5 Cocktail Shots for Your Basketball-themed Drinking Game

A drinking game while watching basketball is one of the best ways to bond with your friends. But to put a twist to it, you wouldn’t take shots of the same drink. Let’s upgrade it a bit to cocktail level. For every score made by your favourite player using a specific type of scoring shot, you take a swig of these cocktails.

Layup

A layup shot requires giant strides towards the hoop, from the 3-point line or at least 2 metres from the basket. Then the player shoots the ball at the top corner of the board.

For this, something lightly sweetened would do the trick. Try the Maple Mint Vodka Spritzer from Healthy Seasonal Recipes. It’s made with vodka, maple syrup, and fresh mint. It’s very easy to prepare, just muddle the mint leaves and the maple syrup together, add ice, and then pour in the vodka.

Jump shot

This takes a mastery of technique and finesses to execute. A player must have the proper form — wide stance, bended knees, squared shoulders. Then a strong upward leap as they shoot the ball into the basket — elbow straight and moving the wrist just right to provide the proper momentum and spin. Well, that’s a bit of a doozy to understand.

For something as complicated as this, you need to drink a cocktail that is equally complicated to create. The Ramos Gin Fizz is a New Orleans favourite, and while it might look easy to make, it’s very hard to get the consistency right. You’ll need gin, fresh lemon juice, fresh lime juice, fresh egg white, club soda, heavy cream, simple syrup, and orange flower water. The trick is to shake, shake, shake. Mix all the ingredients together except for the soda, then shake without the the ice. Afterwards, fill it with ice,then shake again. Strain it in a glass, then pour a little bit of the soda.

Free throws

Everyone knows how to spot a free throw. In fact, anyone who’s ever been in a basketball class in school have probably done it before.

It isn’t a complicated shot, but some people do have a hard time making it. So for free throws, you can go the classic route and prepare an Old Fashioned cocktail. It’s only made of bourbon or whiskey, Angostura bitters, sugar, and water. Muddle the sugar cube, water, and the bitters together before adding the ice and whiskey. You can garnish it with an orange wedge and a cherry.

Bank Shot

Another highly technical move, the ball has to bounce off of the backboard before finally going in the basket. The player must have the proper form — bended knees, squared shoulders. And as they leap off the ground, they should release the ball slightly higher by aiming for the backboard and using it to guide the ball into the basket. Players can jump higher, but should adjust jumping slightly backwards so their shot will not be blocked by defensive players.

For a risky shot, a drink called the Empellon Cocina’s Fat-washed Mezcal drink from Food Republic should suffice. You’ll need habanero peppers, mezcal, bacon fat, Marie Brizard white chocolate liqueur, and coffee liqueur. You’ll have to prepare this the night before the game because the habanero pepper slices and the mezcal needs to sit overnight.Then combine that with the chocolate liqueur with ice, then stir. Strain it into a chilled coupe, then carefully sink the coffee liqueur inside the coupe over a spoon.

Slam Dunk

One of the toughest shots to make. There’s all kinds of physics being applied just to make this shot. The vertical leap and hang time is dependent on the strength of the jump. This will allow the player to extend their arm over the rim to make the shot. The player builds momentum by charging towards the hoop from a distance. Then they would make an upward leap, the ball firmly gripped in their hand.

For one of the most complicated shots, you can take a swig of the Commonwealth. There are a total of 71 ingredients to make a Commonwealth. You can see the full list of ingredients at The Drinks Business. Now this is a drink worthy of that slam dunk.

Prepare all the cocktails and keep your eyes peeled for those shots!