Purple Rain Cocktail
This easy cocktail recipe for a purple rain cocktail is sure to please all the Prince fans in your life. This fruity drink is made with common bar ingredients; vodka, blue curacao, and grenadine mixed with cranberry, pineapple, and lime juices. Did I mention it’s gorgeous too?
This purple rain cocktail is so delicious and easy to make! Of course, a lot of people posted a Purple Rain cocktail as soon as Prince died, but I wanted to wait because I can be contrary like that.
Ask Christopher. He could tell you.
Dedicated to my sister Nancy
I lost one of my sisters to breast cancer over a decade ago. I can’t believe it has been that long. Nancy was 41 at the time of her death and not a day goes by that I don’t think of her. The reason I bring this up now is not only did she love the color purple, she also would have LOVED this cocktail. I never had a chance to make it for her. So, this post is for her! Oh, and for Prince, too.
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How to make the purple rain cocktail
Pre-step
Get your cocktail shaker and fill it halfway with ice. Get a measuring glass and glassware.
After measuring out the ingredients, pour them into the shaker.
Step one
Gather the ingredients – vodka, blue Curacao, cranberry juice, pineapple juice and lime.
Step two
Measure 2 ounces vodka. (1)
Step three
Measure 1 ounce blue Curacao. (2)
Step four
Measure 1 ounce cranberry juice. (3)
The color of the cocktail is now becoming more purple.
Step five
Measure 1 ounce pineapple juice. (1-below)
Step six
Measure 3/4 ounce grenadine. (2-above)
Step seven
Measure 1/2 ounce lime juice. (3-above)
Step eight
Cap the shaker and shake for 30 seconds.
Step nine
Add extra ice cubes in the glass and pour the contents in a Tom Collins glass. See the recipe card below for two variations to this recipe.
I’ve pictured the three different ways I’ve mixed the Purple Rain. The front cocktail in the tall glass is the main recipe below.
Look at the deep purple color. YUM!! Notice that by the ice cubes the cocktail looks almost teal, but below the cubes, it’s a nice deep purple.
For a deeper purple color pictured in the double old fashioned glass below, use a full ounce of grenadine, as I call for in the two variations below.
This third variation, pictured in the martini glass, looks almost black. That’s because I left out the lime juice. I wanted to see if there was a taste difference. There is but it’s so slight, you probably won’t miss it.
Which one of these purple rain cocktail variations do I prefer? I can’t play favorites! They are my “babies”!
Other popular blue Curacao recipes
I hope you enjoyed this recipe. I enjoyed drinking it! 🙂
And as always, may all your dishes/drinks be delish!
If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog, I’d love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!
Purple Rain Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 1 ounce blue curacao
- 1 ounce cranberry juice
- 1 ounce pineapple juice
- 3/4 ounce grenadine
- 1/2 ounce lime juice 1/2 lime
Instructions
- Fill your shaker 1/2 way with ice.
- Add the vodka, Blue Curacao, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, grenadine and lime juice.2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce blue curacao, 1 ounce cranberry juice, 1 ounce pineapple juice, 3/4 ounce grenadine, 1/2 ounce lime juice
- Place the lid on the shaker and vigorously shake for 20 seconds.
- Pour into a tall glass, I used a collins glass.
- Sip
- Smile
- Enjoy
See all my favorite tools and gift ideas at my Amazon Store page!Check out Elaine’s Amazon Store!Notes
Helpful tips
- Wash your citrus before juicing them or adding to the cocktail as garnish. You can use some unscented, natural hand soap and rub the skin with it before rinsing it off under cold water, or you can use this cloth. It has a coarse side and a smooth side. Hold the citrus under cold water, rub the skin of the fruit with the coarse side, and then rinse again.
- There are different blue Curacao brands, my favorites are the Arrow brand that I use here, or De Kuyper.
- There are many different recipes for the purple rain. This is how I’ve always made it but some recipes call for lemonade or lemon lime soda but I think it adds flavors that I don’t like so I stick with the way I’ve always made this mixed drink with fresh lime juice and pineapple juice.
- You can either salt the rim or sugar the rim of the glasses but I don’t believe this cocktail benefits from a salt/sugar rimmed glass.
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce blue curacao
1 ounce cranberry juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce grenadine
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice Variation #2 – martini glass
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce blue curacao
1 ounce cranberry juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce grenadine
Nutrition
*This recipe was originally published June 3, 2016. All process shots are from the original post.
