Q Mixers – Instant Cocktails
Travel Distilled samples several Q Mixers which make for instant vodka and tequila cocktails like a Paloma, Bloody Mary, Moscow Mule, or Margarita.
We’re already big fans of Q Mixers, and their cans of tonic water are our go-to tonics. They combine freshness and a clean taste with a lack of nasty additives and an inexpensive price, especially as they’re often on offer in the grocery stores. When they are discounted, we stock up with several packs.
Q Mixers – Instant Cocktails
Thankfully Q Mixers has expanded its range of flavors, many of which enable you to make instant cocktails at home. But are they any good? We started with four, beginning with our favorite cocktail, the Margarita.
Instant Margaritas
We don’t mind making Margaritas, as they don’t take too much effort and a proper one is so much better than any of the Margarita mixes we’ve found. Sometimes at friends’ houses they’re excited to share their favorite Margarita mix with us and we have to put on a polite face. They’re usually too sweet and occasionally too sour.
From time to time, though, you’re having a busy day and can’t be bothered to make a proper one. Thanks to Q Mixers, we’ve at last found a Margarita mix that we not only like, but we love. Dare we say it, but it’s as good as any we’ve ever made ourselves.
The secret is always down to good quality ingredients. The tequila you provide yourself, of course, and we’ve now sampled the Q Margarita Mixer with both a regular tequila and a more expensive one, as a treat. The top-shelf tequila was naturally better, but even a cheap blanco provided a perfectly acceptable Margarita. Q Mixers also suggests using mezcal rather than tequila for a smokier taste. I am definitely going to try that!
The Q Mixer uses key limes rather than regular supermarket limes, and these give it that extra tartness that you need. They also use agave nectar rather than triple sec or Cointreau, and this provides the sweetness which cheaper mixers get from sugar or even (and don’t touch these with a barge-pole) high fructose corn syrup. Always read your labels. That’s how we ended up trying Q Tonic, and we’re glad we did. We now have a reason to buy their Margarita Mixer as well, and next time we’ll be buying the bottles rather than the cans.
Instant Palomas
Staying with Mexico and tequila, next we tried a truly refreshing Paloma, using the Q Mixer Sparkling Pink Grapefruit Juice. This matched the Margarita for quality. Apart from the tequila you only need a squeeze of lime juice and you’ve a cocktail that, like the Margarita, is both tart and sweet, thanks this time to the Florida grapefruits that Q uses. Some mixers use sugar, to give that extra boost of sweetness that many people – especially in the USA – seem to like, but here the grapefruit provides the natural sweetness and a perfect Paloma.
Instant Bloody Mary
I love a good Bloody Mary but they’re such a faff to produce that I’ve never tried making one for myself. Providing an instant Bloody Mary must be a real challenge to mixer-makers, but Q has stepped up to the plate and done it. They start with vine-ripened Roma tomatoes that are grown in California’s Central Valley and which make a flavorful and thick tomato juice as a base.
To this they add a blend of seven herbs and spices: garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, jalapeno pepper, dill, horseradish, and celery seed. These provide the mix of fieriness and freshness that are the signs of the best Bloody Marys. Of the four Q Mixers we tried, this was probably our favorite and produces the most complex of the instant cocktails. This is definitely another one for the shopping basket on our next trip to the store. Use a top-shelf vodka for this one, and you’ll be impressed.
Instant Moscow Mule
Q Mixers call their take on the Moscow Mule a Tropical Moscow Mule as it uses their Tropical Ginger Beer rather than regular Ginger Beer. It’s the only one of these four where they’ve played around a little with the classic recipe. That’s because their Tropical Ginger Beer has passionfruit, mango, and pineapple, all adding tons of fruity flavors.
The Ginger Beer also uses real ginger, not ginger flavoring, and is made in a way that forces extra carbonation into the can, even though that prolongs the production process and adds to the cost. That attention to quality shows through, and this is another classy instant cocktail hit. Serve this to your friends without telling them how you made it and they’ll think you’re an amazing bartender.
Buying Q Mixer Instant Cocktails
Q Mixers are available in stores everywhere, but if you have trouble finding any particular flavor then visit the Q Mixers website where they’ll tell you your nearest stockist or you can order them direct.
Buying Q Mixer Instant Cocktails
Q Mixers are available in stores everywhere, but if you have trouble finding any particular flavor then visit the Q Mixers website where they’ll tell you your nearest stockist or you can order them direct.
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