In college, two things are certain: finals, and that the liquor will have to be cheap.
These cocktails are some of the best for making bottom shelf, throat-burning alcohol taste great.
1. Make a Moscow mule with ginger ale instead of ginger beer.
2. Make a white Russian with coffee creamer instead of Kahlua and cream.
3. Make a slip 'n' slide with cherry vodka, lemonade, and lots of lime juice.
4. Harness the power of pineapple juice with a hole in one.
5. Combine cheap rum with apple juice and pineapple juice to make the apple pie.
6. Rum + ginger ale + lime = poor man's dark and stormy
7. Make a hurricane — and DIY the grenadine if you want.
8. Make a Singapore sling with gin, Sprite, and grenadine.
9. Make a gin bucket.
10. Combine cheap gin with ginger ale and lots of lime juice.
11. Make a salty dog.
12. Combine SoCo and peach schnapps to make the Georgia peach.
13. Mix hard cider with Fireball to make a ciderball.
14. Manhattan
15. Mix tequila with lots of grapefruit juice and club soda.
16. Make a Mayan mule.
17. Mix tequila with lemon juice and soda for a Juan Collins.
18. Make a tequila sunrise the easy way.
19. Franzia Sangria
Perhaps the easiest and cheapest sangria in history, this just requires Franzia burgundy, Sprite, orange juice, and a couple of Dole fruit cups (or real fruit if you're feeling more ambitious).
Instructions here.
20. The Brass Monkey
21. Long Island Ice Tea
5 Cheap Pantry Essentials to Help Battle the Burn
You've probably noticed a pattern here. These mixers are your best friends when it comes mixing up cheap booze. The final three are worthwhile purchases that you can use for a ton of drinks and can find at many liquor, grocery, and discount retail stores.
1. Citrus juice: A juiced lime, lemon, grapefruit will work wonders no matter how much you spent on the liquor.
2. Seltzer water: Fizzy is better.
3. Grenadine: Not expensive, and easy to make at home.
4. Sweet Vermouth: A fortified wine that is infused with a ton of herbs, spices, flowers, and various other things. It tastes like class.
5. Bitters: A quick trick for many Bourbon and Whiskey drinks is to just add Angostura bitters. A bottle of bitters is fairly affordable (about $10 for a 4-ounce bottle) and lasts for a long time if you just add a couple dollops each time.