Recommend to serve a scoop or two mixed with squirt, 7-Up, or champagne!

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Pardon the lack of a picture! We got to enjoying our smashes a little too much this Christmas and I neglected to remember a pretty picture for you all!