Welcome to our summer drinks guide. We’ve pored over hundreds of recipes to select the best cocktails of the 2015 season. The recipes are broken down by category: vodka, gin, rum, tequila, whiskey, and beer.
We hope you enjoy our selections and get a few ideas for your summer drinks program.
These are the best vodka cocktails:
Cucumber Honey Splash
Cucumber Honey Splash
1 part Pinnacle Cucumber vodka
½ part Fresh lime juice
½ part Honey syrup
3 Chunks of cantaloupe and honeydew
Muddle melon in a mixing glass until liquefied, pour all ingredients over ice shake and strain in a highball glass. Garnish with melon balls and cucumber wheels.
The mixologists at Pinnacle created this recipe.
Tuscan Lemondrop
2 oz. Van Gogh vodka
1 oz. Limoncello di Capri
¼ oz. Fresh lemon juice
4 ¼-in. thick slices Cucumber
3 Basil leaves
3 dashes Fee Brothers cherry bitters
Muddle cucumber and basil in a shaker. Add ice, limoncello, vodka and lemon juice. Shake and double strain into a chilled martini glass. Top with 3 dashes of bitters and garnish with one basil leaf and three cucumber slices.
Jersey Shore mixologist Chris Asay created this recipe.
Peachy Keen
1 ½ oz. Deep Eddy Teavodka
¼ oz. Peach schnapps
1 oz. Lemon juice
Spoon of peach jam/preserves
2 dashes Peach bitters
Combine all ingredients into a tin. Shake and roll into a mason jar. Top with splash of soda water. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
The mixologists at Deep Eddy created this recipe.
All The King’s Horses
½ oz. Grey Goose Le Melon vodka
1 oz. Fresh grapefruit juice
1 oz. Fresh lemon juice
1 oz. St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1 Jalapeño pepper
Muddle one slice jalapeño in a shaker. Add remaining ingredients and shake vigorously. Strain into a Collins glass filled with fresh ice and top with soda and jalapeño garnish.
The mixologists at Grey Goose created this recipe.
California Roots
California Roots
Lime wedge
Fennel salt (coarsely grind 1 tbsp. kosher salt and 1 tbsp. fennel seeds)
1 ½ oz. Vodka
1 oz. Fresh agave sour
½ oz. Agave nectar
¼ of a Ripe avocado, mashed
Rim half of an Old Fashioned glass with lime and dip in fennel salt and fill glass with ice. Fill cocktail shaker with ice, add vodka, fresh agave sour, agave nectar and avocado. Cover and shake vigorously, until avocado is completely incorporated with mixture. Strain into prepared glass. Garnish with mint sprig and serve immediately.
Recipe courtesy of California Pizza Kitchen.
Killing Thyme
1 ½ oz. Elyx vodka
1 oz. Blood orange shrub*
¾ oz. Lime juice
¾ oz. Simple syrup
3 Thyme sprigs
3 dashes Orange bitters
Club soda to finish
Pour all ingredients into a shaker. Muddle to ensure thyme flavor is released. Shake just to blend. Pour into iced-down highball glass. Orange bitters to finish with a splash of soda. Garnish with thyme and a blood orange peel. (NOTE: You can substitute fresh blood orange juice in for the shrub, but the uniqueness of the cocktail comes from the shrub.)
*For Blood orange shrub:
8 Blood oranges
¾ cup Turbinado sugar
¾ cup Champagne vinegar
Peel the blood oranges with a peeler into long strips and remove the pith. Pour about a ¼ cup of the sugar over peels and muddle. Cover and let sit for an hour or two. Juice the blood oranges and combine with the remaining ½ cup sugar, sugared peels and vinegar. Mix together well, and put in a non-reactive plastic container. Cover and refrigerate. Stir daily; after three days, strain through a fine sieve and reserve.
Peter Kreidler, sous chef at Clay Pigeon Food and Drink in Fort Worth, TX, created this recipe.
Moscow Mule Crushed Cocktail
1 ½ oz. Tito’s vodka
½ oz. Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
¼ oz. Fresh lime juice
3 oz. La Marca prosecco
Combine ingredients and serve over crushed ice.
The mixologists at Red Fish Grill in New Orleans created this cocktail.
Vita Speziata
(Pictured atop)
2 oz. Chopin potato vodka
1 tsp. La Boîte Isak No. 37 chili spice blend
½ oz. Dimmi Italian liqueur
¾ oz. Fresh papaya juice
½ oz. Fresh celery juice
½ oz. Fresh lemon juice
½ oz. Simple syrup
Combine ingredients in mixing tin. Shake and double strain into double rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a celery ribbon on a pick.
The mixologists at Il Buco Alimentari in New York created this recipe.
Glad Rags
1 ½ oz. Tito’s vodka
½ oz. Fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice
½ oz. Fresh-squeezed lime juice
½ oz. St. Germaine elderflower liqueur
1 Rosemary sprig
Muddle rosemary with juices in a shaker glass, and then add vodka and top with ice. Shake and double strain over fresh ice in a highball glass. Top with a rosemary sprig.
Taylor Hall of the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Resort & Spa created this recipe.
Cantaloupe Martini
1 ½ oz. Skyy Citron vodka
2 oz. Watermelon liqueur
Splash orange juice
Splash fresh lime juice
Cantaloupe balls for garnish
Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake and strain into chilled Martini cocktail glass. Garnish with cantaloupe balls.
Eddie Garcia of the Jade Bar at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley, AZ, created this recipe.
Superfruit Sangria Punch
1 oz. Van Gogh Acai-Blueberry vodka
½ oz. Fresh lemon juice
¼ oz. Simple syrup
1 oz. Each of white and red wine
1 oz. Pomegranate juice
Combine ingredients with ice and stir. Garnish with fresh berries and sliced lemons.
The Cocktail Guru Jonathan Pogash created this recipe.
S’mores Surprise
1 part Pinnacle Marshmallow vodka
1 part JDK & Sons Crave Chocolate
Chili liqueur
2 parts Half & Half
Shake with ice and strain into a Martini glass rimmed with graham cracker crumbs. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.
The mixologists at Pinnacle created this recipe.
What I’m Drinking Now
Mari Howe
Mari Howe
Bartender at Cowboy Ciao and Counter Intuitive in Scottsdale, AZ
Sometimes I need a “pick me up drink,” but I don’t care for energy drinks. I discovered Agwa de Bolivia, an herbal liqueur made with Bolivian coca leaves and 37 other natural herbs and botanicals including green tea, ginseng and guarana. (Don’t worry, I didn’t find it on the black market—it’s completely legal!)
For summertime in the heat of Arizona, I wanted to create something light and refreshing, and still a little boozy. I decided to pair Agwa de Bolivia with vodka (you can also use gin if you prefer), fresh basil, lime and cucumber, and the Holy Cow-Cumber was born.
Holy Cow-Cumber
Holy Cow-Cumber
1 ½ oz. Square One Organic Cucumber vodka
1 oz. Agwa de Bolivia coca leaf liqueur
¾ oz. Fresh lime juice
½ oz. Rich simple syrup (2:1)
4-5 Fresh basil leaves
1 Cucumber slice
Muddle basil and cucumber with lime and syrup, then add spirits. Shake hard with ice, then double strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a cucumber slice and basil top. Finish by expressing a lemon peel over the top and discarding the peel.
