Frozen cocktails (18+)
Cherry vodka slush
A red, grown-up party slush: cherry slush syrup, lemonade and vodka, coloured differently from the kids’ blue batch on purpose.
18+1.1units / serving
Photo: Bin im Garten, CC BY-SA 3.0
Frozen cocktails (18+) · adults only
Vodka & lemonade slush
The classic “vodka slushie”: lemonade, a little lemon and a measured amount of vodka — about 1 unit a glass.
- Batch
- about 1.65 litres
- Serves
- 7 × 236 ml
- Setting
- Ninja SLUSHi: Frozen Cocktail · Tower Slushie Fusion: Cocktail
18+1.1units / serving
This is a light frozen cocktail, deliberately well inside the machines’ alcohol limits. The vodka is measured for the whole batch, so everyone knows what is in their glass.
Ingredients
- 1.4 litres full-sugar cloudy lemonade, chilled
- 200 ml vodka (37.5% ABV)
- 50 ml lemon juice
- 60 g caster sugar
Allergens to watch: Check the lemonade label (some contain sulphites). Always check the labels of the brands you use.
Method
- Dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice and a splash of the lemonade.
- Pour the lemonade slowly into a jug, add the sugar mix and the vodka, and stir gently.
- Pour into the machine below the maximum fill line.
- Run the Frozen Cocktail setting (Cocktail on the Tower).
- Serve in small glasses and label the cups.
Sugar check
Vodka adds volume but no sugar, which dilutes the mix. 60 g of caster sugar adds about 3.6 g per 100 ml on its own; the lemonade supplies the rest. For example, a lemonade with 5 g sugars per 100 ml adds 70 g, bringing the batch to about 7.9 g per 100 ml. With a low-sugar lemonade the batch can fall short of 4% — check in the calculator.
Strength and UK units
UK units = ABV (%) × volume (ml) ÷ 1,000 (the NHS formula)
| Ingredient | Sum | Units |
|---|---|---|
| vodka | 37.5 × 200 ÷ 1,000 | 7.5 |
| Whole batch | 7.5 | |
| Per serving (7 servings) | 1.1 |
The mixed batch is roughly 4.5% ABV (75 ml of pure alcohol in about 1.65 litres) — inside the 2.8–16% range Ninja gives for the original SLUSHi (FS301UK) cocktail setting.
Spirits and liqueurs vary: if the bottle you use has a different ABV, the units change. Our serving size is 236 ml; a bigger glass means more units.
Tips
- Don’t add more vodka: the original SLUSHi’s limit is 16% for the whole mix, and a cold, sweet slush can make the alcohol harder to taste.
- Make any children’s slush first, clean the machine, then make this.
Sources for the rules we followed
More from the shelf
Frozen wine (18+)
Frozé (frozen rosé)
A bottle of rosé with strawberry and sugar syrup, slushed — around 1.5 units a glass.
18+1.5units / serving
Frozen cocktails (18+)
Frozen margarita
Tequila, orange liqueur and lime, diluted to slush properly — 1.5 units a glass, worked out below.
18+1.5units / serving
Photo: tjeerd (Flickr), CC BY 2.0