Slushie machine cocktails: sugar and alcohol
A slushie machine only makes slush when the mix has enough sugar and not too much alcohol. For the Ninja SLUSHi, that means at least 4 g of sugar per 100 ml and no more than 16% ABV. With too little sugar the mix freezes into a solid block; with too much alcohol it never freezes.
Limits by machine
From the Ninja user guides. Under 2.8% ABV, use the regular slush setting rather than the spiked one.
| Machine | Batch | Sugar | Alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ninja SLUSHi | 0.47 L–1.89 L | at least 4 g per 100 ml | up to 16% |
| Ninja SLUSHi Max | 0.71 L–3.31 L | at least 4.5 g per 100 ml | up to 15% (20% on Spiked Slush Max) |
Other home slushie machines: aim for at least 4.5 g of sugar per 100 ml and keep it under 15% ABV.
Why you can’t pour in a normal cocktail
A classic Margarita is about 33% ABV before ice, well over the Ninja SLUSHi’s 16% limit, so it would never freeze. A litre of it needs about 1059 ml more water or juice to get down to 16%.
The sum: water to add = batch × (ABV ÷ limit − 1).
Not sweet enough? Add syrup
A litre of mix with 2 g of sugar per 100 ml needs about 40 ml of simple syrup (1:1, about 55 g sugar per 100 ml) to reach the Ninja SLUSHi’s 4 g, or 50 ml to reach 4.5 g.
The sum: syrup to add = (target × batch − sugar in the batch) ÷ (syrup sugar − target), with sugar as a fraction per ml.
Slushie recipes, checked
Each makes 1 litre and fits every machine above: 0–10% ABV and 8–15 g of sugar per 100 ml.
Let Proof do the sums
Proof scales every slushie to your machine, checks the sugar and alcohol, and tells you which preset to use.