For everyone who came for the hockey and stayed for the three men nobody is ranking.
I am currently working my way through Emily Rath’s Jacksonville Rays series, which means my evenings now belong to a physical therapist, an expansion team and three hockey players I have given up trying to put in order. I said in my review that I refuse to pick a favourite. I stand by it. This drink is for that particular reading mood: pink, very cold, and slightly smug about the whole situation.
The Puck Bunny Pink Lemonade is a pink lemonade cocktail with a sanding sugar rim and one dark berry ice puck sitting in the middle of the glass. The puck is the entire trick. It reads as sweet and pink from across the room, then slowly bleeds blackberry down through the drink while you read, so by the time you look up from a chapter it is a completely different colour. Two drinks for the price of one, provided you are the kind of reader who forgets a glass exists.
I have included a full mocktail version too, because the sugar rim and the puck do all the heavy lifting and neither of them needs vodka. This one pairs perfectly with Rink-Side Loaded Nachos for a proper hockey romance reading night.
A gentle note: the Jacksonville Rays books are high steam why choose sports romance with polyamorous relationship dynamics and a heroine working closely with the team she is falling for. If that is your comfort zone, make two. If it is not, this drink is still excellent over a softer read. My full thoughts are in the Pucking Around review.
What you will need
Makes 1 drink (scale up easily for book club). Start the ice pucks the night before.
Puck Bunny Pink Lemonade cocktail
- 45ml vodka (gin also works, see the notes)
- 90ml chilled pink lemonade
- 15ml fresh lemon juice
- 15ml raspberry syrup or berry liqueur
- Ice, for shaking
- 1 blackberry ice puck (see step 1)
- Pink sanding sugar, for the rim
- A little honey or golden syrup, for sticking the rim
- 2 raspberries and a thin lemon wheel, to garnish
Puck Bunny Pink Lemonade mocktail
- 45ml chilled soda water, or a non-alcoholic gin alternative
- 90ml chilled pink lemonade
- 15ml fresh lemon juice
- 15ml raspberry cordial or syrup
- Ice, for shaking
- 1 blackberry ice puck (see step 1)
- Pink sanding sugar, for the rim
- A little honey or golden syrup, for sticking the rim
- 2 raspberries and a thin lemon wheel, to garnish
Method
Step 1: Freeze the pucks, the night before
Blend 6 blackberries with 60ml water until smooth, then push the mixture through a fine sieve to lose the seeds. Pour into a large round silicone ice mould, filling each cavity about two thirds so you get a disc rather than a ball, and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight. This makes enough for roughly four pucks, which is either four drinks or one very committed reading night.
Step 2: Rim the glass
Dip the rim of a short tumbler in honey or golden syrup, then straight into a shallow plate of pink sanding sugar, turning gently until the whole rim is coated. Set the glass aside for a minute or two to let the sugar set properly before anything goes in it.
Step 3: Shake the base
For the cocktail: add the vodka, lemon juice and raspberry syrup to a shaker with a generous handful of ice and shake hard for 15 seconds, until the outside of the shaker is properly cold.
For the mocktail: shake the raspberry cordial and lemon juice with ice the same way, then hold the soda water back until the next step so it keeps its fizz.
Step 4: Pour and top
Strain into the rimmed glass, then top slowly with the chilled pink lemonade, pouring down the inside of the glass so the sugar rim stays exactly where you put it. Add the soda water now if you are making the mocktail.
Step 5: Drop the puck
Lower the blackberry ice puck into the middle of the glass, gently, because dropping it from a height will take the rim with it. Add the raspberries and the lemon wheel. Serve immediately, then watch the dark colour start to bleed down through the pink over the first few minutes.
Cosy Kitchen Notes
A round mould is what sells it. A standard square cube just reads as ice. A flat round disc reads as a puck, and that is the whole joke. A sphere mould filled two thirds of the way gives you the right shape, and a silicone muffin tray works at a pinch if you only fill each hole about a centimetre deep.
Pink lemonade is not a standardised product. Some brands are barely sweet, some taste like a lolly. Mix one drink first, taste it, and adjust with more lemon juice if yours has come out sweeter than you wanted. It is much easier than trying to rescue a whole jug.
Strain the blackberry puree properly. Blackberry seeds are small, hard, and extremely noticeable at the bottom of a glass. Thirty seconds with a fine sieve saves you from a gritty last mouthful.
Make it for book club. Freeze a full tray of pucks a day ahead, pre-batch the vodka, lemon juice and raspberry syrup in a jug, and rim all the glasses before anyone arrives. Then it is just pour, top with lemonade, drop a puck. You will be back on the couch in under a minute per drink.
Sober-curious swap. This one barely notices the missing alcohol, because the sugar rim, the lemon and the berry are doing everything. A non-alcoholic gin alternative adds a bit of botanical backbone if you want the drink to feel less like cordial and more like a cocktail.
Quick answers
What is a puck bunny?
Puck bunny is hockey slang for a fan who turns up for the players rather than the game. It started life as an insult, aimed almost entirely at women, and hockey romance has spent the last few years cheerfully reclaiming it. Here it is a drink name, and the joke is squarely on anyone who still thinks enjoying the players is a character flaw.
What alcohol goes best in a pink lemonade cocktail?
Vodka is the cleanest option and lets the berry and lemon lead, which is why it is the default here. Gin works beautifully if you want something more botanical and less sweet, and blanco tequila makes a sharper, more grown-up version. Keep the pour modest whichever you choose, because pink lemonade brings plenty of sugar of its own.
Can I make a pink lemonade cocktail ahead of time?
Batch the spirit, lemon juice and raspberry syrup up to a day ahead and keep it chilled, then top each glass with pink lemonade to order. Do not pre-mix the lemonade in, it goes flat and the drink loses its lift.
The Last Sip
The Puck Bunny Pink Lemonade is pink, sharp, sugar-rimmed and takes about two minutes once the pucks are frozen. It looks like it is not taking itself seriously, which is exactly right for a series where three men coordinate a relationship better than most fictional couples manage between two.
Pour one for your next hockey romance, or set it down next to a tray of Rink-Side Loaded Nachos for the full reading night spread. Full pairing lives on the Saturday Night Sip, Snack & Smut page.
I came for the hockey. I stayed for all three of them.
