So it’s a hundred degrees outside and we’re melting into puddles of goop. Since we CANNOT let our painstakingly drawn winged liners melt into black puddles at our feet, we’ve had to come up with innovative ways to cool ourselves. So, because we are kind and generous and all we do is give give give, we’ve come up with 12 amazing summer cocktail recipes you need, to help deal with the godawful heat.
Since these drinks have varying levels and mixes of alcohol, they’re not all equally potent. So we’ve come up with our very own NLT scale. We have three levels.
- If the drink is smooth and will give you a lovely, soft buzz, then we’ll rate it “smooth like a baby’s bum.”
- If it makes the hair on your back stick up a bit and then slowly lead you into a steady buzz, then we’ll rate it “hair-raising.”
- And if it makes you wake up 3 days later with your head-shaved off and a face tattoo, then we have simply one word for it – “wicked.”
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Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s our list of absolutely amazing summer cocktail recipes that you NEED in your arsenal!
1. Mojito slushies
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- ½ cup fresh lime juice (that takes around 4-6 limes)
- ¼ cup agave
- ⅓ cup fresh mint leaves
- The zest of 2 limes
- ½ cup light rum (“light” huehuehue)
- A boatload of ice
- The prettiest sprigs of mint and lime wedges/slices for garnish
Directions:
You’ll need to bust out your blender for this babe. Throw in the lime juice, agave, mint leaves, lime zest, and rum into a blender and blend. Fill the blender up with ice, and blend some more until it’s all slushie and awesome. Pour into glasses, garnish with mint leaves and lime wedges, and drink away, you party animal. Oh yeah, you could also probably share it with any friends you might have called over…’cause we totally shared. We did NOT drink all of that mojito slushy on our own. Nope. As far as alcohol potency goes, this one is smooth like a baby’s bum. So it’s perfect for a Sunday brunch.
2. Frozen dark and stormy
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients (serves 2):
- 1 can of ginger beer
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger (yowza!)
- The juice of 1 lime
- 2 cups ice
- 4 oz dark rum (yeeeessssss)
Directions:
Blend everything (except the rum) together until smooth. Pour into 2 glasses and top it off with the rum (to get that gorgeous ombré look that’s happening in that picture). This cocktail packs a bit of a punch. On the NLT scale, it falls on “hair-raising.” This will buzz you up all nice and warm, but you’ll still be sober enough to dance sexy. This cocktail is best for a girl’s night out, since it’ll give you that nice warm fuzzy feeling without knocking you out cold after a couple of rounds. But the ginger will raise the hairs on the back of your neck alright!
3. Layered lemonade drops
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- 6 oz vodka (the better the vodka, the smoother the cocktail)
- 1 cup mango lemonade
- 1 cup pink lemonade blended with ½ cup of strawberries
- 1 cup regular lemonade (wow, that’s a lot of lemonade)
- 1 cup ice
Directions:
Fill the blender with a third of the vodka, the mango lemonade, and a third of the ice. Blend and set aside. Repeat the process, but replace the mango lemonade with pink lemonade first and then the normal lemonade. So you’ve ended up with 3 different lemonade-ice-vodka mixes. Chill each mixture. Pour each mixture in, one at a time, and chill the poured bits before pouring the following layer. First pour the mango lemonade, chill, then the strawberry one, chill, and then finally, the plain lemonade. We know this cocktail looks too pretty to drink but it is just as delicious, so chug chug chug! Actually, don’t chug. Thanks to the sheer amount of vodka we’ve used in this, this cocktail is definitely “wicked.” Make this for a girl’s night in AFTER you’ve hidden the scissors and the razors, so that nobody ends up with a shaved head the next morning!
4. Slushy margarita shots
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- 6 oz tequila (get the good kind, unless you want to burn a hole in your esophagus)
- 2 limes, juiced
- 2 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 cup ice, crushed in the blender
- 1 lime wedge
- Salt, for rimming the glasses
- Chopped strawberries, pineapple, blackberries, and raspberries, for the shots
Directions:
Blend the tequila, lime juice, agave nectar, and ice, together till the mixture is smooth and slushy. Rub a lime wedge along the rims of the glasses and dip the rims in salt to get that sexy salt-rimmed look (as in the picture). Fill separate glasses with chopped fruit and pour the tequila mixture into it. This cocktail too, packs quite the punch. It is fun and fruity and cold but it will warm you up like a turkey in an oven! So we’ll rate it as being “hair-raising.” This cocktail is excellent if you have guests over for a barbecue and want to show off your bartending skills (you know…the non-existent ones).
5. Raspberry limoncello prosecco
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- 3 cups prosecco, chilled
- 1 cup limoncello liqueur, chilled
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 6 sprigs fresh mint
Directions:
You don’t need your blender for this beauty. Simply take a large glass pitcher and whisk together the prosecco and the limoncello. Place a few raspberries in a glass and pour the prosecco mix over them. Garnish with mint leaves if you’d like to (for some extra freshness). This cocktail is “smooth like a baby’s bum.” It’s a great drink for brunches, or lunch with the family, or when you have your colleagues over. It’s soft, fresh, and incredibly tasty, and will not make anybody want to punch people or break things or dance like they have a bee in their pants!
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6. Orange splash
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Absolut Citron vodka
- 1 oz Cointreau or triple sec
- A splash of fresh lime juice
- A splash of orange juice
- Sugar, for garnish
- Orange slice, for garnish
Directions:
Pour all the ingredients over ice in a shaker, and shake like there’s not tomorrow. Shake that thang! Rim the glass with sugar and serve the cocktail on the rocks (over ice). Garnish with an orange slice (or more cocktail, if you know what I mean). This cocktail is also “smooth like a baby’s bum.” It’s refreshing and very healthy (it has vitamin C okay?!). It’s great for light brunch, or a summer barbecue with friends and family.
7. Jalapeno-spiked bourbon julep
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- Fresh mint leaves
- 1 oz Jalapeño Simple syrup
- Curshed ice
- 2 ½ oz bourbon
- Club soda
- Thinly slice jalapeño rounds
- For Jalapeño Simple syrup:
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 jalapeño peppers
Directions:
In a julep cup, pour the Jalapeño Simple syrup, add mint and gently bruise the leaves with a muddler or a wooden spoon. Add enough crushed ice to fill around two-thirds of the cup. Add bourbon and stir gently; then add a bit more crushed ice. Top it off with a splash of club soda. Garnish with mint sprig and jalapeño slices. In order to make the Jalapeño Simple syrup, put a small saucepan over high heat. In it, combine 1 cup of water, sugar, and jalapeños. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and let it steep for about 20 minutes. Strain the syrup; discard the jalapeños, and cool the syrup. (Simple syrup can be refrigerated, in an airtight container, for up to 6 months.)
We know it’s a lot of work for something that sounds like it might burn a hole in your throat. But it is soooo worth it! This cocktail is definitely “wicked.” If the bourbon wasn’t enough to strip you of any apprehensions you had about dancing like a lunatic, then the jalapeño will definitely do the trick. This drink is perfect for a night inside with your girlfriends or as a pre-drink for the raddest night of your life!
8. Pineapple tequila cooler
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 small pineapple
- ¼ small jalapeño
- ¾ cup anejo tequila
- ¾ cup blanco tequila
- The juice of 2 limes (approximately ¼ cup)
- 8 cups crushed ice
- The peel of a lime
Directions:
In a small pot over medium-high heat, bring ¾ cup water and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool. In a large pitcher, mash the pineapple and the jalapeño into a puree with a wooden spoon. Stir in the tequilas, the preserved simple syrup from the previous cocktail recipe, and lime juice. Fill each glass with a cup of crushed ice, and then pour in the cocktail. Rub each rim with a lime twist, and then add it to the cocktail. Once again, we know this cocktail needs a bit of hard work, but this “hair-raising” cocktail is definitely worth the time! The tequila adds a beautiful kick to the cocktail, which is further boosted by the jalapeño. The pineapple adds a refreshing and yummy touch to this amazing late-lunch cocktail!
9. Cranberry-basil spritzer
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- 1 cup water (wuss)
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup basil leaves
- 2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 1 litre chilled club soda
- 4 slices of lime
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- ½ cup basil leaves
Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the water and sugar to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add ½ cup basil leaves, remove pan from heat, and let steep for 20 minutes. Strain the syrup and let it cool for at least an hour. In a large pitcher, combine the syrup, the unsweetened cranberry juice, and fresh lime juice. Fill the pitcher with chilled club soda, then add lime slices, fresh cranberries, and the other ½ cup basil leaves. To serve, pour the spritzers over the ice, and top each with a little splash of club soda, and garnish with basil. This spritzer is “smooth like a baby’s bum.” It’s great for a hot summer day when you want to jump into a pool of ice to cool yourself down.
10. Mudslide
Image source: Pinterest
Ingredients:
- 1 oz vodka
- 1 oz kahlua
- 1 oz Bailey’s Irish Crème
- 1 oz milk/cream
- 1 cup ice
Directions:
Throw all the ingredients into the blender and blend it into this glorious cocktail! Line the glasses with chocolate syrup (totally optional), and pour in the cocktail! This summer cocktail is not as fresh and fruity as the others we’ve posted but this one is decadent and just mind-bogglingly delicious! We’d rate it as being “hair-raising” because after a couple of rounds, you’ll start getting pretttttty drunk! The chocolate-iness helps the buzz set in and kicks it into hyperactive mode! This one is definitely for a night out on the town!
11. Elderflower wine cocktail
Ingredients:
- 1 bottle Fumé Blanc
- 4 oz elderflower liqueur
- 4 oz vodka
- Fresh mint sprigs
- Ice
- Club soda
Directions:
In a large pitcher, combine the first 3 ingredients and refrigerate for about 1 hour. To serve, muddle a few mint leaves in each glass. Add ice, fill two-thirds with wine mixture, and top with club soda. Garnish with mint sprigs. This drink is incredibly posh and perfect for a Sunday brunch or a barbecue party! But don’t underestimate this deceptive-looking cocktail! It is pretty potent! In fact, we’ll rate it as “hair-raising” because the vodka and the wine combine to form an incredibly potent mixture that’ll have you singing and dancing like nobody’s watching, within minutes!
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12. Sweet tea sangria
Ingredients:
- 6 cup sweet tea
- 1 bottle of good white wine
- 2 cup raspberries
- 2 cup sliced peaches
- Fresh mint, for garnishing
Directions:
Mix the sweet tea and wine together in a large pitcher. Add fruit and chill for at least 2-3 hours. It’s best if you chill it for 8 hours or more. Serve the cocktail in pretty little glasses and garnish with the mint leaves! Sangria tends to be a rather mellow drink. This one is also s“smooth like a baby’s bum.” It is sweet, refreshing, smooth, and absolutely delicious! Sangrias are a brilliant choice for an intimate dinner or even lunch with friends. It’ll give you a soft happy buzz!
So that was our list of favorite summer cocktail recipes! Go ahead and try them out and slay the world with your magical bartending talents! However, always be careful when dealing with alcohol and drink responsibly. And most importantly, do not drink and drive; no matter how smooth the cocktail was or how many rounds you’ve actually had. Happy drinking!
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