With much of the world suffering from record-setting temperatures this summer, a good cocktail might be just the thing to help cool us down. Ten of our travel writers share their favorite summer cocktails—simple and simply delicious—with you.
Oaxacan Burro
Nothing says summertime like paying a visit to Georgia’s Whiskey Project. Located in Roswell, just outside of Atlanta, the restaurant and bar is certainly known for whiskey, but if that’s not your drink of choice, there’s an array of cocktails with gin, tequila, vodka, or rum that await you. My pick? The Oaxacan Burro. Featuring vida mezcal, domain de canton, fresh ginger, lime, agave, and sparkling water, this is an ideal, mellow libation with some bite (thanks to the ginger) and refreshing taste (from the lime). It’s just what you need to accompany you for a hot and humid evening in the South, or anywhere.
Daiquiri
When it comes to my favorite summer cocktail, the choice is an easy one for me because that libation also happens to be my favorite year round drink—the daiquiri. Falling into the “sour” category of mixed drinks, the recipe is simple—two ounces of rum, one ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice and three quarters of an ounce of simple syrup. Combine the ingredients into a shaker with ice, shake until chilled and double strain into a coupe glass. Don’t skimp on the ingredients, especially the rum. I prefer 3 Stars white rum from Plantation, but go with your own favorite and consider your summer officially refreshed.
~Tom Westerhof, https://beachbarbums.com/
High Tide
What better way to celebrate summer than to stare out at the ocean while sipping a refreshing rum drink. I recently discovered a new cocktail at the King and Prince Resort on St. Simons Island in Georgia’s Golden Isles. It’s called High Tide and made with Rum Haven, Southern Comfort, vodka, and fresh fruit juices. I prefer pineapple for the fruit juice but many others would taste great also. (You could use Malibu Rum or any coconut rum if you don’t have Rum Haven.)
~Kathleen Walls, https://americanroads.net
Italian Greyhound
My new favorite summer cocktail is the Italian Greyhound, a notch above an Aperol Spritz and it works as a make-ahead pitcher drink. Combine 2 parts grapefruit vodka to one part each Aperol and pink grapefruit juice in a pitcher. When ready to serve, pour over ice with a splash of grapefruit soda and rosemary sprig. Enjoy!
~Lian Dolan, www.liandolan.com
Prosecco & Limoncello Spritz
Let me be honest. I’m not a big drinker. Sure, I like a glass of wine once in awhile, but more often than not, I stick to Ginger Lime Coke Zero. When I’m in Italy, I usually order a Prosecco or a spritz of some sort, and my favorite is a mix of Prosecco and limoncello. There’s no method to the madness. Just pour a bit of limoncello in your glass, top it with ice-cold Prosecco, and garnish it with a few raspberries or lemon slices. Cin! Cin!
~Christine Cutler, https://coldpastaandredwine.com/
The Sweaty Ginger
The name is not pretty, but the drink is refreshing and elegant with a nod to Ernest Hemingway. When I brought home a bottle of Papa’s Pilar 24 Dark Rum from Key West last summer, I asked mixologist Katie Braton of Turners Bar & Kitchen in Leesburg, Florida, to create a cocktail using the brand, which was launched seven years ago. Katie put her signature twist on a “Dark & Stormy,” the national cocktail of Bermuda, and came up with “The Sweaty Ginger,” using fresh ginger and ginger beer.
2 oz. Papa’s Pilar 24 Dark Rum
Juice from half a lime
Dime-size crushed fresh ginger
2 dashes Angostura bitters
3 oz. Goslings ginger beer
Directions: In a tumbler, muddle ginger and lime. Fill with ice and add rum. Lightly shake. Add ginger beer and bitters. Strain into either a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lime wheel.
~Mary Ann DeSantis, www.maryanndesantis.com
A Summer Brunch Cocktail – Canadian Style
This summer, look to O Canada and re-style the classic Bloody Mary brunch offering by serving Caesar cocktails. The Calgary Inn in Alberta lays claim to creating the country’s new signature cocktail, one that replaces tomato juice with Clamato juice.
celery salt
lime wedge
2 oz. vodka
6 oz. Clamato Juice
2 – 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 – 3 dashes Tabasco sauce
1/8 tsp. creamed horseradish
juice from ½ lime
Directions: Spread celery salt onto a plate. Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a highball glass, and then dip the glass into the celery salt. Fill the glass with one-third ice. Place the rest of ingredients into the glass and stir well. Recipe makes one serving. Have fun with the garnish – celery rib, pickled green beans, olives, bacon, pickles, pearl onions, herbs, etc.
~Linda Stewart, http://life-uncorked.com/
Basiltini
Think summer, and I want a refreshingly tangy drink. This one comes from Outer Banks Distillery where they make amazing Kill Devil Rum.
1 oz. Kill Devil Silver Rum
1/2 Squeezed Lime
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
2 oz. Squeezed Grapefruit Juice
4 Muddled Basil Leaves
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin with ice, shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a basil leaf.
~Linda Milks, https://toastingfoodwinetravel.com
The Maracuyito
The Maracuyito is a Mexican drink and a mixology delight made from top shelf mezcal, passionfruit and citrus punch. It’s perfect for the Mexican heat. Served in a tajín-rimmed (chili, lime, salt) glass jar, it’s refreshing, delicious, and so smooth that you line up for another before you realize it. It’s a Mexican-Caribbean blend on the island of Cozumel where I’m living. (Cozumel is off the Yucatán Peninsula coast in southeastern Mexico in the Caribbean.)
~Bel Woodhouse, https://www.thetravelbag.guru
A Glass of Rose
MY summer cocktail of choice is not a cocktail, but a glass (or two) of rose’. I like rose’ as it’s summer in a glass—perfect afternoon sippin’ wine. I recently enjoyed a rose’ wine tasting at The Farmer and the Vine, located in Langley on Whidbey Island, where I’ve lived since 1975.
~ Sue Frause, http://eatplaysleep.suefrause.com
