I love to develop summertime drinks! This recipe for Rhubarb Slush uses rhubarb as the base for this tasty slush drink. The addition of a mix of freshly squeezed citrus juices, sweet pineapple juice, and frozen lemonade concentrate make this a flavorful beverage.
This is an alcoholic beverage as it uses gin. There is no fixed ratio of slush to soda but I generally fill a tall glass about a third to half full of the slush and top it up with a clear soda such as lemon-lime. Serve with a lemon wheel or wedge and it’s a refreshing drink on a hot summer day.
I do have some tips to share for making this slush:
• Use the the brightest red rhubarb stalks you can find as this will give the slush color.
• Use freshly-squeezed citrus fruit juices, not bottled (fresh is always best!).
• Strain the citrus juices twice to remove all traces of seeds and fruit pulp.
• Chill the rhubarb and citrus juices, pineapple juice, simple syrup, and gin. The colder the ingredients are to start with, the quicker and better the freezing process for the slush.
• Plan ahead to make this slush as it will take at least 2-3 days for it to reach the optimal “slush” stage.
• Stir the slush 2-3 times during the freezing process to ensure ingredients remain mixed during the freezing stage. It will not freeze rock hard solid as it’s not meant to.
• For best results, store the slush in a tightly sealed container deep in a deep freeze (as opposed to a refrigerator’s freezer compartment). Otherwise, the slush may remain in a fairly liquid form and not freeze, and stay frozen, at the slush stage.
• Once mixed with the cold soda, serve immediately as the slush melts quickly.
This is a pale, pastel drink that is packed full of flavour. Sometimes, I add some lemon balm leaves and edible pansies to add color and interest to the drink. I think this would make a lovely bridal shower signature drink.
Rhubarb Slush
Ingredients:
1½ cups water
1½ cups sugar
3 cups rhubarb, chopped into ½” chunks (enough to yield 1 cup rhubarb juice)
⅔ cup water
Juice of ½ pink grapefruit
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
1¼ cups pineapple juice, chilled
½ can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, slightly thawed
1 – 375 ml bottle gin (I used Beefeater London Dry Gin), chilled
Method:
Assemble ingredients.
In medium-sized saucepan, combine the 1½ cups water and 1½ cup sugar to make a traditional simple syrup. Over high heat, bring to a boil then reduce to medium-low heat and boil gently for approximately 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sugar has completely dissolved and liquid is clear. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, then chill.
In medium-sized saucepan combine the rhubarb and 2/3 cup water.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce to medium low and cook gently for about 10 minutes until rhubarb is broken down into a soft sauce-like consistency.
Pour rhubarb and its liquid into a fine sieve/strainer placed over a bowl or large measuring cup.
Let juice drip from rhubarb, periodically pressing the rhubarb pulp with the back of a large spoon to extract as much juice as possible. This should yield 1 cup of rhubarb juice. Chill. Discard rhubarb pulp.
Prepare the citrus juices and strain twice to remove any seeds and pulp. Chill.
Into a freezable container that can hold at least 7 cups of liquid, pour the cooled simple syrup of sugar and water.
Add the chilled rhubarb, citrus, and pineapple juices along with the semi-thawed lemonade concentrate and the gin. Stir well.
Place airtight cover on container. Freeze in the coldest part of the deep freeze, stirring 2-3 times during the freezing process. Be patient as this will take 2-3 days for it to reach the desired slush consistency.
To serve, fill a tall glass about a third to one-half full of slush and top up with a clear soda, such as lemon-lime.
Garnish with a lemon wheel or wedge and serve immediately. Decorate with a sprig of lemon balm and/or an edible pansy, if desired.
Yield: Apx. 7+ cups
Note: There may be some slight variations in colors between different photos in this posting due to different lighting used.
A pastel-colored refreshing drink using rhubarb
Ingredients
- 1½ cups water
- 1½ cups sugar
- 3 cups rhubarb, chopped into ½” chunks (enough to yield 1 cup rhubarb juice)
- 2/3 cup water
- Juice of ½ pink grapefruit
- Juice of 1 orange
- Juice of l lemon
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1¼ cups pineapple juice, chilled
- ½ can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, slightly thawed
- 1 – 375 ml bottle gin (I used Beefeater London Dry Gin), chilled
Instructions
- Assemble ingredients.
- In medium-sized saucepan, combine the 1½ cups water and 1½ cup sugar to make a traditional simple syrup. Over high heat, bring to a boil then reduce to medium-low heat and boil gently for approximately 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sugar has completely dissolved and liquid is clear. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, then chill.
- In medium-sized saucepan combine the rhubarb and 2/3 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce to medium low and cook gently for about 10 minutes until rhubarb is broken down into a soft sauce-like consistency.
- Pour rhubarb and its liquid into a fine sieve/strainer placed over a bowl or large measuring cup. Let juice drip from rhubarb, periodically pressing the rhubarb pulp with the back of a large spoon to extract as much juice as possible. This should yield 1 cup of rhubarb juice. Chill. Discard rhubarb pulp.
- Prepare the citrus juices and strain twice to remove any seeds and pulp. Chill.
- Into a freezable container that can hold at least 7 cups of liquid, pour the simple syrup of sugar and water. Add the chilled rhubarb, citrus, and pineapple juices along with the semi-thawed lemonade concentrate and the gin. Stir well.
- Place airtight cover on container. Freeze in the coldest part of the deep freeze, stirring 2-3 times during the freezing process. Be patient as this will take 2-3 days for it to reach the desired slush consistency.
- To serve, fill a tall glass about one-third to one-half full of slush and top up with a clear soda, such as lemon-lime. Garnish with a lemon wheel or wedge and serve immediately.
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