Celebrate the 4th of July with Our Bomb Pop Cocktail

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There’s no question that summer birthdays are the best, and America’s might be the best example of that. Some of us celebrate the 4th of July with family-style barbecues, cooking up quintessentially American foods like baby back ribs, hamburgers, and hot dogs, while others march in flag-lined parades and send dazzling fireworks through the night sky. Of course, sweet treats are also a welcome part of any good celebration, and when it comes to a 4th of July party specifically, Bomb Pops are just the festive touch. 

Iconic for their rocket-like shape and patriotic color, Bomb Pops reflect the spirit of Independence day better than any other American dessert. They also translate well into cocktail form — recipe developer Michelle McGlinn shares a 4th of July Bomb Pop cocktail recipe filled with patriotic color and fruity, sweet flavors, perfect for those of us who want a more adult-friendly version of the treat. While traditional Bomb Pops are made up of cherry, lime, lemon, and raspberry flavors, McGlinn captures such a fruity essence with ingredients like lemonade, cherry juice, blue curaçao, and Chambord.

You only need a few ingredients for this triple-layered drink, many of which you may already have on hand. For the bottom layer, you’ll just need maraschino juice, which you can find in a jar of bright-red maraschino cherries. For the middle layer, you’ll need lemonade and vodka, and for the final layer, you’ll just need blue curaçao and a splash of Chambord. You may also want some Bomb Pops (or red, white, and blue popsicles) on hand to serve alongside the finished cocktails.

Fill a glass with crushed ice.

Pour the cherry juice into the glass.

Add the lemonade and vodka to a cocktail shaker and shake to combine, about 15 seconds.

Slowly pour the vodka/lemonade mixture into the glass.

To the same shaker, add the blue curaçao and chambord and shake vigorously to combine, about 15 seconds.

Slowly pour the blue liquid over the back of a bar spoon and into the glass.

Serve the cocktail immediately, optionally garnished with a popsicle.

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Layered cocktails rely on liquid density, or the weight of the liquids, to work properly. A dense liquid like cherry juice will always sink below a lighter, less dense liquid like vodka, which makes layering easy for liquids with very different densities. For liquids closer in density, like lemonade and blue curaçao, layering is a little more complicated, but it can be done with a few tricks.

Generally speaking, chilled spirits will sink lower than warm ones because they have a higher density. Because chemistry is complicated, that doesn’t necessarily mean chilled vodka lemonade will sink below room temp blue curaçao, and it is better to chill each liquid to neutralize the densities as much as possible (in other words, start them at the same temperature so there aren’t as many variables). You can do this by adding the bottles to the refrigerator a few hours in advance, or simply by shaking each mixture with ice before pouring into the glass. To add each liquid to the glass, pour slowly, and to create crisp layers, pour over the back of a spoon. This method disperses the liquid over a wider surface area, floating the liquid instead of plunging it into the liquid below. If you don’t nail it, don’t worry — your drink will still taste delicious all the same.

Because Bomb Pops are made with cherry flavoring, we used cherry juice from a jar of maraschino cherries to most accurately replicate the flavor of the popsicle. You can also use grenadine, another popular 4th of July cocktail ingredient, which replicates the color, is dense enough to sit at the bottom of the drink, and tastes similar enough to cherry flavoring. These are both non-alcoholic options, but there are a few options if you want to increase the ABV of the drink just a touch higher.

We first recommend using maraschino liqueur mixed with cherry juice or grenadine, which will enhance the tartness of the cherry flavor. You can also use cherry pie liqueur or cherry vanilla spiced rum, which are both sweet, tart, and cherry-flavored. We don’t recommend using regular cherry liqueur, which has an earthy flavor that doesn’t quite match the fruity quality of the Bomb Pop. If nothing else, you can also just add another splash of vodka to the maraschino cherry juice.

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