Simple Slushy Calculator

Step 1: Name Your Recipe

Enter the name of the cocktail you're converting.

Step 2: Add Ingredients

Slushy machines work best with juice-forward cocktails – think Margaritas, Daiquiris, and similar drinks where citrus or fruit juice makes up a significant portion of the recipe. Spirit-driven cocktails like Manhattans or Martinis aren't a good fit for the slushy format, and as such, this calculator has a hard limit on cocktails with a pre-dilution ABV of 25% and higher.

Add each ingredient with its name, volume, unit, and ABV. Do not include any water dilution, as it will be calculated for you.

Step 3: Enter Refractometer Reading

Proper slushy texture depends on sugar content, and every cocktail contains a different amount.

In order to know the existing sugar content (Brix) of your cocktail, you will need to prepare one serving and measure the existing sugar with an inexpensive optical refractometer.

Mix your ingredients together without stirring or shaking with ice, measure the Brix with your refractometer, and enter the value below.

Step 4: Select Syrup Type

You'll also need to indicate whether you prefer to use 1:1 or 2:1 syrup for any potential sugar adjustments. The Universal Syrup Calculator is available to help you make perfectly-calibrated syrups should you need it.

Choose your syrup preference below; if no additional sugar is needed, this selection will be ignored.

Step 5: Enter Machine Volume

Enter the volume capacity of your slushy machine, or the total batch size you wish to prepare.

Set your machine to maximum cold. Ignore smart presets.