Recipe: The Purple Drankkk

According to the online site Wikipedia, the term purple drank is “slang for a recreational drug popular in the hip hop community. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine.”  And if you’re wondering, that purple drank is not the same one I am referring to… at all… because let’s be honest, I have little to do with the hip hop community. I do, however, LOVE the color purple.  It’s actually my favorite color of all the colors in the world, and, well, it always has been.

I’m sure you’re asking yourself what the heck this conversation has to do with and why I am rambling on and on.  For one, I always knew that I wanted an all white wedding, which is exactly what I got, but I also knew that I had to have some hints of purple throughout, tied into the small details that made my special day all the better.

I decided early on that one of those purple details was going to shine through in the form of a drink.  An alcoholic drink to be exact.  When I mentioned this to Kim, my point person at The Renaissance, she was totally on board!  When we went to the food tasting, the first thing they served us were a few different purple beverages to try.  I immediately loved the way these drinks looked but unfortunately, all of us who were there agreed that the flavors in each drink fell flat.  I obviously didn’t want to nix this genius idea so Isaiah and I were invited back to the hotel a few days later to try some more purple drinks on them (can you say UHmaazingg?!!)…  after the 5th or 6th cocktail that hit our lips, we found a winner!!  It was sweet yet tangy, with an islandy twist that both Isaiah and I were absolutely loving!  We knew it would be the perfect compliment to our wedding… and let me tell you, it was just that.

Because this drink was such a big hit and because, well, I loved it just as much as our guests did (yes, our friends do still talk about it), with summer here, I have totally been thinking about it lately.  But not just thinking about it, yearning for it.  Longing for it.  CRAVING it!!  A few weeks ago I emailed Kim who so kindly sent over the recipe and today, on this gorgeous Chicago afternoon, I’ve decided to share it with each of you. Get ready for the amazingness that the Renaissance calls a Signature Cocktail but what I’ve nicknamed the Purple Drank. 

It is Thirsty Thursday after all. Ingredients:

• 1oz. vodka
• 1/2 oz. Chambord
• 2oz. Pineapple Juice
• Splash of 7-Up
• 2 drops of red food coloring and 2 drops of blue food coloring
• small slices of pineapple optional

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into a glass.
   {I prefer a glass on a slant, as shown in the pictures, though feel free to use whatever kind of glass you have available}
2. Add a slice of pineapple if you desire!  Cheers!
   {I skipped this step today but that is how they served it at our wedding!}

   DRINK UP.  BE SAFE.  AND DRINK RESPONSIBLY!