Can you put alcohol in a blender?

So after years of posting about smoothies, and healthy fruit drinks, I had a lot of friends ask me: what about alcohol? Why don’t you cover frozen drinks with alcohol or discuss what type of blender to buy for that?

Honestly, because I’m not a big drinker. So, it wasn’t something that I was that focused on. Plus, I cover frozen fruit smoothies, and the basics of making a frozen strawberry daiquiri or a frozen margarita is the same as making a frozen fruit smoothie.

The blenders you use are the same, so I didn’t think too much about it.

But, the time has come where I am going to cover mixed drinks and frozen drinks made with alcohol.

Why? Because a lot of people make them. Heck, I’ve made my fair share for parties. Sometimes I’ll make an alcohol version along with a non-alcohol version of a classic drink such as daiquiri or pina coloda.

The basics of blending alcohol is pretty simple. Really any blender can blend alcohol, but that’s not the real question that you should be asking.

What you should be asking is what kind of mixed drink are you looking to make? The ingredients in your mixed drink, in addition to the alcohol that you are using, is going to make a difference

Table of Contents

How Much Alcohol Do You Put in a Blender?

The amount of alcohol that you put in a blender is directly corelated to the drink recipe that you’re using.

If you are planning on making mixed drinks for a party, or for yourself and some friends, then make sure you are using a good recipe.

The more important question is how many servings you can make in a blender. That’s a better question as it will help you make sure you’re not adding too much alcohol.

Remember, you’re not going to just pour alcohol into a blender without measuring it and deciding how many servings you are making.

It’s a better idea to find a recipe you like and determine how many servings you can make when you consider the other ingredients that need to go into the blender:

Ice
Fruit – Fresh or Frozen
-Coconut Milk (for some drinks)
Alcohol

That last ingredient that you see on the list is the alcohol. As you can see, the other things are more important when considering how many servings you can put into a blender. The alcohol is the smallest part of the juice and it’s more important to consider the bulk and size of the fruit, ice, and milk/juices that you will be adding.

My rule of thumb is that if you’re using a bullet blender you can make 2-4 frozen drinks. If you want to make more, then you are going to make the frozen drinks in batches.

The blenders that work best for blending mixed drinks with alcohol are going to be blenders that are best for blending frozen fruit, because you are going to be blending the alcohol with frozen berries or bananas or pineapple. Also, don’t forget to check out blenders that handle crushing ice if you are making a lot of slushy type drinks.

What Kind of Alcohol Can You Mix in a Blender?

You can blend any type of alcohol in a blender. It doesn’t mater if you’re making a vodka slushy or if you’re making a fruity rum drink for a backyard BBQ.

The type of alcohol doesn’t matter as much as the amount of drink. Vodka, rum, gin (not really popular for blended drinks) and anything else you want are fine to use in a blender.

Some people do worry about ruining their blender with alcohol and I’ll tell you that isn’t something to worry about.

Alcohol won’t ruin a blender. There’s no risk in using alcohol in your blender. It’s not like you’re just pouring a bottle of rum or vodka straight into a blender and setting it on high. You’re adding a small amount of alcohol to the blender.

Even if you were to blend up a whole bottle without fruit of juices for some weird reason—it wouldn’t ruin the blender.

But you’re not going to be doing that! When you are making a mixed drink with alcohol in a blender, there is a recipe that you should be using. Or else estimating amounts.

So, for instance, you’d make the following in your blender if you wanted a frozen strawberry daiquiri.

This recipe for 4 people could be made in a Nutribullet. If you want to make for a huge party and want to make 12+ servings then make in batches or else use a bigger jar blender such as a Ninja.

12 Ounces of Frozen Strawberries
(If you are using fresh strawberries, then you will have to add ice)
5-6 ounces of light rum (dark rum is for drinking straight, so always use light rum in mixed blender drinks)
Juice of 2 limes
4 tablespoons of organic cane sugar (you can use a light honey if you prefer, but if you are making a classic daiquiri it should be sugar).