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11 Summer Cocktails You Can’t Wait To Try

Summertime Backyard Relaxing is Coming. Enjoy a Cocktail While You’re There.

Blackberry and Gin Slushie

Ingredients1 pound fresh blackberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons gin, chilled
1 cup club soda, chilled
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 8 to 10 limes)
2 cups finely crushed ice

Directions Combine the blackberries and sugar in a medium bowl and let sit at room temperature. Combine the gin, club soda and lime juice in the blender and blend just to combine. When ready to serve, add the blackberries and ice to the blender and pulse to desired consistency. Blend more if you like a smoother texture. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Cucumber Pineapple Tequila Cooler

Ingredients1 cup fresh pineapple cubes
2 limes, skin removed
1 seedless European cucumber, peeled, plus cucumber slices for garnish
4 ounces silver (blanco) tequila
1 1/2 cups ice cubes, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon agave nectar
Pinch kosher salt

DirectionsPrepare a vegetable juicer (or blender if unavailable). Run the pineapple, limes and cucumber through the juicer, letting all the juices combine. Pour the tequila into a cocktail shaker or pitcher, and then add the juices, ice, agave and salt. Shake or stir vigorously until chilled. Line up 4 tall Tom Collins glasses filled with ice, and pour the tequila cooler over. Serve with straws and cucumber slices for garnish.

Rose Sangria Spritzer

Ingredients2 bottles cold rose wine
1 green apple, thinly sliced
1 orange, halved and thinly sliced
1 pint fresh raspberries
Simple syrup, to taste
Ice cubes
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish
Club soda, cold, optional

DirectionsCombine wine, apple, orange, raspberries in a pitcher, add simple syrup, to taste. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. Serve over ice, garnish with mint and top with a few splashes of club soda, if desired.

Frozen Mojito

Ingredients1/4 cup simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water boiled together until sugar melts)
2 limes, juiced
12 fresh mint leaves, plus mint sprigs for garnish
4 ounces white rum
2 cups crushed ice

DirectionsCombine simple syrup, lime juice and mint leaves in a blender and blend until combined. Add the rum and crushed ice and blend until frothy. Pour into 2 rocks glasses and garnish with mint sprigs.

Red Wine Sangria

Ingredients2 bottles red Spanish table wine
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup triple sec
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup simple syrup, or more to taste (equal parts sugar and water, heated until sugar dissolves, cooled)
Orange slices
Apple slices
Blackberries
Pomegranate seeds

DirectionsMix all ingredients together and let stand in a tightly sealed container or pitcher for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Watermelon Mai Tai

Ingredients1/2 cup cubed watermelon, seedless or seeds removed
3 tablespoons light rum
2 tablespoons St. Germaine liqueur
1 lime, juiced (about 1 tablespoon), plus 1 wedge for garnish
1 tablespoon superfine sugar
Ice, for serving

DirectionsPlace the watermelon, rum, St. Germaine liqueur, lime juice and superfine sugar in the pitcher of a blender and blend on high until well blended. Pour into a double old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lime wedge and enjoy.

Burnt Orange Negroni

Ingredients1 orange
1 1/2 ounces gin, such as Bombay Sapphire
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce bitter orange liqueur, such as Aperol
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/4 ounce lemon juice
Dash bitters
Ice

DirectionsChar a whole orange on the grill and set aside to cool down.

Combine the gin, vermouth, liqueur, simple syrup, lemon juice and bitters in a mixing glass over ice. Add a slice of the charred orange and shake. Pour into a rocks glass and drink up!

Cook’s Note: You can char the orange beforehand and keep in the refrigerator for a few days.

Blackberry Gin Fizz Float

Ingredients1 pint blackberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup roughly chopped mint leaves
8 ounces gin
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Ice, for serving
24 ounces ginger ale
1 pint blackberry sorbet or vanilla ice cream

DirectionsHeat the blackberries, sugar, and water in a small pot over medium-high heat. While warming, smash with a potato masher, until a thick even consistency is reached, about 8 minutes.

Pour the blackberries through a sieve, into a bowl, pushing some flesh through with the juices, making sure to catch the seeds. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes.

Fill a cocktail shaker with 2 tablespoons of blackberry puree, 2 tablespoons of the mint leaves, 2 ounces of gin, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and a handful of ice. Shake vigorously 5 to 6 times until the drink is ice cold. Strain the mixture into a tall glass. Top with 6 ounces of ginger ale and stir lightly. Repeat for the remaining 3 servings. Finish and serve with a scoop of sorbet or ice cream.

Cucumber and Lime Gin Fizz

Ingredients2 slices peeled cucumber, plus 1 unpeeled slice for garnish
6 fresh mint leaves
2 sprigs fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons turbinado sugar
1 ounce fresh lime juice
2 ounces cucumber-infused gin (such as Hendrick’s)
3 to 4 ounces club soda

DirectionsPlace the peeled cucumber slices, mint, cilantro and sugar in a cocktail shaker and muddle. Add the lime juice and gin. Fill the shaker halfway with ice and shake vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes (this seems like a long time, but it’s essential).

Grapefruit Sparklers

DirectionsFor each drink, stir 3 ounces grapefruit juice, 2 ounces each cranberry juice and gin, and a splash each of Campari and lime juice in a shaker with ice. Strain into an ice-filled glass rimmed with salt. Top with seltzer; garnish with lime.

Blackberry-Bourbon Iced Tea

Ingredients3 cups fresh blackberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus mint sprigs for garnish
6 good-quality black tea bags
Good-quality bourbon, to taste (Bobby likes Woodford Reserve)

DirectionsCombine the blackberries, sugar and chopped mint in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or wooden spoon; let sit while making the tea.

While the blackberries are macerating, bring 1 1/2 quarts cold water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags and let steep for about 3 minutes. Remove the tea bags and pour the tea over the blackberry mixture. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour to let the flavors meld.

Pour the mixture through a strainer into a pitcher, pressing on the solids. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours. (You can also pour the mixture into a bowl set over an ice bath to cool it faster.)

Serve the blackberry tea over ice in tall glasses and float a shot of bourbon on top of each. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs (like a mint julep).

Source:foodnetwork