Jolly Rancher Moonshine captures the vibrant flavors of your favorite childhood candy in a spirited adult beverage. This easy-to-make, delicious concoction combines the sweetness of Jolly Ranchers with the kick of moonshine for an unforgettable taste experience.

Don’t be tricked by the hard candy taste or fooled by the fun fruity flavors, moonshine contains more alcohol than appears, so exercise caution when consuming your cocktail!

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Jolly Rancher Moonshine

Jolly Rancher Moonshine lets you enjoy a legal moonshine experience in a matter of minutes without any prep work or worry about a prohibited process! 

Follow my simple steps for the easiest way to make grape, cherry, and green apple moonshine: fill a mason jar with Jolly Rancher candy, alcohol, soda, fruit flavored syrup, then seal it and let it sit, give it a shake, serve it over ice, and start sipping.

This homemade Jolly Ranchers candy cocktail is a sweet drink with a high proof that packs a serious punch, so make sure to sip it slowly or the Jolly Rancher alcohol drink will get you very drunk.

Make a few batches of all different flavors and serve a fun beverage to finish the night – these delicious (yet dangerous!) drinks are perfect for game day gathering, pool parties, or handing out as homemade gifts.

Why We Love Jolly Rancher Moonshine

  • Quick and easy to make.
  • Uses minimal ingredients.
  • Crowd pleasing cocktail that tastes like a piece of hard candy.
  • Each sweet sip goes down smooth with a serious potent punch.
  • Perfect homemade gift for friends and family that you can customize with different color.
  • Great for game day, birthdays, parties, and picnics.
Jolly Rancher Moonshine ingredients

Jolly Rancher Moonshine Ingredients

  • Purple Jolly Ranchers
  • Red Jolly Ranchers
  • Green Jolly Ranchers
  • 45% ABV/90 Proof Climax moonshine
  • Sprite
  • Grape syrup
  • Grenadine
  • Green apple syrup

Substitutions and Additions

  • Use Another Alcohol: You can swap the moonshine for Everclear in this recipe. Use at least ¼ cup syrup instead of 2 tablespoons if you’re using the Everclear brand. Everclear brand compared to what was used above is 90% ABV and 190 Proof.
  • Fill With Your Favorite Flavor: Feel free to make your moonshine with your favorite flavored candy. Fill your mason jar with cherry jolly ranchers, grape jolly ranchers, blue raspberry jolly ranchers, lemon jolly ranchers, or any of your favorites to create an assortment of colored cocktails!
Jolly Rancher Moonshine in a glass

How to Make Jolly Rancher Moonshine

  1. Make Your Moonshine: Place Jolly Rancher candies in each mason jar, separated by color. Fill each jar with moonshine. Add Sprite and syrup, seal and allow to stand for 8 hours or overnight.
    Pro Tip: If you still have some Jolly Ranchers pieces you can choose to remove them with a spoon.
  2. Serve: Add ice, shake, and serve. Enjoy responsibly – this is some strong stuff!

Pro-Tips

  • This recipe is a basic formula for making grape Jolly Rancher Moonshine. You can easily swap the candy flavor and syrup to customize your cocktail.
  • Jolly Rancher Moonshine contains more alcohol than it tastes like so please drink in moderation and be careful when consuming.

How to Store Jolly Rancher Moonshine

  • To Store: You can store your moonshine sealed in an airtight mason jar it for up to two years at room temperature. If left unsealed, you can store it for up to 6 months in the fridge.
Jolly Rancher Moonshine different flavor in mason jar

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Moonshine and Everclear?

Although both Moonshine and Everclear are unaged spirits, Moonshine is made from corn and Everclear from grain. Moonshine is a general term used to describe homemade, unaged corn whiskey. Everclear, on the other hand, is a brand of neutral-tasting, potent grain alcohol.

Is Everclear the same as vodka?

No, Everclear is not the same as vodka! Vodka is much more diluted than Everclear
and is approximately 40% abv, which is 80 proof. Everclear, on the other hand, is 95% alcohol by volume, which is 190 proof.

jolly rancher moonshine in 3 mason jars

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5 from 7 votes
Jolly Rancher Moonshine featured image

Jolly Rancher Moonshine

Serves — 3
Jolly Rancher Moonshine is quick and easy to make using hard candy, grain alcohol, soda, and syrup. It's like a liquid version of your favorite flavored Jolly Rancher with a very potent punch!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Set time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients
  

Purple

  • 20 purple Jolly Ranchers
  • 1 cup 45% ABV/90 Proof Climax moonshine
  • ½ cup Sprite
  • 2 tablespoons grape syrup

Red

  • 20 red Jolly Ranchers
  • 1 cup 45% ABV/90 Proof Climax moonshine
  • ½ cup Sprite
  • 2 tablespoons grenadine

Green

  • 20 green Jolly Ranchers
  • 1 cup 45% ABV/90 Proof Climax moonshine
  • ½ cup Sprite
  • 2 tablespoons green apple syrup

Instructions
 

  • Place 20 unwrapped Jolly Rancher candies in each mason jar, separated by color.
  • Fill each jar with 1 cup of moonshine.
  • Add Sprite and syrup, seal and allow to stand for 8 hours or overnight. Note: if you still have some Jolly Ranchers pieces you can choose to remove them with a spoon.
  • Add ice, shake, and serve.

Jenn’s Notes

IMPORTANT NOTE: Jolly Rancher Moonshine contains more alcohol than it tastes like so please drink in moderation and be careful when consuming.
Makes: 3 8-ounce mason jars
Storage:
  • To Store: You can store your moonshine sealed in an airtight mason jar it for up to two years at room temperature. If left unsealed, you can store it for up to 6 months in the fridge.
Tips:
  • This recipe is a basic formula for making grape Jolly Rancher Moonshine, cherry Jolly Rancher Moonshine, and green apple Jolly Rancher Moonshine. You can easily swap the candy flavor and syrup to customize your cocktail.
  • Jolly Rancher Moonshine contains more alcohol than it tastes like so please drink in moderation and be careful when consuming.

Nutrition Info

Calories: 84kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 0.1g | Sodium: 15mg | Potassium: 5mg | Sugar: 18g | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.03mg

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5 from 7 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This stuff is very potent and very good. My personal favorite is green apple. Inwish they still made Peach flavor Jolly Ranchers
    Those would be amazing.

  2. Sounds great but where do I get the different flavored syrups? I know grenadine, but what about the others?