Drive Foot Traffic and Sales with an Exciting, New Frozen Beverage Product Line
Frozen alcoholic drinks continue to be an extremely popular product among consumers. We’ve learned from our customers that they’re also one of the easiest, most profitable products for retailers to sell, especially in the restaurant, movie theater, bar, and cruise ship industries.
In fact, with the right frozen beverage program, you can see profit margins as high as 70%-120%.
If you’re looking to add an exciting, new product line to drive foot traffic and sales, frozen alcoholic drinks are a great choice.
Need some ideas for your frozen alcoholic beverage program? Here are 5 of the most popular drinks you can get started with:
Top 5 Most Popular Frozen Alcoholic Drinks
1. Piña Colada
Photo by rubixcuben
History:
The first recorded story of the drink that came to be known as the “Piña Colada” was in the 19th Century, when a pirate named Roberto Cofresí gave his crew a beverage comprised of coconut, pineapple, and white rum to boost morale.
Piña Colada means “strained pineapple” in Spanish.
Ingredients:
Today, Piña Colada recipes typically include coconut milk, pineapple juice, lime juice, and white rum blended with ice.
Variations:
There are many variations of the Piña Colada, including:
- Amaretto colada: Amaretto is substituted for rum
- Lava Flow: A strawberry daiquiri and piña colada blended together
- Virgin piña colada: Non-alcoholic; made without the rum
- Soda colada: Soda is substituted for coconut milk
- Kahlua® colada: Kahlua® (coffee liqueur) is substituted for rum
- Blue Hawaiian: Blue Curaçao® is added
2. Strawberry Daiquiri
Photo by Valters Krontals from London, United Kingdom [CC BY]
History:
According to Distiller.com, “Born in Cuba, the first daiquiri came in the form of a punch created by American Jennings Cox in 1896. There are many tales around the events surrounding its invention, but everyone seems to agree that Cox was entertaining guests and concocted this drink using Bacardi Rum®. The recipe was a hit and a classic was born.”
Ingredients:
Typically, a daiquiri’s main ingredients are lime juice, rum, and sugar.
Jennings Cox’s original daiquiri recipe included:
- Six limes
- Six teaspoons of sugar
- Six cups of Bacardi Carta Blanca® rum
- Two small cups of mineral water
- Plenty of crushed ice
Variations:
- Strawberry Daiquiri: A regular daiquiri with whole strawberries
- Banana Daiquiri: Regular daiquiri with banana
- Avocado Daiquiri: Regular daiquiri with avocado
- Hemingway Daiquiri: White rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice, maraschino liqueur, and no sugar
3. Margarita
History:
While creation myths abound, according to cocktail historian David Wondrich, the margarita is merely a popular drink called the Brandy Daisy made with tequila instead of brandy. This drink became popular during Prohibition in Mexico, as Americans began traveling across the border for alcohol.
The word for “Daisy” in Spanish is “Margarita”.
Ingredients:
A traditional Margarita recipe includes tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice, often served with salt on the rim of the glass.
Variations:
- Mango Margarita: Margarita made with mango purée
- Sunrise Beer Margarita: A margarita made with orange soda and beer
- Sunset Margarita: A margarita made with orange and pomegranate juice
- Paloma: A margarita made with grapefruit soda
4. Whiskey & Cola
History:
The first recorded mention of a drink made by mixing whiskey and Coca-Cola® was in a 1907 report by an employee of the United States Bureau of Chemistry and Soils named Dr. Lyman Kebler.
Dr. Kebler encountered the drink in the American South. He said the proprietor called it a "Coca-Cola® high-ball".
On January 12, 2016, Food and Beverage magazine said they had officially named the Jack Daniels® and Coca-Cola® combination "The Lemmy" after the death of Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, due to his frequent consumption of the drink.
Ingredients:
While “Jack” specifically refers to the Jack Daniel’s® whiskey brand, the drink can be made with any other kind of whiskey, often referred to as a “Whiskey and Coke®” or “Bourbon and Coke®”.
While “Coke®” refers to Coca-Cola®, it is common for any brand of cola to be referred to as "Coke®" in the American South.
5. Sangría
History:
While the drink traces back to the 18th century, according to the SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol, Sangría’s origins "cannot be pinpointed exactly, but early versions were popular in Spain, Greece, and England.”
Sangría as an iced drink started being introduced in America by Spanish restaurants in the late 1940s, and grew quickly in popularity at the 1964 World's Fair in New York.
Sangría means “bloodletting” in Spanish.
Ingredients:
Sangria is a punch traditionally made with red wine and chopped fruit, sweetened with orange juice or sugar.
Variations:
- Sangria Bianca: Sangria made with white wine instead of red wine
- Brazilian Sangria: Sangria made with cachaca (a rum-like spirit) and absinthe
- Blood Orange Sangria: Sangria made with blood oranges, strawberries, and raspberries
- Lambic Sangria: Sangria made with Framboise lambic and Belgian white ale
How Frozen Alcoholic Drinks are Made
Frozen alcoholic drinks can be made in the same frozen carbonated beverage machines that ICEE or Slurpee drinks are made in.
In these machines, a mixture of syrup, water, alcohol, and CO₂ is chilled down, often below the freezing point of water. While water alone would freeze solid quickly under such temperatures, pressure (up to 40 P.S.I.), sugar, and CO₂ all combine to prevent the mixture from becoming a solid block of ice.
When this mixture is dispensed into a cup, the pressure is released, allowing ice crystals to rapidly form and expand, giving frozen carbonated beverages their signature, fluffy, foam-like consistency and crisp texture that customers have grown to know and love.
Calculate the ROI of your New Frozen Beverage Machine
Tips for Using Pre-Made Drink Mixes
The frozen alcoholic drink mix you purchase will usually come with a recipe for you to follow, including how much water and alcohol to add for the ideal flavor and consistency.
When using a pre-made drink mix, make sure that the number of gallons the mix makes (listed on the package) matches up with how many gallons your frozen beverage dispenser makes.
Offer Even More Exciting Flavor Options with Multi-Flavor Dispensers
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Our Multi-Flavor dispensers allow customers to choose up to 2 base flavors, and then add up to 8 additional flavors to create a completely unique drink that’s perfect for them.
These dispensers feature a simple touchscreen interface that allows customers to easily select their desired flavor combination.
At the touch of a finger, customers can instantly mix the frozen beverage and flavor of their choice, such as:
- A frozen drink with a shot of their favorite flavor and spirit, such as Margaritas, Vodka Lemonade, Sangrias, or Whiskey & Cola
- Frozen lemonade mixed with strawberry, mango, blueberry, or peach
- Frozen coffees with a shot of mocha, caramel, hazelnut, or french vanilla
- Frozen tea mixed with peach, mango, strawberry, or lemonade for a new take on the classic Arnold Palmer®
Multi-Flavor dispensers are ideal for locations with limited retail space and a broader target audience (such as Millennials) with constantly changing demands.
Another big advantage of our Multi-Flavor units is that they dispense beverages (including spirits) in pre-set, controlled portions, reducing waste and saving costs.
Get the Industry’s Most Profitable and Trusted Frozen Alcoholic Drink Machines For Bars
FBD is trusted by 80% of the world’s frozen beverage retailers, and our dispensers have the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry.
Whether you run a restaurant, amusement park, movie theater, hotel, bar, or cruise ship, our expert team can advise you on the best way to set up a highly-profitable, frozen beverage program.
At FBD, your business becomes our business. We work hand-in-hand with you to adjust your Frozen Beverage Program to your specific capacity and footprint needs, and to shifting market demands.
With over 532 unique equipment configurations, we can completely transform the interface of our machines, whether crew-served or self-serve, to align with your marketing needs.
We provide a dedicated service team, along with field service trainers that offer 24-hour tech support, free training on equipment, and field support.
Schedule a call to have one of our experts help you:
Recommend the ideal products for your specific type of location
- Identify the right equipment and customization
- Estimate your ROI
- Provide an operations implementation plan including labor, maintenance savings estimates
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