Four frozen, boozy drinks to put on your tab this summer

July 24, 2017

Hillary Louise Johnson, Jessica Rine,

Sailinnfrose — Photo by Sachiko Tahara via Instagram

When the weather heats up, local restaurants get creative behind the bar, turning everything from milkshakes to snow cones into frosty cocktails that quench our thirst, satisfy our sweet tooth and make our happy hours that much happier. Here are four frozen concoctions that'll help you stay cool this summer.

Broderick’s Boozy Custard Shakes

At the midtown outpost of his West Sacramento-based Broderick Roadhouse, chef-owner Chris Jarosz set out to recreate the frozen custard shakes he loved as a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, but with an adults-only twist. Try the popular Bourbon Peanut Butter Banana shake—Jack Daniel’s burnt caramel flavor adds to the richness of the classic PB-banana combo—or the Strawberry Shortcake, in which Pinnacle Cake Vodka joins the strawberries and cream, and crushed vanilla wafers. We also love the nostalgic, quirky Toasted Marshmallow Coconut with Irish cream, Frangelico and a rim lined with roasted coconut flakes. No matter how you shake it, one of these boozy drinks is bound to take you back to summers of yesteryear. Broderick Midtown. 1820 L St. 469-9720. broderickroadhouse.com

Centro’s Snow Cone Margaritas

Centro Cocina Mexicana manager Joel York devised these cool creations four years ago for Cocktail Week, and happily, they’ve appeared on the cantina’s menu each summer since then. The mounds of crunchy shaved ice are doused with a signature line of fruit-infused tequilas—the bar boasts 11 seasonal infusions in total, whose flavors range from blackberry-peach to raspberry-apple and, our favorite, the blend of pineapple, mango, kiwi and strawberry. The sweet, bright fruit juices mask the tequila in this chill cocktail, so ditch the straw and take a big bite out of a grown-up snow cone that's totally worth the brain freeze. Centro Cocina Mexicana. 2730 J St. 442-2552. centrococina.com

Sail Inn’s Frosé and Iceberg Shandy

This upcycled dive bar in West Sacramento has been serving a popular frozen summer beverage called the frosé—strawberry purée blended with a bold pinot rosé, dispensed from a slush machine—since it reopened last year (see photo at top of page). For this summer, general manager Matt Gonzalez, formerly of LowBrau, added a new drink, the more manly Iceberg Shandy, consisting of a hearty dollop of frosé topped off with Scrimshaw Pilsner. Sound like a set of flavors that would fall somewhere on the pickles-and-ice-cream spectrum, right? Wrong. It’s crazy quaffable, with a depth of flavor that is part sweet, part savory, kind of like a malted shake, and it’s now outselling the straight-up frosé (which also still rocks, by the way). Bonus for those who like to keep it classic: there’s a new Jack ’n’ Coke slushy on the bar menu, too. Sail Inn Grotto & Bar. 1522 Jefferson Blvd. West Sacramento. 272-2733. sailinngrotto.com