While it’s tempting to assume that there’s very little quality variation involved in the cocktail mixers used to make your favorite cocktails, the fact is that if you want to serve the best party drinks to your friends, family and guests, you have to make sure you’re using the best possible ingredients. You go out of your way to source the best wine and spirits, so why wouldn’t you do the same for your fruit cocktail mix? In fact, cocktails mixers are likely to contribute more flavor than the subtle nuances between different vodka brands, for example.

Pure ingredients Deliver Better Drinks

You’ve heard it a thousand times before: purity is key when it comes to mixing the best drinks and cocktails. While the flavor profile of rum, vodka, tequila, gin or any other alcoholic base remains fairly consistent, the quality of the fruit purée present in the drink could vary significantly due to seasonality, origin, ripeness and other factors. You want to make sure the cocktail mix you’re using is as free from additives and preservatives as possible and that it contains mainly fruit, not sugars. Another factor you might want to pay attention to is the sugar content, as different cocktail mixes vary in the amount of sugar they contain. Many cocktails mixes out there are loaded with high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar and can potentially "hijack” the subtle and pleasant flavor your cocktail was intended to deliver. Sometimes it’s just painful to sip a fine and expensive spirit mixed with the cheapest cool-aid type cocktail mix available.

The Possibilities Are Endless

Now that you have the right cocktail mix in your arsenal, all you need is your favorite alcoholic base, a measuring instrument, a shaker with a strainer, ice, some sliced fresh fruit, sugar, and salt for decoration. The rest is known as the art of mixology. By using a cocktail mix made with real pure fruit as your starting point, you can make pomegranate or acai martinis for example and hit only those fruity notes, without over-diluting the cocktail with sugary notes. Use strawberry or mango cocktail mix to make great frozen daiquiris or margaritas. Pineapple and coconut cream cocktail mixes make the perfect pina colada. Peach cocktail mix for Bellini, passion fruit puree for a Hurricane cocktail and the list goes on.