Kick-off the season with our refreshing summer cocktails that are perfect for sipping poolside. You can expect many of your guests to request outdoor seating this summer, so why not have a new cocktail menu to celebrate the return of warm weather?
If ordering, preparing or looking at your most popular cocktails don’t pump you up, then your summer cocktail recipe hasn’t captured the essence of summer.
The winter cocktails specialise in warmth and spice, the spring cocktails on freshness, and the fall cocktails on earthy moderation but summer cocktails are a touch more one-dimensional in a positive way. Sours and sweets commingle in ice-cold liquor while citrus flavours blow up in your mouth. The best summer cocktails have tons of energy.
Our simple summer cocktails blend a variety of fresh herbs and fruits with boozy favourites like gin, vodka, tequila, and wine for the ultimate blend of summery flavours. From caipirinhas to sangria, these drinks of summer are crowd pleasures.
There's nothing one love more than refreshing summer cocktails on a warm day. Summer Cocktails can make your summer parties or can make for a delicious drink any day. Here we’ve got some of the best summer cocktails for you, so save this to your bookmarks so that you can come back and whip up some of these delicious drinks. Keep reading for recipes and directions!
- Vodka Cocktails for Summer
- French Martini
The French Martini is a simple combination of a base liquor, a cocktail modifier, and a juice. The use of Chambord, a dark berry liqueur gives it a pleasant sweet depth. But the pineapple fruit juice is what lights the fuse. Combined with the graceful astringency of vodka, sweet berries and vibrant pineapple create a uniquely clean and refreshing summer cocktail. The outcome is an opaque, frothy purple elixir that eats summer days for breakfast.
French Martini Ingredients
- Two ounces of vodka
- Half ounces of black raspberry liqueur
- One and half ounces of pineapple juice
French Martini Recipe
- Add all the ingredients with ice into a cocktail shaker and shake.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail or martini glass.
- Apple Mojito
Mojitos are one of the popular drinks you will find on almost any summer cocktail list, so try something creative with this twist on the Cuban mixed drink. Our version includes vodka and apple fruit juice in place of the rum and lime juice during a traditional mojito recipe.
Apple Mojito Ingredients
- One-third cup of vodka
- One-fourth cup of apple juice
- One oz. simple syrup
- Ten mint leaves
- Apple slices for garnish
Apple Mojito Recipe
- Mix the mint leaves in a cocktail shaker.
- Add simple syrup, vodka, and apple juice.
- Shake and pour the cocktail into a highball glass over ice.
- Garnish with mint and apple slices.
- Gin Cocktails for Summer
- Gin Basil Smash
In this summer, bright green basil leaves are muddled to release a herbal flavour that blends well with freshly squeezed lemon juice & gin. Using fresh herbs in your cocktails provide a singular, refreshing flavour profile that's perfect for summery mixed drinks.
Gin Basil Smash Ingredients
- Four oz. gin
- Two oz. fresh lemon juice
- Two oz. simple syrup
- Ten basil leaves
Gin Basil Recipe
- Add basil leaves, lemon juice, and syrup to a cocktail shaker.
- Gently muddle the ingredients.
- Add gin and shake.
- Pour the cocktail into a rocks glass over ice.
- Garnish with basil leaves and lemon twist.
- Gimlet
The original recipe for a gimlet known for “gin and a spot of lime.” And in the 1930s The Savoy Cocktail Book, the exact book in which the greyhound made its debut, the standardized recipe involves equal parts gin and Rose’s Lime Juice. Today, we prefer our drinks a touch stiffer. Thus, the recipe has grown more alcoholic with time. Now, it’s two parts of gin to one part Rose’s lime, a perfect combination for keeping it light, refreshing, but not too sweet. One of the simplest and best summer cocktail recipes available, if you ask us.
The gimlet is a product of circumstance versus creativity, though grinned and perfected with time. Its origins are at stumped when limes were mandatory rations for British sailors to battle scurvy. Gin was the first choice for several British sailors of the time. It had been a natural complement to the limes they were required to eat. “You must eat this lime” may be a phrase sadly lost to this part of history. The gin and lime juice made one another more palatable and countless seamen avoided vitamin deficiency. Gin is rumoured to be one of the aphrodisiac drinks.
As for the name, it’s from one among two places. It could get its name from a little tool used for tapping barrels of liquor on ships or from a British naval officer named Sir Thomas Gimlette who was an enthusiastic adopter of the gin-lime combination.
Gimlet Ingredients
- Two ounces of gin
- One ounce of Rose's lime juice (use half ounces of fresh lime juice and half ounces of simple syrup if you've got no Rose's)
- Lime wedge
Gimlet Recipe
- Add the gin, Rose's, and ice in a shaker and shake well.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
- Summer Whiskey Cocktails
- Old Pal
The old pal is within the Negroni and boulevardier cocktail family. Rather than using sweet vermouth, the old pal uses dry vermouth. And, where a Negroni has gin and a boulevardier bourbon, the old pal uses the spicier rye whiskey. A ton of bartenders today make boulevardiers with rye rather than bourbon because it creates a fuller flavour profile with the Campari. Well, that’s what the old pal does. Just with a special kind of vermouth.
The recipe comes from the year 1927, with the publication of Barflies and Cocktails. Another peculiarity it shares with the boulevardier is that it was named after an American who lived in Paris. In this case, he was the newspaper editor for The New York Herald William “Sparrow” Robinson. Harry MacElhone, a bar owner who had a hand in the creation of the boulevardier, is credited with the creation of Old Pal.
The combination of sweet vermouth and Campari is just too sweet for a raw, summer cocktail. By using dry vermouth, the old pal immediately becomes one of the most refreshing summer cocktails around. It's an even more refreshing version of the common 3 ingredient formula, i.e, base liquor, Campari, vermouth. The complexity & bitterness of Campari shines a light on the slow-burning spice of rye whiskey but disarms it. The whole combination is perfect for warm, summer sipping. This here is one of the best summer whiskey cocktails and one among the best summer cocktails in general.
Old Pal Ingredients
- One ounce of rye whiskey
- One ounce of Campari
- One ounce of dry vermouth
- Lemon peel
Old Pal Recipe
- Add all ingredients in a shaker with ice and mix properly.
- Strain into a cocktail grass.
- Garnish with a lemon peel.
- Whiskey Sour
The whiskey sour is one of the best summers whiskey cocktails. It’s also the only best easy summer bourbon cocktail. The great state of Wisconsin has the honour of being the first primary location this classic summer cocktail was mentioned in print—back in 1870. Thanks to Waukesha Plain Dealer.
“Sours” are like a family member of drinks and more accurately thought of as a principle of mixology. They are one of the oldest approaches to making drinks. It’s an easy, well-worn formula: base sorts of alcohol + sour mixer + sweetener. The gimlet above is basically a sour because Rose’s Lime isn’t a lime juice, but a sweetened lime cordial.
Like the gimlet, the sour has its roots within the mandatory presence of lemons and limes on maritime vessels. Because of this, they are some of the earliest cocktails on record.
Any drink that successfully combines sweet, sour, and liquor is going to be a well-liked summer cocktail. The key is finding easy summer cocktail recipes. Summer cocktail recipes you have already got the ingredients for and take your bartenders under a moment to form. Well, that’s the whiskey sour, the undisputed champion of the summer cocktails.
The whiskey sour’s cherry garnish may be a great representation of the drink itself: sweet and fun. The sugar acts as a bridge between the sweetness of the bourbon and the freshness of lemon juice. The outcome is subtly sweet, pretty much drinkable, and happiness to behold. Sip one back on a warm summer sunset and feel yourself melt into the sweet dusk breeze.
Whiskey Sour Ingredients
- Two ounces of bourbon
- Three-fourth ounces of lemon juice
- Three-fourth ounces of simple syrup
- Orange wheel
- Cherry
Whiskey Sour Recipe
- Combine bourbon, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a shaker filled with ice and shake.
- Strain into a rock glass filled with ice cubes.
- Garnish with an orange wheel and cherry.
- Summer Rum Cocktails
- Daiquiri
The daiquiri is a family of cocktails that holds an esteemed position in the cocktail pantheon. It is one of the “six basic drinks” in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, an epic and influential 1948 cocktail book. The name is basically from a Cuban iron mine where an American mining engineer named Jennings Cox was stationed in Cuba during the 1890s.
The drink found its way to the NYC bar scene during the early 1900s and stayed under the radar until the 1940s. Rum was much easier to come by during World War two than whiskey and vodka. FDR’s “Good Neighbour” policy increased trade incentives between the U.S. and Latin America.
There tend to be two daiquiris within the public imagination, though. One is the simple combination of rum, citrus, and sugar that serves as the foundation for several other drinks. And has its origins in the maritime battle against scurvy. The other is the slightly more flamboyant frozen daiquiri which is a daiquiri but blended with crushed ice to create a slushy.
Uttering the word “daiquiri” to a bartender should get you the primary, simple summer rum cocktail to embrace its simplicity and history. Enjoy its light jade colour and humble sweet-and-sour refreshment. It’s one of the simplest, best summer cocktails you will find. And, it’s a classic summer cocktail to boot.
Daiquiri Ingredients
- One and half ounces of white rum
- One ounce of lime juice
- Half ounces of simple syrup
- Lime twist
Daiquiri Recipe
- Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes and shake.
- Strain into a cocktail glass.
- Garnish with a lime twist.
- Cuba Libre
A Cuba Libre is a combination of rum and coke with lime juice. Because of the heavy United States presence in Cuba during the Spanish-American war, there was an influx of Coca-Cola. The drink soon became popular in Cuba due to the convenience of acquiring the ingredients.
While it doesn’t need to be Coca-Cola, it always is. And, while it doesn’t need to be Bacardi, it always is.
In 1965, Fausto Rodriguez, a Bacardi advertising executive publicly produced a notarized affidavit. It stated that, in 1900, a 14-year-old Rodriguez witnessed a member of the United States Army ordered a Bacardi mixed with Coca-Cola. A nearby group of intrigued soldiers ordered around for themselves. And, the drink was invented. It's coincident that Fausto grew up to be a Bacardi advertising executive but, c’est la vie was the one that inspired him.
The name is from a previous drink referred to as the Cuba Libre—a saying of the Cuban independence movement—made up of water and brown sugar. And, interestingly, the Cuba Libre is a historically important drink that’s the representation of two world orders. One, colonialism in The Caribbean was fuelled by the rum trade. And another, modern commercialism, is perfectly represented by Coca-Cola and its proliferation across the world. During that time, Cuba created a drink that reflected itself.
On the lighter side, the drink is an incredibly easy summer cocktail. Much like Cuba hundred years ago, rum and Coca-Cola is still readily available almost everywhere. The occasional addition of lime juice gives the already thirst-quenching mixture a sharper kind of refreshment. But we go straight to rum and coke during this recipe.
Cuba Libre Ingredients
- Two ounces of rum
- Four ounces of Coca-Cola
- Lime wedge
Cuba Libre Recipe
- Add rum and coke in a highball glass which should be three-fourths full of ice.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
- Tequila Summer Cocktails
- Paloma
Like the Cuba Libre, the Paloma uses soft drinks for mixing. Pick your favourite grapefruit-flavoured soda and start mixing it with tequila. A two-ingredient drink is an easy summer cocktail if you have ever seen one.
But what makes this one of the best yet simple summer cocktail is that it’s the most refreshing summer cocktail on this entire list. There is something special about grapefruit soda that hits the spot on oppressively hot days, to which Mexico is no stranger. Grapefruit soda spiked with tequila, then, rises to the extent of elixir during the summer.
If you are after a tequila-based cocktail on a hot summer day, skip the margarita and order a Paloma. The word if translated in English comes out to be as both pigeon and dove which definitely makes sense because the Paloma cocktail has the ability to be a blue-collar, sessional summer cocktail. Or, with the proper tequila and craft soda, a refined meditation on the collision of bitter, sour, and sweet.
Paloma Ingredients
- Two ounces of tequila
- Six ounces of grapefruit soda
- Lime wedge
Paloma Recipe
- Salt the rim if you wish (adds a margarita-Esque festive component to the drink).
- Add ingredients in a highball glass with three-fourths full of ice.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
- Mexican Mai Tai
Just like the classic Mai Tai recipe, this summer cocktail includes an almond-flavoured syrup known as Orgeat (pronounced Or-Zhaat). One needs to add a Mexican flair by replacing the rum with tequila and then adding a salted rim. The outcome is a perfect summer mixed drink that combines the refreshing tartness of a margarita with the sweetness of a tropical tiki cocktail.
Mexican Mai Tai Ingredients
- One and a half oz. tequila
- Half oz. orange curacao
- Half oz. orgeat
- Three by fourths oz. lime juice
- Rimming salt
Mexican Mai Tai Recipe
- Pour the liquid ingredients into a cocktail shaker and then shake them thoroughly.
- Rim a margarita glass with salt.
- Shake the cocktail and pour it into the glass over ice.
- Garnish it with a lime slice.
- Tequila Sunrise
There was a first version of the Tequila Sunrise created in Phoenix within the 1930s. Then an updated version created in Sausalito during the 70s. So, the question arises, “To which city is its creation credited”? Both? You don’t hear much about this topic, so it looks like both cities have settled the dispute honourably.
The original 1930s version used to have tequila, soda water, creme de cassis, and lime juice. But the latest version is the one that’s directly descended from the 1970s Sausalito have tequila, orange juice, and grenadine. The story narrates that Mick Jagger tried a Tequila Sunrise at a party in 1972 and the Rolling Stones started drinking them. They ordered them all around the country during their tour, and the drink took off from there.
The name originated from the design of the drink. After adding the tequila and orange juice, strategically pour the ruby-red grenadine cascading down the side of the glass without dispersing into the remains of the drink. The outcome is an orange colour at the top of the drink and a fade to a deep orange at the bottom.
The sweet pomegranate grenadine keeps waiting patiently at the bottom. As you sip the tequila-orange juice from the start, the drink gets progressively sweeter and more complex. It’s one of the foremost fun tequila summer cocktails out there. And, within the grand scheme of things, one among the best summer cocktails, period.
Tequila Sunrise Ingredients
- One and half ounces of tequila
- Three ounces of orange juice
- Half ounces of grenadine
- Orange slice
- Cherry
Tequila Sunrise Recipe
- Pour tequila and orange juice in a glass (any glass) over ice.
- Pour the grenadine slowly down the inner side of the glass.
- Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.
Liven up your summer cocktail menu with our greatest drinks of summer! Easy to organize & prepare, our summer drink recipes are crowd favourites which all make the most of the outdoor dining experience the best experience. Want to seek out more amazing cocktails, then confirm you do subscribe to www.dakibaa.com and follow our Instagram channel “Dakibaa” and like, follow our Facebook channel “Dakibaa”, and Twitter channel “Dakibaa” for more content like this within the future!