The last days of summer are here…

With Labor Day today, the last days of summer are upon us and that means soaking up as much of the summer fun left before we transition into fall. I personally cannot wait for fall as a Texan because it means leaving the triple digits back to the double digits. But for those of you who don’t want the summer to end, I’ve got a special recipe you can share with your friends and family at your next summer gathering-the perfect ginger peach vodka summer cocktail.

You might be thinking, “Wait, can vegans drink alcohol?”

The answer to that is yes, however not all alcohol is vegan. So, why isn’t all alcohol vegan? Well,some alcohol uses a filtering process with agents that contain animal by products such as casein (milk protein), albumin (egg whites), gelatin (animal protein obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments) and the most common, isinglass (fish bladder). Fortunately for vegans however, most hard liquor is vegan such as vodka, bourbon, gin, and rum. 

The drink that I’ll be sharing with you today contains Vodka from a local Austin company that is vegan friendly, Deep Eddy. Deep Eddy has a few different flavors such as cranberry juice, grapefruit juice (my personal favorite to pair with lime juice and club soda for a simple grapefruit moscow mule), and vodka lemon flavor.

How do you know which alcohol is vegan?

You can actually search most brands at Barnivore.com. This website has a wide variety of alcohol brands you can search through to find out if a brand of alcohol is vegan or not. This is also how I found out that Deep Eddy’s Peach flavor of Vodka was vegan friendly. 

How to make a Ginger Peach Slush

This recipe is a spin off from a more classic cocktail, the peach bellini, and is the perfect summer day recipe. This drink is also a great option for everyone because you don’t actually have to put alcohol in it.I made this a couple of weeks ago for a friend who doesn’t drink alcohol and she loved it so this makes the perfect mocktail for your summer gathering as well.

The best part about this drink is that it doesn’t take much to make. All you’ll need is a bag of frozen white peaches, Deep Eddy’s Peach flavor vodka, agave nectar, ginger beer, lemon, and mint leaves. One thing to mention about this recipe is that if your not a fan of ginger beer swap this out for ginger ale or a lemon lime club soda. 

Since this drink is frozen you won’t need a cocktail shaker but I would recommend having a really good high power blender or food processor to blend the frozen peaches. I personally have a Ninja Mixer and it has been one of the best purchases for me as a vegan. It’s really versatile for smoothies, hummus, and making my favorite-vegan ricotta cheese. I say this because without a really good blender or food processor it’s possible that your mixture after blending the peaches could come out very chunky instead of smooth.

If you don’t have a good blender, I would recommend using fresh peaches or canned peaches and using crushed ice or ice cubes to make your puree. 

And last but not least, my pro trip would be to serve these in a mason jar if you have them. Mason jars are relatively inexpensive at your local grocery store and not only are they great to store food, but they also really make this drink stand out, especially with all the fixings of the lemon and fresh mint leaves.  Also, having a reusable straw for your drink is also a really great addition for this drink. I have silicone straws as well as stainless steel and glass and I would certainly recommend the reusable glass straws so far as they are the easiest to clean and doesn’t leave an odd after taste. If you’d also like to purchase reusable straws to do your part for the planet, you can order some here. 

I hope you love this recipe and that it’s the perfect addition to your next summer gathering!  

Vegan Friendly Vodka Summer Drink-Ginger Peach Vodka Cocktail