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This cocktail for Valentine’s Day is a lot of fun to make. It’s a strawberry sour candy cocktail which is sure to impress the object of your affections and/or be a hit at a Valentine’s Day party. So get ready to pucker up for sipping this strawberry rum and sour strawberry schnapps confection. This Valentine’s Day drink is perfect for a Galentine’s Day party, too.
Get ready for Valentine’s Day with this delicious Strawberry Sour Candy Cocktail! Perfect for a romantic night in with your sweetheart. This is one of those drink recipes that will satisfy your sweet tooth.
Other sweet treats that you might enjoy are cherry cream puff pastries, mascarpone stuffed strawberries or how about a tasty strawberry shortcake in a mason jar?
Valentine’s Day Drink Ingredients
The main ingredient is pink cranberry juice. The reason the pink kind works best in this Valentine’s mixed drink recipe is it lets the sour candy flavour shine through and it also gives the drink a pretty pink colour. If you can only find the regular kind you can use that, but see if you can find pink cranberry juice for the very best result.
Strawberry rum and strawberry pucker also go into the mix. There are different brands to choose from. Malibu strawberry rum is really good. As for the strawberry pucker, try DeKuyper strawberry schnapps or similar.
Lemon juice adds to the sour taste while grenadine adds a fruity taste as well as deepening the color of this strawberry sour candy cocktail. If you’re using regular instead of pink cranberry juice you might want to use a little less grenadine.
Strawberry sour candies make a cute garnish or you can use fresh strawberries or experiment with sugar-dipped ones or white chocolate-dipped ones. A sour sugar rim looks cute on this cocktail for Valentine’s Day. For that you will need white sugar, lemon juice and some citric acid which you can get from the store or order online.
All of those ingredients combine to ensure a Valentine’s Day drink which boasts not only a sweet and fruity flavour but an unexpected sour hit! The contrast is really good and if you like sour candies you must make these!!
Tips for Making this Valentine’s Mixed Drink Recipe
You’ll love how simple this strawberry rum and sour strawberry schnapps drink is to make. First wet the rims of your serving glasses with lemon juice then roll them in sugar and citric acid.
Shake the cranberry juice, strawberry rum, strawberry pucker, lemon juice, and grenadine with ice. Pour this into the rimmed glasses. You can then finish them off with strawberry sour candies if liked. The arrow cocktail picks are the perfect touch! This cocktail pick would be adorable is all your Valentines Day drinks!
If you don’t want to garnish with the sour candy, consider dipping strawberries in the sour sugar mixture and using them as your garnish.
Can You Make Strawberry Sour Candy Cocktail Ahead?
Make this a day or so ahead if you like. Just don’t add the ice and ensure you keep it refrigerated. Also, you will need to give it a good shake before serving because the heavier ingredients in the mixture will sink to the bottom.
What is Citric Acid Exactly?
You might be curious about the citric acid in this cocktail for Valentine’s Day. This substance occurs naturally in citrus fruits, lemon and lime in particular. This is what makes them taste sharp and sour, which is why it’s perfect for recipes like these Valentine cocktails with rum.
Way back in 1784, a researcher from Sweden discovered citric acid and in the 1900s it was made using fresh lemons. These days it’s made using a type of black mould which feeds on sugar instead. As well as being an additive in some candies and sodas, citric acid can be used as a disinfectant and to preserve medicines.
You can get it from the grocery store or order it online. If you prefer not to use it in this Valentine’s Day drink that is also fine. You can just omit it from the rimming sugar mixture.
History of Sour Candy
This strawberry sour candy cocktail relies on the sour hit and any sour candy fans will love it. Sour candies have been around some 50 years, dating back to Ontario in the 1970s.
They were called Mars Men originally and then the name changed to Sour Patch Kids in 1985. Today you can get sour candy in various colours, flavours and levels of sourness.
If you want to use a different kind of candy in this strawberry rum and sour strawberry schnapps cocktail then go ahead. You can pick a different flavour to contrast with the strawberry if you like.
Strawberry Sour Candy Cocktail Recipe
Strawberry Sour Candy Cocktail For Valentine’s Day
Ingredients
For the sour sugar rim:
- 1/8 Cup granulated sugar
- 1 Teaspoon citric acid, food-grade
- 1 Wedge lemon, or lime
For the Strawberry Sour Candy Cocktail:
- ice
- 6 Ounces cranberry juice, pink
- 4 Ounces rum, strawberry, such as Malibu Strawberry Rum
- 4 Ounces schnapps, sour strawberry or strawberry pucker, such as DeKuyper
- 1 Ounce lemon juice
- 1 Ounce grenadine
- sour candy, strawberry flavour for garnish, optional
Instructions
For the Sour-Sugar Rim:
- On a shallow plate, mix together sugar and citric acid.
- Dip the rim of your glass into lemon juice or swipe a lemon wedge around the rim of your glass.
- Holding it at a 45-degree angle, dip the dampened rim of the glass into the prepared sour sugar, rotating it until the sugar covers the entire rim.
For the Strawberry Sour Candy Cocktail:
- Fill a cocktail shaker about halfway with ice. Add pink cranberry juice, strawberry rum, strawberry pucker, lemon juice, and grenadine.
- Shake to combine until the shaker feels ice cold (about 10 seconds). Divide the shaken cocktail between two 8-ounce glasses.
- Garnish with strawberry sour candy, if desired.
Nutrition
There are plenty of Valentine’s day drink ideas to choose from but I really like this strawberry sour candy cocktail. You’ll love the combination of sweet and sour flavours, the pretty colour and how easy it is to make.
Your Valentine’s Day date or party is sure to be sweet not sour if you choose to make this sour candy drink! You are going to want to add this to your list of favourite cocktail recipes.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Saving this for V-day FOR SURE!!
This drink looks and sounds delicious. I would like to try this for my family.
Such a cute cocktail for a Valentines date night
What a delicious idea for Valentines Day and perfect way to celebrate!
I am saving this! Will be making this valentines