The 10 Best Cocktails to Enjoy This Summer

The most refreshing summer cocktail recipe need not be difficult to execute. All it needs is a little swashbuckling creation, quality ingredients, and a willingness to have fun.

The best summer cocktails emphasize enjoyment over alcohol content. Sure, they can be powerful in flavor, however, they’re meant to be relaxing drinks made for fun in the summer sun.

The following 10 summer drink options are all great tasting, easy summer cocktail recipes for you to enjoy whenever the fancy takes. Some are cocktail classics, while others are interesting twists or new mixers you may not have had the pleasure to try.

Each cocktail uses a spirit we recommend, from well-known alcohol brands to boutique distilleries. Sure, you can always take your favorite spirit, some lemon, cranberry juice, club soda, or ginger ale, make a drink and call it a refreshing cocktail, but where’s the excitement in that?

Check out the 10 best summer cocktails below, and remember to always drink responsibly!

1. Vodka Moscow Mule

The following Moscow Mule recipe creates a simple, easy summer cocktail using ingredients you can utilize from your home bar or refrigerator. For a sweeter and/or tangier flavor, utilize a grain to glass premium vodka or flavored vodka combined with simple syrup, bitters, and a spicy ginger beer with great carbonation to suit your personal taste.

Ingredients

• 1 oz vodka Smirnoff No. 57 100 Proof Vodka
• 2/3 oz fresh lime juice
• Dash of bitters
• Fever Tree Premium Ginger Beer
• Crushed Ice
• Simple syrup, ginger syrup (optional)

 Garnish: Lime wedge, fresh mint

Instructions

Add fresh lime juice, bitters, simple syrup/ginger syrup (if needed), and vodka to a classical cocktail shaker or mixing glass and stir thoroughly. Strain mix into a copper mug or highball glass filled with crushed ice. Top with ginger beer, add mint, and stir. Garnish with a lime wedge and serve straight away.

2. Classic Homemade Pina Colada Recipe

A homemade pina colada recipe like the one below is a classic summer cocktail. You can use any type of rum (or go without booze for a classy virgin pina colada), but I’ve found spiced or white rum complements the creaminess more than dark rum.

Make your mix fresh and serve immediately, or stick it in the freezer for 30 mins to one hour to craft a handy frozen pina colada (that tastes infinitely better than a store-bought pina colada mix).

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz Banks 5 Island Blend Rum
• 0.5  oz coconut cream
• 0.5 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• 1.5 oz fresh pineapple juice
• 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
• Ice Cubes or crushed ice

Garnish: Maraschino cherry and/or a large pineapple slice

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except for the garnish in a blender or cocktail shaker. Shake or blend thoroughly until the mix is an even consistency (for me, a shaken pina colada just tastes better). Strain into a highball or cocktail glass of your choice. Garnish with the maraschino cherry and pineapple slice, then serve immediately.

3. The Caipirinha

Caipirinha is Brazil’s national cocktail, made with cachaça (a white spirit made from sugar cane), sugar, and lime. In Brazil, they love to keep their cocktails simple – strong and sweet – with the bite of fresh lime to give it some balance. They’re quite powerful but extremely enjoyable, and if you like to dance a bit (or even if you don’t), a caipirinha or two will make you want to samba!

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 oz Leblon Cachaca
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• Half a lime cut into 4 wedges
• Crushed Ice

Instructions

Place lime and sugar into a sturdy rocks glass and muddle. Fill the glass with crushed ice and add the Cachaça to taste.

4. Strawberry Lime Daiquiri

The Strawberry Daiquiri is a rum, lime, and strawberry cocktail and one of the most popular cocktails for perfect summer days.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz Wray and Nephew Overproof White Rum 
• 0.5 oz Cointreau or Triple Sec
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• 0.5 oz sugar syrup
• 2/3 sliced strawberries
• Ice

Garnish: Strawberry or lime

Instructions

Add sliced strawberries, white rum, Cointreau, lime juice, sugar syrup, and ice to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a large cocktail or margarita glass, then garnish with a strawberry or a lime wedge.

5. Mojito Rum Cocktail

Originating in Cuba, the Mojito is a powerfully perfect summer cocktail, synonymous with sitting on the beach, good times, and relaxation. This recipe is a simple yet delicious version of the fan-favorite.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz Havana Club Anejo Blanco
• 1 oz lime juice
• 0.5 oz sugar syrup
• Soda water to taste
• Angostura bitters

Garnish: Fresh Mint leaves

Instructions

Add rum, lime juice, and sugar syrup to a highball glass half-filled with ice cubes. Add a splash of soda water to taste, and a dash or two of Angostura bitters. Muddle torn mint leaves into the glass as a garnish and serve.

6. Watermelon Gin Cocktail

A summery take on a classic gin cocktail recipe, the watermelon uses subtle sweetness to contrast the crisp herbaceousness of a quality gin. It’s a lunchtime drink for a sunny day.

Ingredients

• 4 oz gin Hendrick’s Gin
• 4 cups fresh watermelon cubed (seedless if possible)
• 8 fresh cucumber sliced thin
• 1.5 oz simple syrup
• Approx 12 fresh mint leaves
• Ice cubes

Garnish: Cucumber, mint sprigs

Instructions

Add watermelon chunks into a blender and blend on high for about 30 seconds until smooth. Strain into a large glass and set aside. Add mint leaves, cucumber, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker then muddle the combination until thoroughly mixed. Add gin, 1 cup of watermelon juice, ice cubes, and stir well. Garnish with fresh cucumber slices and mint sprigs

7. Mai Tai

A classic rum cocktail recipe is what summer refreshment is all about, and nothing matches the Mai Tai for summer flavor. While for some, mixing light and dark rum is a no-no, a well-done Mai Tai creates a complex, enjoyable sweetness.

Ingredients

• ⅔ oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum (white rum)
• ⅔ oz Stolen Overproof Rum (dark rum)
• ⅔ oz Brovo Orange Curacao
• 1 oz lime juice
• 0.5 oz orgeat syrup
• Ice cubes

Garnish: Fresh pineapple wedge, maraschino cherries

Instructions

Except for the dark rum, shake all ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into an old fashioned glass and float the dark rum onto the top. Garnish with pineapple and/or maraschino cherries and serve immediately.

8. Blood Orange Margarita

Forget the frozen slush; a fresh, expertly crafted margarita is one of life’s true pleasures. While often you’ll get sweet margies made with silver or Blanco tequila, a killer blood orange beast is best paired with Reposado (rested) tequila. You’ll find they also come in very handy for refreshment and quiet sipping on the pool deck or beach, and this mix can be frozen if you want to make it cooler.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz Tequila Bribon
• 1 oz blood orange juice
• 1 oz simple sugar syrup
• 2 limes, halved
• 1 cup ice cubes
• Salt (table salt is acceptable, use Himalayan rock salt if you are fancy)

Instructions

Rub one lime half around the rim of an old-fashioned glass, then turn the glass upside-down and dip the wet rim into a saucer of salt. Set glass aside. Juice the limes to produce an ounce of liquid, then place the ice cubes, tequila, juices, and syrup in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously until combined. Strain into a margarita glass and serve immediately.

9. Mint Julep

If you’re from the South (or just passing), one of the best summer cocktails to try has to be a mint julep. The mixed drink cocktail synonymous with the Kentucky Derby, a mint julep is a fantastic, simple whiskey-based concoction that is the perfect summer drink for enjoying the bright sun and Southern hospitality.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon
• 1/4 ounce simple syrup
• 8 mint leaves
• Water to taste

Garnish: Mint sprig, Angostura bitters

Instructions

In a rocks glass or Old Fashioned glass, lightly muddle the mint leaves in the simple syrup. Add the bourbon, a splash or two of water if needed, then fill the glass with crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig and a few drops of bitters (if required).

10. The Greyhound

In a list full of simple cocktail recipes, the Greyhound just might be the simplest (and it’s exciting because it’s pink!). Its two ingredients (plus ice) make for the ultimate refreshing summer drink and can be enjoyed using either vodka or gin.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Beefeater Pink Gin or Absolut Vodka
• 2-3 oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• Ice Cubes

 Garnish: Maraschino Cherry (to cut the edge)

Instructions

Take a highball glass and half fill with Ice cubes. Add gin, then fill with grapefruit juice, and stir to taste. Garnish with cherries.

Conclusion

The cocktails above represent new tastes, old favorites, and fashionable variations of beloved drinks using quality spirits and ingredients. Don’t be afraid to try each refreshing summer drink, and find the right cocktail taste for your time in the sun (or the shade of a palm tree).