18+ Freezer Door Cocktails to Keep Chilled & Ready to Drink

If you haven’t heard of freezer door cocktails, they are about to blow your mind! These boozy sips are made as a big batch that keep in the freezer until you’re ready to serve. They’re easy and best served ice-cold.

Your ultimate guide to freezer door cocktails

If there’s one thing I love, it’s having things prepped so when the mood strikes it’s easy to craft whatever cocktail I’m craving. But sometimes, I need to take it one step further and have something that doesn’t require mixing, measuring or muddling. These cool drinks are a great option to have for a nightcap, after a long day or whenever I’m entertaining.

Freezer door cocktails are something I’m familiar with, but the name threw me at first. They’re essentially just pre-mixed drinks that have been batched, then put in the freezer so they’re cold when your’e ready to enjoy. Similar to how keeping a bottle of booze in the freezer gives it a crisp, clean feel, chilling your drink means it is ready to pour and enjoy ASAP.

This won’t work for every cocktail, so you’ll need to be careful with what you choose. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a big block of ice that needs to thaw before you can pour!

How freezer door cocktails work

When it comes to the science behind these drinks, why don’t they freeze? Most liquids that go into the freezer come out as a solid, but these remain pourable no matter how long they sit.

If you want to get technical: It comes down to the ABV (alcohol by volume) and the “freezing point depression,” which means something is added to a liquid that lowers the temperature at which the liquid will freeze. Alcohol lowers the freezing point of water, so a drink above roughly 20-25% ABV stays liquid at 32°F, on down to 0°F. In layman’s terms, these cocktails have such a high alcohol content that they won’t actually freeze in a standard home freezer.

The ABV is important to consider. The standard freezer operates between -5°F to 5°F (-20°C to -15°C) — ideally 0°F (-18°C) or a little below. If your drink goes below the 20-25% ABV level it likely will end up as an ice cube rather than something you can pour and enjoy straight from the freezer.

Best spirits for freezer door cocktails

As mentioned above, you’ll need to pick something that gives you a high ABV to prevent your final cocktail from freezing. These spirits are most common for freezer cocktails:

• Rum — This is the most obvious choice, since most standard rums are 40% and overproof (151) makes a real difference in juice-heavy and tiki-style drinks. Look for Plantation OFTD, Lemon Hart 151 or Bacardi 151 (which is discontinued but still referenced a lot).
• Whiskey — Most bourbon and rye is already 40-50%, and cask-strength bottles (Booker’s, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, barrel-proof picks) run 60-65%. The stronger option is helpful for a Whiskey Sour where you’re adding lemon juice.
• Gin — Navy-strength gin is 57% vs. the standard 40%. Brands like Plymouth Navy Strength, Perry’s Tot, Hayman’s Royal Dock are all good choices. In drinks like a gimlet or the bee’s sting where lime juice pulls the ABV down, the gin helps bring it back up to avoid freezing.
• Tequila — There is less variation available here, since most bottles sit around 40%. Look to your favorite brands or bottles and go from there.
• Vodka — Higher-proof vodkas exist (Absolut 100, Stolichnaya 100) but since vodka-based drinks on this list are already spirit-forward with minimal juice, it’s less critical to try to track one down. Your bar cart ^* probably already holds a bottle that will work!

How to batch and store freezer door cocktails

One of the best parts of Freezer Dora cocktails is you can make them right in the liquor bottle! You’ll need to measure and mix like you would any other recipe, but you’re more likely to need measuring cups than a jigger this time. The other thing you’ll need for these freezer door cocktails is a funnel ^* that fits in the mouth of your bottle, or an airtight pitcher or jar to store your drinks.

First, you’ll need to pour off some of the spirit from the bottle. My professional recommendation is to use it to make another cocktail while you wait for these to chill!

Once you have room in the bottle, add your ingredients using the funnel. Give everything a gentle swirl (probably best to do this while the lid is on), then pop the whole bottle into the freezer.

A standard 750ml bottle holds about 25 ounces, or a little more than 3 cups, giving you roughly 8 servings of a 3-ounce cocktail. For recipes with more non-alcoholic ingredients (things like juice or syrups), leave about 1 inch or more of headspace. This gives you room to shake without spilling and for the liquid to expand.

Depending on the exact ingredients and alcohol that you use, it may require a little experimentation! That being said, if your cocktail has enough alcohol to qualify as a freezer door cocktail, it’s not going to freeze and expand the way water or a lower-ABV drink would, so don’t stress too much about expansion.

Freezer door cocktail tips

In case you’ve never made freezer door cocktails before, or simply want to perfect your technique, here are the top things to think about before you start mixing.

1. Check the ingredients. If you’re making a juice-forward recipe, it shouldn’t sit in the freezer as long. Mix it the day of (leaving enough time for it to chill) or the night before you want to serve it.
2. Water things down. Since these drinks are spirit forward, you may find that you need to add a splash of water that mimics the dilution you’d get from stirring or shaking.
   • You can do this in two different ways. Either add about 5-10% water by volume to your batch — roughly a teaspoon or two per drink — or skip it and add a small splash to your glass when you pour. Keep in mind that you can always add more but you can’t take it away — I prefer to add water after I pour so I can taste test and get it just right.
3. Stretch your stuff. This is optional, but if you feel like you need to stretch your batch to make it work for a crowd or simply prefer some bubbles, adding club soda when you pour will lighten any drink.

The best freezer door cocktails 

Whether you’re making these to have on-hand to sip in the evenings or in preparation for a party, here are the recipes that stand up to the cold: