Summer Cocktails

The best summer drinks are full of flavor — they can be subtle, fruity, or just plain refreshing. Enjoy these alcohol-enhanced summer cocktails and drinks during parties, weekend cookouts, or while hanging out with a friend. Looking for some alcohol-free summer sips? Check out these
Watermelon-Tequila Cocktails

When watermelon is in abundance, this is a great way to use it. Bobby Flay purees seedless watermelon chunks, then strains the juice through a sieve and mixes it with silver tequila, sugar syrup, blueberries, mint and fresh lime juice.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
8 cups diced seedless watermelon (1 pound)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 3/4 cups blueberries
3/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, plus 8 sprigs for garnish
1 1/4 cups silver tequila
Ice

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a simmer with the sugar and stir over moderate heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute; let the sugar syrup cool.
 In a blender, puree the watermelon until smooth. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the watermelon juice, pressing gently on the solids to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the pulp.
 In a large pitcher, combine the sugar syrup with the lime juice, blueberries and mint leaves. Using a wooden spoon, lightly muddle the blueberries and mint. Add the watermelon juice and tequila. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
 Pour the cocktail into tall ice-filled glasses. Garnish with the mint sprigs and serve.

Tabernacle Crush

This light and refreshing cocktail is as reminiscent of the American South as it is of the South of France.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 large peach, sliced
6 small basil leaves, plus more for garnish
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 ounces gin
1 ounce Lillet
1/2 ounce simple syrup
Ice
Club soda
In a tall glass, muddle the peach with the 6 basil leaves and the lemon juice. Add the gin, Lillet and simple syrup. Add ice cubes and top with club soda. Garnish with basil.
Limoncello Collins

The Collins was most likely named after 19th-century bartender John Collins of London’s Limmer’s Hotel. The Tom Collins was originally made with Old Tom, a sweet style of gin that’s extremely hard to find today.
INGREDIENTS
16 ounces limoncello (lemon-flavored liqueur)
12 ounces gin
8 ounces fresh lemon juice
24 paper–thin lemon slices
Ice
16 ounces chilled club soda
8 mint sprigs

In a pitcher, combine the limoncello, gin and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours. Press 3 thin lemon slices against the inside of each of 8 collins glasses. Add ice to the glasses. Stir the limoncello mixture and pour it into the glasses. Stir 2 ounces of club soda into each drink and garnish with a mint sprig.
Colorado Cooler

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey is a distinctive small-batch whiskey made in Denver from 100 percent malted barley. The flavor is malty and slightly vanilla-y.
INGREDIENTS
1 ounce chilled club soda
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
3/4 ounce Simple Syrup
2 ounces malt whiskey, preferably Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey
Ice
2 dashes of celery bitters (optional)
4 cherries, preferably Rainier, pitted, plus 1 cherry for garnish
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the 4 pitted cherries. Add ice and all of the remaining ingredients except the club soda and garnish. Shake well. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass, stir in the club soda and garnish with a cherry.

Strawberry-Lemon Mojitos

Strawberries sweeten these mojitos from mixologist Joaquin Simo.
INGREDIENTS
8 lemon wedges
24 mint leaves, plus 4 mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)
4 strawberries, plus 2 halved strawberries, for garnish
Ice cubes, plus crushed ice
8 ounces gold or aged rum
3 ounces fresh lemon juice
2 ounces prepared sugarcane syrup or agave nectar
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the lemon wedges with the whole strawberries and mint leaves. Add ice and the rum, lemon juice and sugarcane syrup; shake well. Strain into crushed ice–filled highball glasses. Garnish with the berry halves and mint sprigs