How To Give Your Sweet Drinks A Pretty Sprinkle Rim

Adding a garnish is a simple way to add not only aesthetic interest to a drink but to also invite extra flavors to a cocktail recipe. While you can use a lemon wedge to line the lip of a glass before twisting it into a shallow dish of salt, we have a sweeter option that works well for celebratory libations. Whether you want to add a pop of color to a cocktail served at a birthday party or bring a touch of sweetness to a beverage recipe you've been perfecting, the ingredients you use to decorate cakes can just as easily find their way behind your home bar and onto the surface of your glass.

Use sugar syrup for a translucent effect or create a contrasting canvas for your chosen sprinkles by lining drink glasses with frosting. Once you have an edible adherent base affixed to your vessels, you can lightly press the rim into a shallow dish of colorful sprinkles. With so many different kinds of decorating sprinkles available, you'll never lose inspiration when it comes to matching drink recipes with interesting garnishes.

Press a chocolate icing-coated glass rim into a dish filled with edible gold flakes, or coat a glass with peanut butter icing before twisting it into plates covered with tiny orbs of chocolate. Smaller silver sugar spheres that are used to decorate cakes and cupcakes can be affixed to strawberry icing, or blue sugar crystals can be pressed into a martini glass that has been partially coated with classic vanilla buttercream frosting.

When using frosting to coat glasses, keep the overall tasting profile of the drink you're planning to serve in mind. Beverages made with milk, creams, and flavored liqueurs — think classic White Russian cocktails, festive Irish coffees, and martini recipes made with vanilla vodka — might be more easily paired with the sweet addition. Keep in mind you don't need to completely coat the circumference of the glass rim, either. A small section of a cocktail glass can be coated in icing and pressed gently into sprinkles to add a colorful, festive touch without going overboard on the sugary ingredients so you can have the visual effect without needing to sip sugary beads in order to taste your drink.