Stars & Stripes Layered Cooler
A layered red, white and blue mocktail: strawberry grenadine on the bottom, creamy coconut in the middle and blue sports drink on top, built over crushed ice. Alcohol-free, ready in about 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup frozen strawberries thawed, or fresh hulled strawberries
- 1 oz grenadine or raspberry syrup 2 tbsp; this sweet syrup keeps the red layer on the bottom
- 3 tbsp cream of coconut sweetened (the kind for pina coladas, stirred well; not coconut milk)
- 3 tbsp cold water to thin the cream of coconut
- 4 oz blue zero-sugar sports drink 1/2 cup, chilled; zero-sugar matters so it floats
- crushed ice to fill a 12 to 14 oz tall glass
- blueberries raspberries and a halved strawberry (on a cocktail pick, for garnish)
Instructions
- Make the red layer: mash or blend the strawberries with the grenadine until mostly smooth. Pour it into the bottom of a tall 12 to 14 oz glass.
- Pack the glass to the top with crushed ice.
- Make the white layer: whisk the cream of coconut with the cold water until smooth. Slowly pour it over the back of a spoon held just above the ice so it settles on top of the red.
- Add the blue layer: pour the blue sports drink (chill it in the fridge ahead of time) very slowly over the back of the spoon so it sits on top of the white.
- Garnish with a pick of blueberries, raspberries and a halved strawberry. Serve right away and stir before sipping if you like it blended.
Notes
How to order it at a bar or soda shop: At a soda shop (Swig, Sodalicious and friends), ask: "Can I get a blue raspberry soda with strawberry syrup in the bottom and coconut cream, layered and not stirred?" Menus vary, so ask what syrups they carry. At a bar or restaurant, ask for "grenadine in the bottom, then pina colada mix, then a blue sports drink or blue raspberry soda on top, over crushed ice, no alcohol." One big heads up: blue curacao is a liqueur. If a bartender offers it, ask for non-alcoholic blue curacao syrup instead or skip it.
Allergens: contains coconut (cream of coconut). The FDA no longer lists coconut as a major-allergen tree nut (2025 update), but some people with nut allergies react to it, so check with your doctor if you're allergic to tree nuts or coconut. No dairy as written. Coconut-free swap: lemonade mixed with 1 tbsp simple syrup gives you a pale (not bright white) middle stripe.
Dye-free blue: swap the sports drink for chilled unsweetened butterfly pea flower tea. Keep citrus out of it or it turns purple.
For a crowd: for 6 drinks, blend 1 1/2 cups strawberries with 3/4 cup grenadine, and whisk 1 cup plus 2 tbsp cream of coconut with 1 cup plus 2 tbsp water. Build each glass to order with 3 cups of blue sports drink total.