Homemade recipe for Ecto Cooler just in time to practice for Halloween!
The mid to late 80s represent the bulk of my memories from childhood, from films like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to Aliens and, yes, even Cannon Films’ Masters of the Universe. It was also a great time to be a Ghostbusters fan with both films and a popular animated series (The Real Ghostbusters) proving to be pretty damn popular. Merchandising tie-ins came quick and along with the scores of comics, apparel and action figures came Hi-C’s famous Ecto-Cooler drink.
Strangely enough, the drink has become almost as well-known and popular as the films and cartoon that spawned it with countless articles dedicated to it like this one from X-Entertainment’s Matt Caracappa. According to Wikipedia, Ecto-Cooler even continued to be release well into the early millennium (2001) going by the pseudonym of Shoutin’ Orange Tangerine. Since then Ghostbusters fans have tried to recreate the nostalgic concoction with varying degrees of success, but recently Strange Kids Club member Devin gave me a tip that someone at the Ghostbusters: Chicago Division had actually cracked the Ecto-Cooler code. Naturally, I had to try it for myself; two days and $15 later I’m happy to say that it worked (sorta)!
Ecto Cooler Recipe – Makes One Gallon
2-quart line of Orange Kool Aid
1-quart line Countrytime Lemonade (Reg or Pink)
3/4 Cup Orange Juice (No Pulp)
3/4 Cup Tangerine Juice
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
Green food coloring
Note: I’ve listed all of the ingredients I used here, though there were a few extra ingredients listed in the original recipe.
Step one
Using a one gallon container, pour in orange juice and tangerine juice.
Step two
Next, pour in the Orange Kool Aid and Countrytime Lemonade mix. Stir. (Note: According to GBCD, “the lemonade is used to make the mixture slightly more bitter to give it the zing the original Ecto-Cooler had. You may have to adjust to get it to your taste.”)
Step three
Add water to the gallon marker on container and add sugar. Stir until dissolved.
Step four
Finally, add food coloring. Since I was unable to find Red and Blue food coloring like GBCD used, but the Green coloring worked pretty well in their absence. The result wasn’t the authentic Ecto-Cooler green, but a light orange/green mixture. Still, the taste is amazing!
