How do you make frozen drinks thick

“If you don‘t add enough sugar to a frozen cocktail it can end up watery,” says Jessica Stewart, bar manager at San Diego’s Fort Oak. With a thicker consistency than simple syrup, agave nectar ensures this won’t happen and also helps balance the overall profile of the drink.

Use chilled ingredients, if possible. If you use warm/room temp ingredients, your ice will melt faster, and you’ll likely need to add more ice to get a thick, slushy consistency. The more ice you add, the more you will dilute the flavor. So, plan a bit and chill your alcohol, lime juice, and simple syrup in advance.

Use frozen fruit.

Many advise getting fresh, ripe fruit (for optimum flavor) and freezing it yourself ahead of time. Using frozen fruit will help achieve a thicker, more desirable consistency.

Hydrocolloids. The use of hydrocolloids—like xanthan gum, guar gum, tapioca, gelatin or pectin, which all form gels when in contact with water—are an easy way to add viscosity to a drink, and each substance will provide different results.

You always want to shake any drink that contains citrus and fruit juices, Ordonez says. Shaking with ice not only chills the drink and blends the ingredients completely, it also introduces the tiny air bubbles that give a margarita its cloudy, frothy, and delicious appearance.