Sometimes made with Peach Schnapps, other times with Raspberry Vodka, one thing remains true: the Love Potion co*cktail is a delicious, fruity drink that is all-around fun. Served in a martini glass, this delightful pink concoction has taken the world by storm. But what exactly is it? Read below to learn how to make your own Love Potion co*cktail and see if it’s as magical as they say.
What is a Love Potion
With its fun pinkish color and sweet, tangy taste, The Love Potion is obviously the perfect Valentine’s day libation; however, it doesn’t have to be made just once a year! This charming drink is great for Mother’s Day, girls’ night, or any simple Spring/Summer gathering! Add a pinch of edible luster dust for a fun twist and watch this unique co*cktail steal the spotlight every time.
There are more than a few recipes for a Love Potion co*cktail out in the universe, but most of them are pretty easy to make and use few ingredients. Some recipes feature a vodka co*cktail shaken with cranberry juice, grapefruit juice, grenadine, and a splash of orange juice; others require vodka, peach schnapps, and grapefruit juice. There’s even one made with ice cream! (Yum!) However, since I’m the author of this article, I’m going to choose a few of the recipes that sound the yummiest to me and share them with you.
Raspberry Love Potion
I’m a sucker for a tart, fruity drink (and if I’m being honest, anything pink is an instant hit in my book). The recipe below mixes up raspberry vodka with cranberry juice for a sweet and sour taste bud experience.
- Ice
- 1 part lime juice
- 2 parts raspberry vodka
- 2 parts cranberry juice co*cktail
- 1 part grenadine
- Fresh Raspberries for garnish
Citrus Love Potion
If Raspberry isn’t your favorite flavor, that’s okay. You can still make this drink with a few adjustments. The next recipe features plain vodka shaken up with different juices to make a delightful flavor combination that’s second to none.
- 4 ounces vodka
- 2 ounces cranberry juice
- 1 ounce grapefruit juice
- 1 ounce orange juice
- Splash of grenadine
- 4 Fresh strawberries for garnish
Love Potion #9
Are you looking for something without the crisp bite of cranberry? I have you covered! This variation of the Love Potion co*cktail is a vibrant mix of succulent peach and zesty grapefruit juice.
- 1.5 ounces vodka
- 0.5 ounces peach schnapps
- 3 ounces pink grapefruit juice
- 1 strawberry for garnish
The Art of Garnishing- Which Fruit Garnish Works best?
The fruit garnish you choose heavily depends on the recipe. Since the drink is fairly easy to make (and pink!), it’s best to stick with simple fruits that go with the theme:
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Red grapes
- Cherries
- Blood orange slices
- Pomegranate seeds
Pro tip: using frozen fruit will keep your drink cold enough to sip at your leisure without the threat of ice watering down your drink.
Is a Martini Glass Really necessary?
The martini glass, also known as the co*cktail glass, has been a bar staple since the beginning. Bar-keeps and Connoisseurs insist to this day that it’s the only way to serve the famous co*cktail and swear to the party gods above that it radically changes the flavor and quality of the drink. Well, I’m here to tell you … they’re all wrong. Allow me to explain why martini glasses are the worst, and you’ll never see this iconic glass the same way again.
Ever put a martini glass down just a little too hard, and the thing shatters in your hand? No, it’s not because you’ve been killing it on arm day at the gym. It’s because martini glasses are absurdly fragile. The long stem and wide brim make it challenging to pick up and set back down again smoothly — especially after you’ve had a few. Whip up a few martinis at a party, and you can guarantee you’ll be cleaning up shattered glass at some point before the night’s over. Drink one at a bar, and you’ll be walking around so carefully that you won’t be able to concentrate on anything but not breaking the glass. Add this to the problem of the gaping maw rim of this glass. Turn the wrong way the slightest bit, and your martini splashes all over your shoes, or worse — your shirt!
To remedy this issue most bars have switched over to “stemless” martini glasses. They’ve done away with the glass’s long stem but kept the same tops with chubby flat bottoms. This is even more ridiculous. The entire point of the stem is to keep your hand from warming your drink, which everybody in the martini drinking world knows: the martini’s temperature is its most important quality. Drinking from a stemless martini glass takes away the only real advantage of the glass to begin with and still has most of its obvious problems.
So, what do we suggest?
We suggest drinking a martini in a tumbler or a rocks glass over ice. Some martini savants might argue that the melting ice will dilute the co*cktail and water it down, but that debate seems disagreeable at best. Experts will also insist that martinis are always best when served iced cold, which leads me to the only logical conclusion: the drink’s temperature far outweighs the concentration.
At this point, the martini glass is at best a pretentious attempt to appear classy while sipping your drink. But you know what isn’t classy? Tipping your glass the tiniest bit only to have it spill all over yourself or the table, nor is it stylish to set your glass down a tad too hard and witness the entire thing crack or shatter in your grip. So skip the tradition. Shake or stir your gin and vermouth and pour it straight into an ordinary drinking glass over ice. You’ll get double the martini and double the fun, with less chance of spillage.
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Toni T.
Toni T. is a writer, mother, amateur makeup artist, and coffee addict — not necessarily in that order! A lover of all things vintage, she’s an encyclopedia of useless 80’s trivia and adores a bold red lip. She is a second-generation Greek American with dreams of traveling abroad to see the land on which her ancestors walked but, for now, she resides in the ‘burbs of New Jersey with her husband and children.
