Although supposed drinks of summer come and go, frozen cocktails will forever be the official signal of fun times and tan lines. And, whether you’re working with the kind of commercial-grade beverage mixer that started it all or just an everyday blender, you can turn practically anything into an icy libation. With all the potential frozen margaritas, frosés, and even cold-churned gin and tonics on the seasonal horizon, it can be hard to narrow the field. But the Miami Vice marvelously marries two frozen drink favorites into one dynamic cocktail.
A Miami Vice layers a frozen strawberry daiquiri and a frozen piña colada for a festive taste of each in a single vessel. Is this twice as much work when you’re making drinks at home? Yes! But you’ve got to use all those midyear, daylight saving hours for something, and making Miami Vices is as hot a pursuit as any. Other than requiring the frozen versions of each tipple to keep them from totally combining, and mandating that they’re layered at least one way or another, there are no outlying glass or garnish rules about a Miami Vice. You can even technically use the pre-made, store-bought pouches that require little more prep than a freeze, a snip, and a pour. But homemade is just so much more fun, not to mention more scalable for taste and quantity.
If you like piña coladas, just a little less plain
Listen, a piña coladas’s mellow coconut notes and more prickly pineapple attributes are just great on their own. But the added hue and fruitiness of a strawberry daiquiri is like a bright amplification. And there are easy ways to improve each of these frozen drink legends
Fresh strawberries will make the daiquiri component even better, for one. They’ll also help you better control the sugar content and taste via a little simple syrup versus something like a ready-made mix. Just make sure to freeze the fruit before you blend it with the requisite rum, lime juice, and aforementioned sweetener. This will keep you from having to introduce a ton of ice cubes that will change the otherwise smooth texture of the drink into a watery mess as they melt. For the piña colada portion, source the best pineapple juice you can find. You want that 100% gold stuff for optimal results. And if you’re using one blender and making Miami Vice companions in batches, make sure to wash it thoroughly (freezing whatever came first in the meantime) between uses. Keeping these flavors and colors distinct is the Miami Vice’s whole raison d’être.
