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Capitol Hill Cooks | Bloody Mary popsicles, inspired by 14th and Union

(Images: Em)

Now that you can buy booze any old place on Capitol Hill, I finally got around to visiting Oola Distillery.  Airy and spacious, with a welcoming sales room and staff, the craft distillery produces spirits using Washington-sourced ingredients and attends to each step of the process “from grain to glass.”  Oola’s spirits have become fixtures behind the bar on Capitol Hill and beyond, and of course you can buy them by the bottle yourself to enjoy at home.

I left Oola with a warm fuzzy feeling, a bottle each of rosemary vodka, citrus vodka, and gin, and a recipe card.  (You can get one too if you stop in.)  I was going to make you “Gone Green” (2 oz. Oola citrus vodka + ½ oz. fresh lemon/lime juice + ½ oz. sugar or simple syrup + 1 oz. of your favorite seasonal herb, torn; shake, strain, and serve with the crushed herb).  I was going to make you “The Evergreen” (1 ½ oz. Oola rosemary vodka + ½ oz. fresh grapefruit juice + 1 oz. Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur; shake, strain, and serve with a sprig of rosemary).

But instead I made you these popsicles.


So, yeah.  You should probably be sipping Oola’s handcrafted gin alone or enjoying the vodka with a squeeze of lemon and a splash of simple syrup.  But when you get to the bottom of the bottle, go ahead and save the last few ounces for these popsicles.  Because it’s summer, and because they’re fun.  

(Need an easy kid-friendly alternative so they’ll leave you and your grown-up popsicles in peace?  Try these easy frozen yogurt pops.)

Bloody Mary popsicles
This recipe, based on one by Cara from Fork and Beans, is spicy with horseradish and ginger.  If you prefer a milder beveragesicle, you could use a classic Bloody Mary mix and/or leave out the ginger.

6 Tbsp. (3 oz.) Oola Citrus Vodka
1 ½ c. horseradish Bloody Mary mix
1-2 tsp. fresh ginger, finely minced or grated on a Microplane grater
6 thin lime rounds, plus 6 more for serving
6 celery sticks, trimmed 6 popsicle sticks (optional)
Margarita salt (optional)
6 glasses and spoons, for serving

Stir together vodka, Bloody Mary mix, and ginger.  Divide evenly between six popsicle molds.  Drop a lime wheel into each popsicle mold, and use a knife to press it up against the side of the popsicle mold (so you can see it well when the popsicle is frozen).  Freeze for 30 minutes.  

Remove the still-slushy popsicles from the freezer and place a celery stick*, trimmed so that it works as a handle*, into each.  Add a popsicle stick* as well, if using.* (Can you tell* that I want you to read the note* below?)

Return popsicles to the freezer for at least two hours.  Run under hot water to unmold and sprinkle an edge with salt, if you’re using it.  Because of the alcohol content, these popsicles will melt quickly, so do your friends a favor and serve them with a glass and spoon.  

*NOTE: Frozen celery sticks don’t make great popsicle handles, so if you plan to eat this as a right-side-up popsicle, you probably want to use popsicle sticks in addition to the celery.  On the other hand, you might just want to eat the first few bites as a popsicle and then plop the whole thing in a glass, since it will be melting quickly.  In that case, the celery stick will be perfectly adequate and you might as well omit the popsicle stick, which is less visually enchanting.  Good luck with this difficult decision.  

Previous Capitol Hill Cooks Posts

Capitol Hill Cooks is a home cooking recipe series featuring ingredients, ideas, and recipes from the neighborhood. Have a recipe you think we should share? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Em also writes about home cooking at emmycooks.com.

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