11 Red, White, And Blue Cocktails For Your 4th Of July Parties

The Fourth of July is traditionally a time for barbecues and consuming mass quantities of hot dogs. (Even Americans not named Joey Chestnut manage to scarf down a staggering number each year.) In 2026, our country is celebrating a milestone birthday (the big 250!), which means many snack foods are getting an all-American makeover. We the people cannot live on tube steaks and flag-shaped crackers alone, though, so we'll also need something to wash them all down. Sure, Pepsi and Pabst Blue Ribbon come in red, white, and blue cans; but if you want to take things up a notch, a red, white, and blue cocktail makes a far more impressive libation.

One of the easiest ways to create such a drink might be to plunk some red and blue berries in a glass and fill it with sparkling white wine. (A domestic variety, s'il vous plait. Save the capital-C Champagne for Bastille Day.) With a little more effort, you could make frozen margaritas or daiquiris in blueberry, strawberry, and lime flavors and layer them in a glass. If you prefer real recipes with pretty pictures to look at, we've rounded up a selection for your enjoyment.  Some of these drinks are sweet and simple, others are a bit more complex; some are frozen, and one even comes in semi-solid form. Several are inspired by a Cold War frozen treat that's now a 4th of July staple, while one drink (which is meant to serve a crowd) has more of an aquatic theme. We've even listed a mocktail or two so alcohol abstainers can get in on the fun.

The Bomb Pop cocktail is clearly inspired by the popsicle of the same name, as it not only has the same red, white, and blue color scheme but also echoes the flavors to some extent. (Since blue curaçao's orange flavor doesn't match its appearance feel free to substitute blue raspberry liqueur if you can find it.) To make this drink, fill a tall glass with ice cubes or crushed ice then add 1 ounce of grenadine and let it settle on the bottom. Next, add 1 ounce of lemon-flavored vodka, pouring it slowly over the back of a spoon. The goal is to have it float atop the red grenadine, so don't stir. Finish off with 1 ounce of blue curaçao or another blue liqueur. If the glass needs topping up, you can add lemonade, tonic water, or seltzer, but be careful to ensure the different colored liquids don't run together.

The Bomb Pop cocktail can also be turned into a frozen drink. In this case, combine the lemon vodka with 3 to 4 ounces of lemonade and 2 cups of ice in the blender to make it slushy. Divide the slush into three parts and add grenadine to one and blue curaçao to another. Spoon a layer of either red or blue into a glass, follow with lemon slush, and then finish up with the remaining color. If you really want to get cute, garnish the drink with a Bomb Pop.

If you're either not far past your 21st birthday or are feeling nostalgic for your misspent youth, Bomb Pop Jello Shots would be a fun way to celebrate the Fourth of July. Doubling down on the nostalgia, the flavors mimic that of everyone's favorite patriotic popsicle. To make these shots, you'll need 3-ounce boxes of three different types of gelatin dessert mix: blue raspberry, cherry, and lemon. (The recipe calls for lime, but lemon is the palest gelatin color and is also the flavor used in the Bomb Pop's white layer.) 

Prepare the blue layer by dissolving the powder in 1 cup of boiling water, then add 1 cup of cold water and 1 cup of vodka (or another clear spirit). Pour the mixture into shot glasses or small clear cups until it fills each about ⅓ of the way up. Chill the glasses for two hours. When the time is almost up, prepare the lemon layer the same way. Pour it over the blue layer, again coming another ⅓ of the way up the glass. Chill for another two hours, then repeat the drill with the cherry layer to replicate that signature Bomb Pop look. Since the yellow layer isn't exactly white, complete the color profile by squirting some whipped cream on top of each shot. You can also decorate this drinkssert with red and blue sprinkles or colored sugar.

The Firework Fiesta⁣ is a wine cocktail, and the recipe developers from Stella Rosa call for using that brand's sweet Platinum French Vanilla Moscato. If you prefer a drier cocktail, pinot grigio or any other white wine will also work or you could try something sparkling. 

The other ingredients are red berries (your choice or a mix) and a bit of blue curaçao (a popular ingredient in blue cocktails). Muddle the berries in the bottom of a tall glass, add crushed ice, and pour the wine over the ice until it's almost full but make sure to leave some room. Float the liqueur on top to add the blue layer. If you want to get fancy, you can dip the rim of the glass in honey and roll it in red edible glitter or sugar before you add the drink ingredients.

This Fourth of July Cocktail requires just three ingredients: blueberries, raspberries, and vodka (plus ice, of course). What you do is put a layer of fresh or frozen blueberries on the bottom of a rocks glass and top them with chunky ice (small cubes or crushed will work). Pour in 2 ounces of plain or berry-flavored vodka — this recipe comes from V-One Vodka, so the brand suggests using its Triple Berry. Add another layer made from fresh or frozen raspberries, then fill up the glass with seltzer.

The first of a series of cocktails we'll refer to as "red, white, and booze" is a Red, White, and Blue Cocktail which involves several steps. For the bottom blue layer, pour ½ ounce of (what else?) blue curaçao into a tall glass full of crushed ice. The white comes from 1 ounce of coconut cream. To make the red layer, you'll need to muddle two fresh strawberries, then add 1 ounce of water, 1 ounce of simple syrup, 1 ounce of lemon juice, and 2 ounces of vodka. (The Thirsty Bartenders Instagram account suggests using Fifty States vodka, which does have a very Fourth of July-appropriate name.)

Next on deck is a tequila-based Red, White, and Blue Cocktail created by the Standard Beverage Corporation (who would of course prefer you use its Casamigos brand). Combine 1½ ounces of watermelon juice with ¼ ounce each of lemon juice and grenadine in a tall glass, then pack that glass with crushed ice. Pour in 1½ ounces of blanco tequila followed by a splash of plain seltzer. Add more crushed ice to form a dome shape extending above the rim of the glass and drizzle on our old friend blue curaçao to complete the tricolor profile. You can top the whole thing with a cherry, but using a watermelon sparkler as an edible swizzle stick would be even more fun.

The three layers of this Red, White, and Blue Colada all contain coconut rum cream liqueur. (If you can find it, the recipe's originator suggests using its Blue Chair Bay Coconut Spiced Rum Cream.) To make the bottom layer, combine 1½ ounces of the liqueur with ½ ounce pineapple syrup, 2 ounces of pomegranate juice, and enough ice to give the mixture a slushy texture when whizzed in the blender. 

Pour it into a hurricane or similar large glass (a pint glass will do in a pinch). The white layer goes on top of the red and is made with 3 ounces of liqueur blended with ice. Topping things off is a blue layer composed of 2 ounces of liqueur, 1 ounce each of amaretto and milk, ½ ounce of blue curaçao, all of which should be blended with ice before adding it in. Stick a little paper flag on top of your drink to feel festive⁠.

Eight days after the United States was founded on July 4, 1776, Captain James Cook set off on a voyage that would ultimately result in the Europeans' discovery of Hawaii. Hawaii's been considered American territory since the 19th century, but it wasn't until 1959 that it became the 50th star on our flag and this fact deserves to be celebrated with a batch of Red, White, and Blue Hawaiians. 

The red layer goes on the bottom of a rocks glass and is made from ½ ounce of pureed strawberries mixed with 2 ounces of tequila and 1 ounce of sour mix. (You could substitute pineapple juice for the latter if you want the drink to have a more tropical flavor.) The glass is then filled with crushed ice, with the ice extending above the red layer to make the white(ish) stripe. The blue comes from a drizzle of blue curaçao. Any strawberries leftover from pureeing can be used to garnish the drink. If you have a fresh pineapple on hand you can cut it into star shapes for an even more thematically appropriate decoration.

The Stars and Stripes is a layered, flavored frozen piña colada that looks best in a hurricane glass, although any tall glass will do. The recipe is a large one, so you might be able to make more than one drink per batch. 

The bottom blue layer is made by blending 1 ounce each of coconut rum and blue curaçao with 2 ounces of pineapple juice and 1 cup of crushed ice. The middle white layer is made with 1 ounce each of coconut rum and cream of coconut, 2 ounces of pineapple juice, and 1 cup of crushed ice. The top red layer blends 1 ounce of coconut rum, 2 ounces of pineapple juice, ¾ ounce of grenadine, and 2 tablespoons of strawberry purée with 1 cup of crushed ice. (The strawberry is optional, but it adds extra flavor and color.) A whipped cream topping serves as a blank canvas for red and blue berries, sprinkles, little paper flags, or other patriotic decorations.

Need a drink that can serve multiple people so you don't have to build one cocktail at a time? Punch is always the answer. This Fourth of July Fishbowl can be either alcoholic or nonalcoholic, depending on the crowd. It starts with a clean (and preferably new) fishbowl filled with crushed ice (a clear punchbowl will also work but won't look as cute). The red fruit punch makes the bottom layer, the middle layer is made from lemonade or lemon-lime soda, and the top layer is blue punch.

If you want a boozy punch, you can use blue curaçao to color more lemonade or lemon-lime soda. Vodka or white rum can also be added to any or all of the layers. The amount of liquid used will vary with the size of the bowl, so you can just eyeball it and pour in enough of each to fill roughly a third of the ice-packed bowl. To carry out the aquatic-meets-patriotic theme, push some red, white, and blue gummy fish down into the ice so they're "swimming" in each layer. You can also use red and blue Pop Rocks or Nerds to create edible "gravel" at the bottom of the bowl.

We've already covered the Bomb Pop Cocktail, with its layers of red, white, and booze, but it's also easy to make a non-alcoholic Bomb Pop drink with red fruit punch, lemon-lime soda, and a blue sports drink. There are two ways to go about this, just like with the more spirited version. One way is to pack a glass with crushed ice and fill it ⅓ of the way with red punch, slowly and carefully add some soda, and do your best to float the blue drink on the top.

Another method requires blending each liquid ingredient separately with crushed ice to give it a slushy consistency. This takes a bit more work, but slushy layers will make for better and easier color separation. Whichever way you build the drink, finish it off with whipped cream, a maraschino cherry, and — the pièce de résistance — an entire Bomb Pop used as a garnish.