Mean And Green Grinch Cocktail Recipe

We all know the story of the Grinch — the mean, green, Christmas-hating machine who plots to destroy Christmas for the citizens of Whoville, only to have a change of heart (not to mention a resizing) and help restore the beloved holiday after all. "I'm an old school Grinch fan," recipe developer Patterson Watkins tells us. "All the movies, all the versions, the story is just so fun and heartwarming. It is that heartwarming aspect that inspired this cocktail."

The cocktail in question is a mean and green Grinch cocktail, one that not only looks like the Grinch, but also gives the drinker a Grinch-like experience with every sip. The key lies in the heart — in both the Grinch and in this cocktail — and as you sip on this at-first tart drink ("with some lovely pops of ginger, melon and coconut," per Watkins), a little sweetness starts to make itself apparent. "After a few sips of holiday cheer and good tiding ... that cold heart starts to melt and spread and seemingly grow 3 sizes with joyful sweetness," Watkins describes. 

The ice cubes in this drink aren't just any ice cubes. They're heart-shaped, first of all, but they're also made with maraschino cherry juice instead of water, so that they melt faster and in a more sorbet-like way. The result is a drink that starts out a little mean and a little green, but one that sweetens up as you, the drinker, discover the true meaning of Christmas.

Before you can get to sipping, you'll need to make sure that your Grinch cocktail ingredients are in order. For the ice cubes, you'll need both maraschino cherries and the juice from the jar. You'll rim the cocktail glass with lime juice and red sanding sugar, then the drink itself consists of Midori (or another type of melon liqueur), Malibu rum (or another type of coconut rum), pineapple juice, and ginger beer. 

To make the heart-shaped ice cubes, place a cherry in the center of each mold.

Fill the molds with cherry juice and place them in the freezer. Freeze overnight or until firm.

Once the ice cubes are frozen, run a lime wedge around the rim of your rocks glasses.

Coat the rim of the glasses in red sanding sugar, set aside.

Fill a shaker with ice.

Add Midori, Malibu, and pineapple juice and vigorously shake.

Fill the rocks glasses with a few regular ice cubes, placing a heart-shaped ice cube on top.

Strain the cocktail mixture into the glasses, filling them ⅔-full.

Top the cocktails with ginger beer and serve.

Certain cocktails can really only be enjoyed a certain way — that is, shaken, stirred, on the rocks, neat, or frozen, though there are also those that can easily be switched up depending on drinker's preference. A margarita is a great example of a cocktail that can take many shapes and forms, and can be served over ice just as easily as it can be served frozen. As it turns out, this mean and green Grinch cocktail can also be switched up in a breeze, so if you prefer your cocktails frozen, that can easily be arranged with a little extra prep work.

"This cocktail makes for a very tasty frozen drink," Watkins says, and the key to making it frozen starts the night before, when you're prepping the heart-shaped ice. As you prep the heart-shaped cubes, also prep a tray with pineapple juice — it doesn't have to be heart-shaped since it'll all get blended up. "These frozen pineapple juice cubes will keep your cocktail from getting watered down," Watkins explains.

When it's time to make the actual cocktails, add all the cocktail ingredients (including the pineapple cubes but not the heart cubes just yet) to a blender and let the appliance do its thing. Pour the frozen cocktail into prepared glasses as per usual, then top off with a cherry heart cube, and voila — frozen Grinch cocktails.

Considering that this is a Christmas/holiday season cocktail, there's a good chance that you plan to serve this when hosting a gathering for family or friends. So four servings might not cut it, and unless you want to be playing bartender all night until your arms get sore from shaking, there must be another solution. In the spirit of saving Christmas, there is indeed another solution — turn this Grinch cocktail into a mean, green batch of punch!

Watkins notes that this cocktail works really well in punch form, and all you have to do for prep work (aside from making the heart-shaped ice cubes as written) is to make sure that all of the ingredients (liquors and pineapple juice) are nice and chilled. Pour all of the chilled liquids into a big punch bowl (double, triple, or even quadruple the amounts called for, depending on how big a batch you need) and either add the cherry ice cubes to the bowl or put them into individual servings of the punch. Watkins also notes that you could do the same as if you were prepping this cocktail for a frozen version and make pineapple juice ice cubes ahead of time, that way your punch stays nice and chilled without getting watered-down.