Bewritings

(This article was published in The Badger student newspaper Spring 2023).

Let me set the scene. It’s a Thursday night (Chalk Thursday!) and you’re pre-drinking with your friends. But, a squa-dka just isn’t cutting it tonight. You look at your bank account and shed a silent tear. You want something quick, cheap and that will guarentee you are prepared for the hellish smoking area queue. You look over to your trusty stash of own-brand alcohol and rack your brain for inspiration… 

Look no further! Here are some great, student friendly cocktails that (hopefully) won’t taste like watered-down nail polish remover. 

If you have a bottle of vodka on hand, you have plenty of choices for cocktails! For an Appletini, just mix 50ml vodka, 50ml cloudy apple juice, 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 tsp maple syrup. If you’re feeling fancy, garnish the glass with an apple slice. From Aldi, apple juice is just 85p, lemon juice is 39p and maple syrup is £3.99 (or go for their £1.19 golden syrup if you’re not fussy). In total, the mixers for this cocktail are only £5.23! This also works great as a mocktail without the vodka! 

Or, if you want something even easier on your pocket, go for a Sea Breeze. Mix 50ml vodka, 100ml cranberry juice and 50ml grapefruit juice. If you like, you can garnish the glass with a lime slice. Sainsbury’s sells grapefruit juice for £2 and cranberry juice for just £1. So, your total for mixers is £3! Once again, this mix of juices, without the vodka, still tastes great as a mocktail. 

Fan of the classics? A Woo Woo is another simple cocktail. Mix 50ml vodka, 25ml peach schnapps, 100ml cranberry juice and a couple drops of fresh lime juice. Although you’ll need another alcohol, this is still an extremely cheap and easy cocktail. By adding orange juice, you can also enjoy a Sex on the Beach!

If you’re more likely to have rum stashed away in the cupboard, there are plenty of great options for a student-friendly cocktail! First on the list is a Mojito (my personal favourite). Simply mix the juice of one lime, 1 tsp of granulated sugar, a handful of mint, 60ml of rum and your preferred amount of sparkling water. Make sure to grind the mint a bit as you go. Aldi sells sparkling water for just 31p, mint for 52p, limes for £1.19 and sugar for 95p. This leaves you with a total of £2.75 in mixers. This can be easily substituted as a mocktail by removing the rum! Feel free to add any fruits to add a twist: Raspberry Mojitos are one I particularly recommend. 

Finally, a Cuba Libre is the most cost effective cocktail on my list. The only ingredients you need are: half a lime, 50ml of rum and 100ml of cola. All you have to do is cut the lime into small wedges, squeezing the juice into a glass. Then, fill the glass with the rum and cola! As you only need limes and cola (which Aldi sells for 47p), the total in mixers is just £1.66! 

These are just a few options for a cheap cocktail. When in doubt, simply raid Aldi’s fruit juice selection, grab yourself some lemons and limes and mix to your heart’s content!