It’s going to be hot out soon, which means it’ll be time to mix yourself up a cool cocktail filled with ice to stave off the sweat. After all, you don’t want a drink that’s best served inside a dark, quiet bar. You need a drink that transports you to a shaded veranda overlooking the ocean, or a rooftop patio as the sun sets. Sounds nice, right? Whether it’s an ultimate summertime classic like a Mojito or Rosita, or a buzzy Tiki drink with three kinds of rum, here are 21 summer cocktail recipes that are perfect for the warmest months.
Daiquiri
Ingredients
• 2 oz. white rum
• 1/2 tsp. superfine sugar
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
Directions
Squeeze the lime into your shaker, stir in the sugar, and then add the rum. Shake well with cracked ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
The Beachcomber
Ingredients
• 1 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. barrel-aged rum
• 1 oz. 151-proof rum (optional)
• .5 oz. allspice dram
• .5 oz. grenadine
• .75 oz. pineapple juice
• .5 oz. lime juice
Directions
Shake ingredients vigorously with ice. Pour over more ice in festive glassware. Garnish with straws, fruit, umbrellas, cocktail toothpicks, flags, sparklers, and whatever else you might have floating around in that kitchen junk drawer. Locate chair. Take it easy.
Sunshine
Ingredients
• 2 oz. white rum
• .5 oz. French vermouth
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 dash grenadine
Directions
Shake ingredients well with cracked ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Classic Margarita
Ingredients
• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1 oz. Cointreau
• 1 oz. lime juice
• coarse salt
Directions
Chill a cocktail glass, and then rub its rim with lime juice and dip it in coarse salt. Add tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and ice together in a cocktail shaker. Shake and then strain into the glass over ice.
Rosita
Ingredients
• 1.5 oz. mezcal
• .5 oz. sweet vermouth
• .5 oz. dry vermouth
• .5 oz. Campari
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
Directions
Stir over ice, and strain into an old fashioned glass. Wipe the rim of the glass with lemon or grapefruit twist
Classic Mojito
Ingredients
• 2 oz. white rum
• .5 oz. lime juice (squeezed fresh)
• 1 tsp. superfine sugar
• 3 mint leavesclub soda or seltzer
Directions
In a smallish Collins glass, muddle lime juice with 1/2 to 1 tsp. superfine sugar. Add the mint leaves, mushing them against the side of the glass. Fill glass 2/3 with cracked ice and pour in the rum. Pitch in the squeezed-out lime shell and top off with club soda or seltzer.
Negroni
Ingredients
• 1 oz. Tanqueray gin
• 1 oz. Campari
• 1 oz. Cinzano Rosso Vermouth
Directions
Pour ingredients over ice into a cocktail shaker. Stir (with your finger) and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange twist.
Pear Mojito
Ingredients
• 1.5 oz. Mount Gay Black Barrel rum
• .75 oz. lime juice
• .75 oz. simple syrup
• 1 oz. Ambient pear puree
• fresh mint leaves
• club soda
Directions
In a highball glass, lightly press on mint leaves with muddler. Add rest of the ingredients except club soda. Add ice and transfer into a shaker and shake. Add club soda and pour back in highball glass. Garnish with mint leaves.
Basil Gimlet
Ingredients
• 2 oz. Botanist gin
• .75 oz. fresh lime juice
• .5 oz. simple syrup
• 3-5 fresh basil leaves
Directions
Add ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a basil leaf.
The Salty Bird
Ingredients
• 1.5 oz. aged rum
• .75 oz. Campari
• 1.5 oz. fresh pineapple juice
• .5 oz. fresh lime juice
• .5 oz. simple syrup
• pinch of salt
• dehydrated pineapple (optional)
Directions
Combine all ingredients, then shake and strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a pinch of salt and dehydrated pineapple.
The Parrot’s Grog
Ingredients
• 1 oz. Campari
• .5 oz. Smith & Cross
• 1 oz. fresh grapefruit juice
• .5 oz. fresh lime juice
• .5 oz. honey syrup
• club soda
Directions
Combine all ingredients, then shake and strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Top with club soda, and serve with an umbrella/paper straw.
The Black Vlad
Ingredients
• 1 oz. Black Strap rum
• 1 oz. Samogon TM*
• 1 oz. lime juice, freshly squeezed
• .75 oz. Falernum liqueur
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
Directions
Combine in a cocktail shaker and stir. Strain into a highball glass over crushed ice. Garnish with mint or rosemary.
*A moonshine alternative works too.
Sour-Cherry Gin Smash
Ingredients
• 2 oz. gin
• 6 sour cherries
• 1 sugar cube
• .5 oz. fresh lime juice
• ginger ale
• 1 lime wedge
Directions
In a cocktail shaker, combine the cherries and the sugar cube. Muddle until the sugar is broken down. Add the lime juice and gin, and then shake. Strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with a splash of ginger ale and garnish with a lime wedge.
The Malacca Flip
Ingredients
• 1.75 oz. Tanqueray Malacca gin
• 1.5 oz. hibiscus syrup
• .25 oz. Maraschino liqueur
• .75 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1 fresh lemon wedge
• mint leaves
• 1 egg white
• 3 dashes orange bitters
Directions
Muddle mint and fresh lemon wedge, then add all other liquid ingredients. Dry shake. Add ice, hard shake. Rinse a cocktail martini coupe with orange bitters. Double strain into the cocktail martini coupe. Garnish with mint leaf.
The Mexican Mule
Ingredients
• 2 oz. Bootlegger vodka
• .5 oz. lime juice
• .75 oz. pineapple juice
• .5 oz. ginger syrup
Directions
Combine the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and stir. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a splash of savory spiced rum.
The Sicilian Firing Squad
Ingredients
• 1 oz. Montelobos mezcal
• 1 oz. Solerno Blood Orange liqueur
• .5 oz. grenadine
• 1 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 dash Angostura bitters
Directions
Combine ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wheel and a Luxardo cherry.
The Paloma Picante
Ingredients
• 2 oz. El Mayor Blanco tequila
• 1 oz. habanero nectar
• 3 oz. grapefruit soda
• 4 cubes ruby red grapefruit
Directions
Muddle the grapefruit cubes in a highball glass. Add the rest of the ingredients and crushed ice, and then top with a splash of grapefruit soda.
The Raspberry Gin Rickey
Ingredients
• 1.5 oz. gin
• 4 oz. club soda
• 2 tbsp. simple syrup
• fresh raspberries
• 2 tbsp. lime juice
Directions
Muddle two raspberries in the bottom of a highball glass. Add the rest of the ingredients together with ice. Garnish with a lime slice and more raspberries.
The Close Shave
Ingredients
• 1 oz. New Amsterdam vodka
• 1.5 oz. Elderflower liqueur
• 1 dash Prosecco
Directions
Combine the vodka and elderflower into a cocktail shaker, shake, and then strain into a chilled martini glass. Top it with a splash of Prosecco and garnish with fresh rosemary.
Strawberry Basil Bourbon Lemonade
Recipe serves 8
Ingredients
• 8 oz. bourbon
• 2 c. strawberries
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
• 12 basil leaves
• 8 basil sprigs
• bitters
Instructions
Place strawberries into blender and add 2 tbsp of sugar. Add about 1/4 of a cup of water and pulse until pureed. In a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat, add the puree and 1 3/4 cup of water. Heat until mixture begins to boil. Allow to cool and then strain through a sieve.
In a large pitcher, combine the strawberry syrup, bourbon, 1 cup of water, lemon juice, basil leaves, and a splash of bitters. Stir and then pour into eight glasses with ice. Garnish each with a basil sprig.
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