These red white and blue layered drinks are perfect for Memorial Day, the 4th of July, or all summer long. They’re beautiful, delicious, and so fun!
Years ago I spotted layered drinks on Pinterest, and new it was just something I had to try for the Fourth of July! These drinks are so cute and fun with the separate layers of red, white, and blue. Who wouldn’t be impressed if you made these fun drinks for a potluck or summer party?!
You can also make layered drinks for a variety of holidays, just follow our tips below for how to find your drink choices, and whip them up for Valentine’s Day, Halloween, or Christmas, you name it!
This drink is most fun served individually in separate glasses where everyone gets their own glass of colors, but you can also make a big pitcher-ful, make sure everyone sees the beautiful colors because as soon as you start pouring the drinks the colors will start to blend together. Or you may want to blend them together to enjoy the flavors together.
These drinks are so fun for the patriotic holidays, like Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, or to enjoy all summer long!
The secret to making layered drinks is making sure each layer is a different sugar content, with the highest at the bottom, and least at the top. For this the 7 up + grenadine has about 58 grams of sugar, the 7up has 38, and the Blue Powerade/Gatorade has 21 grams.
Ingredients Needed:
- Cherry 7 Up
- Grenadine
- 7 Up
- Blue Gatorade/Powerade
How to make layered drinks?
There are a few tricks to making layered drinks without the colors blending together.
- Add the cherry 7 up and red grenadine to the bottom of the glass.
- Fill your cup completely with ice.
- Very slowly pour the 7 up, then the blue Powerade over the back of a spoon, so it drips down the spoon, then drips down the ice as it pours into the cup without mixing.
Tips and Tricks:
- The secret to layered drinks is having the drink with the highest sugar content in the bottom. Start with the drink with the highest sugar level at the bottom, and the least sugar amount at the top (of course with the middle amount for the middle layer). You can make any drink or color combination as long as you check the sugar levels of your 3 drinks first.
- Make sure to fill your cup all the way with ice, and pour each of your layers VERY slowly over the ice. I like to pour it first onto the spoon, that drips onto the ice, to keep it slow.
- Use medium to big pieces of ice. I love pebble ice, but it doesn’t work as well for this drink.
- Although you can’t see the white layer very well in these drinks, it helps to keep the red and blue layers more separate so you don’t get a purple layer in the middle. So don’t skip it.
- Pina Colada Sobe Drink is another good option for the white layer. Cran Apple Juice is another good option for the red layer.
- You can skip using Cherry 7 up, if you want to save on buying one of the drinks, just add more Grenadine to the 7 Up for the bottom layer to get it nice and red.
- Top your drinks with whipped cream if desired.
- Serve the drinks with paper straws, a maraschino cherry, or whatever you want. A “licorice” straw would be super fun!
These 4th of July Layered Drinks are such fun, and delicious drinks. They’re kid, and adult friendly, and perfect for a summer party, or barbecue!
More drink recipes:
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4th of July Layered Drink
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Cherry 7 Up
- 1/4 cup Grenadine
- 2 cups 7 Up
- 2 cups Blue Gatorade or Powerade
- ice
- 4 maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Pour about 3 TBS of Cherry 7 Up into the bottom of each of the glasses, to fill them just a little bit of the way.
- Add 1 TBS of Grenadine to each cup, and stir it into the Cherry 7 Up
- Fill each of your glasses to the top with ice.
- Grab a metal spoon and pour the 7 Up very slowly over the back of the spoon as it drips down the spoon and the ice on top of the Cherry 7 Up, evenly between the 4 glasses, filling them to be between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way full.
- Repeat the pouring method with the Blue Gatorade, until the glasses are almost full.
- Top each glass with a cherry and add a fun paper straw, if desired.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
These 4th of July Layered Drinks were first posted on June 30, 2013. The photos and text were updated for clarity on June 6, 2022.
Lynn @ Oh-SoYummy says
whoa, i may have to try something like this in a couple of weeks! though, if you don’t like the calorie free drinks, is there another option for the top layer?
Aimee Berrett says
You don’t have to do a no calorie drink, just make sure the sugar level is substantially lower.
Carrie @ Frugal Foodie Mama says
Wow! This drink is so pretty! I will be sharing it on my Facebook page today. 🙂
Thank you so much for linking up to Marvelous Mondays this week!
aimeeberrett says
Thank you so much for sharing it Carrie!