You HAVE To Try These 13 Amazing Summer Cocktails Using Ingredients You Probably Already Have In Your Kitchen
Summer is in full swing, and we have a problem: most cocktail recipes use super random and/or unaffordable ingredients.
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Enough is enough! Cocktails should be a drink by and for the people! Let's leave the pretentious ingredients in the past and usher in a brand new era of ACCESSIBLE cocktails!!!!
So in a fit of impulsivity/rage, I bought enough liquor to last a lifetime and started mixing it with ingredients I already had in my kitchen to see what stuck.
That may not look like a lot of alcohol to you — however, I am but one woman.
I settled on thirteen easy recipes with simple, cheap ingredients that were so damn incredible, I just HAD to share them. Bonus: my friends — Niki, Adam, Joe, Emily, and Ethan — tried each drink and gave me their opinions, so let their comments guide you through this list.
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Please drink responsibly!
1.Green In The Face
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces gin
- 3–6 thick cucumber slices
- 1 lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1/2 granny smith apple, juiced (about 2.5 tablespoons)
- tonic water
Directions:
In a shaker, muddle the cucumbers before adding gin, lime juice, and apple juice. Shake and strain into a highball glass over ice. Top with tonic water. Garnish with a thinly sliced granny smith apple and/or cucumber wedge.
Hint: If you aren't able to juice the apple, aggressively muddle in the shaker before adding the other ingredients.
Comments:
"This tastes like walking through an apple orchard on a foggy September morning." —Adam
2.Lazy Gal's Horchatapproximation
Ingredients:
- 2.5 ounces Malibu Caribbean Rum
- 2 pumps vanilla syrup OR 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup rice milk
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 ounce brown sugar simple syrup
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- a pinch of nutmeg
Directions:
In a blender or large shaker, thoroughly mix all the ingredients until the cinnamon is blended evenly throughout the drink. Pour into a highball glass over ice.
Serves 2.
Hint: For a boozy brunch, mix with cold brew.
Comments:
"Incredibly delicious." —Niki, Adam, Joe, Ethan, Emily A., and Alice
3.Mint Condition
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces vodka
- 1 cup strawberry lemonade
- 1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 3 small mint leaves
Directions:
In a shaker, muddle the mint and blueberries before adding the vodka and strawberry lemonade. Shake thoroughly and strain into a highball glass over ice. Add a mint leaf for garnish.
Comments:
"Super tasty, but consider using homemade lemonade if you can. Powdered is very sweet." —Niki
4.Mister Whiskers Whispers
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces bourbon
- 1 ounce Grand Marnier
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 2.5 tablespoons)
- 1/2 ounce brown sugar simple syrup
- 1/2 tsp maraschino cherry juice
- 1–3 maraschino cherries
Directions:
In a shaker, thoroughly mix the bourbon, Grand Marnier, orange juice, lemon juice, brown sugar simple syrup, and maraschino cherry juice with ice. Strain into a lowball glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge and maraschino cherry.
Comments:
"This would slap with some pancakes." —Adam
"I'm not usually a whiskey fan, but this drink really spoke to me." —Alice
5.New England Iced Tea
Ingredients:
- 1.5 ounces vodka
- 1.5 ounces white rum
- 1 ounce tequila
- 1/2 ounce gin
- 1/2 ounce bourbon
- 1/2 cup iced tea
- 1/2 cup lemonade
- 1.5 cups Sprite (or other lemon-lime soda)
- lemon wedge
Directions:
Mix the liquors, iced tea, and lemonade in a pitcher and pour into highball glasses over ice. Top with Sprite and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Serves 2–4.
Comments:
"This drink has no right to be so good." —Niki
"Surprisingly great." —Niki, Adam, Joe, Ethan, Emily A., and Alice (aka everyone who tried it)
"I'm surprised this drink doesn't exist already." —Adam
"A couple of these and you'll be more than ready for a bar fight, as is New England tradition." —Alice
6.Off-Shore Slushie Fund
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces Malibu Caribbean Rum
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 cup mango (fresh or frozen)
- 1/4 cup peaches (fresh or frozen)
- 1/3 banana
Directions:
Put all the ingredients into a blender with a handful of ice cubes. Blend thoroughly and pour into highball glasses. Garnish with the fruit of your choice.
Serves 2–4.
Comments:
"I should drink smoothies more often." —Niki
"I should embezzle funds into off-shore accounts more often." —Alice, when I was under the influence of rum and had absolutely no intention of actually embezzling, so don't even try to come after me for a mediocre joke, Uncle Sam
7.Old Haunts
Ingredients:
- 1.5 ounces gin
- 1 lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 5 basil leaves
- 1/2 ounce simple syrup, optional
- club soda
Directions:
In a shaker, muddle the basil leaves before adding the gin, lime juice, and simple syrup. Shake with ice and strain into a lowball glass over ice. Top with club soda and a basil leaf for garnish.
Comments:
"Light and herbal." —Adam
"Refreshing!" —Alice
8.Picklebackwards Shot (inspired by this BuzzFeed taste test video)
Ingredients:
- 1 ounce vodka
- 1 ounce sour pickle juice
- 1/6 Kool Aid Tropical Punch powder packet
- 3–5 shakes of Tabasco Original Hot Sauce (based on how well you tolerate heat)
- Tajín Classic Seasoning
Directions:
Dip the rim of a lowball glass first into pickle juice, then Tajín. In a shaker, thoroughly mix all the ingredients with ice and strain into glass (ice optional).
Comments:
"It's a nightmare, but I kind of love it?" —Niki
"Way too much hot sauce." —Joe
"Not enough hot sauce." —Alice
"I'm glad I tried it, but I'm never drinking it again." —Adam
9.Tequila Sandstorm
Ingredients:
- 1.5 ounces tequila
- 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 2.5 tablespoons)
- 1 lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 ounce brown sugar simple syrup
- 3/4 cup Sprite (or other lemon-lime soda)
- kosher salt
Directions:
Run a lime wedge around the rim of a lowball glass and dip in kosher salt before placing 1–3 ice cubes in the glass. Pour the brown sugar simple syrup over the ice, followed by the tequila, lemon juice, and lime juice. Top off with Sprite.
Hint: To achieve the visual layering effect, pour each liquid into the glass over the back of an upside-down spoon or by using a swizzle stick.
Comments:
"This drink lives in a suburb of Margaritaville." —Joe
10.Them Good Old Boys Were Floating Root Beer And Rye
Ingredients:
- 2.5 ounces rye
- 1.5 cups root beer
- 1/2 ounce brown sugar simple syrup
- 1–2 scoops vanilla ice cream
Directions:
Pour the root beer into a high ball glass over ice, then slowly stir in the rye and brown sugar simple syrup. Top with ice cream.
Comments:
"Stewart's all grown up." —Adam
11.Tipsy Banana Split
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces rum (I used white rum, but use whichever kind you prefer)
- 2 ounces brown sugar simple syrup
- additional brown sugar as needed
- 4–6 scoops salted caramel ice cream (vanilla will also work)
- whipped cream
Directions:
Cut a banana in half the long way and soak in the rum and brown sugar simple syrup for 15–20 minutes. In a pan, slowly caramelize the banana over low heat (~20ish minutes), adding more brown sugar as needed and turning the banana over once halfway through.
When the banana is caramelized to your satisfaction and the remaining liquid in the pan reaches a syrupy consistency, transfer the two banana halves into two (ideally fancy) bowls. Top with a 2–3 scoops of ice cream, whipped cream, and the remaining caramelized syrup in the pan.
Serves 2–4.
Comments:
"If you only make one recipe on this list, make this!" —Niki
"God-tier." —Niki, Adam, Joe, and Alice
"So rich, Bernie Sanders would campaign against it." —Alice
"I'm only eating my ice cream like this from now on." —Adam
"Beware: That's a slow-ass banana." —Adam, describing the long-ish caramelization process in the weirdest possible way.
12.Turn On The AC (It's Berry, Berry Shot In Here)
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces gin
- 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 2.5 tablespoons)
- 1/4 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 can Sprite (or other lemon-lime soda)
Directions:
In a shaker, muddle the strawberries and blueberries before adding the gin and lemon juice. Shake thoroughly and strain into a highball glass over ice. Top with Sprite and a sliced strawberry for garnish.
Comments:
"This is berry, berry good." —Adam
"No seriously, this is amazing." —Alice
13.2AM Shift Change
Ingredients:
- 1/2 ounce vodka
- 2 ounces bourbon
- 2/3 cup cold brew
- chocolate sauce
- whipped cream
Directions:
Shake the vodka, bourbon, and cold brew with ice. Line the inner rim of whichever glass makes you feel fanciest with chocolate sauce before pouring in the strained drink. Top with whipped cream and more chocolate sauce.
Comments:
"It tastes like it could be the classiest drink special at TGI Fridays. In the best way." —Joe
A few drink-making tips:
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- Simple syrup is super easy to make! Just mix sugar and boiling water in a 1:1 ratio (ex, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water) and stir until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Let it cool, and voila! The simplest of syrups.
- If you don't have a muddler, just crush the ingredients in whatever way works best for you. If you have a mortar and pestle, that's a terrific replacement.
- Ditto a shaker and strainer. Use a large reusable water bottle or even a large to-go mug (with a tight lid!) to shake and a sieve or big spoon to strain.
- A lot of these drinks can be made to taste based on how strong, sweet, etc. your preferences are. Play around with them! With a few exceptions, these recipes are very forgiving.
- Far be it from me to suggest replacing coconut milk with the dreaded cow's milk (an abomination), but I've been told that you could use dairy milk in the milky drinks and they'll still taste good.
- All of these drinks work as mocktails, but you'll have to play around with them a bit to find your sweet spot. HOWEVER, beware of the Tipsy Banana Split — the rum doesn't burn off all the way in the caramelization process, so don't count on that if you make this for someone who shouldn't/can't consume alcohol.
Now go impress your friends with these new cocktail recipes!
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And again, please drink responsibly!
Thank you Niki, Adam, Joe, Emily M., Emily A., Ethan, and the Facebook commentariat for not pulling any punches! Your feedback helped these drinks soar from everyday-amazing to punch-you-in-the-face-incredible.
