25 Summer Cocktails to Make This Season

Strawberry Basil Lemonade — Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Warmer and longer days call for fruity tropical cocktails, poolside sippers, and recipes that make the most of seasonal produce like peaches, watermelons, and even tomatoes. These are the drinks you’ll want to sip throughout the summer.

Sweet Tea Smash

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Sweet tea is a summertime staple. This boozy take on the classic from New York City’s Please Don’t Tell combines unsweetened iced tea with Tennessee whiskey, the Italian liqueur Strega, sugar, lemon, and mint.

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Miami Vice

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

What happens when two of the world’s most popular frozen cocktails join each other in the same hurricane glass? This fruity, delicious rum drink, which layers together a Piña Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri.

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Mojito

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Cuba’s classic cocktail is a favorite at beach bars around the world, and it’s easy to see why: The refreshing mix of white rum, muddled mint leaves and sugar, lime juice, and club soda is a foolproof way to beat the heat.

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Boat House Punch

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Make this bubbly big-batch cocktail ahead of time for your summer gatherings. Julie Reiner, the owner of Brooklyn’s Clover Club, combines an oleo saccharum made from lemon peels and sugar with gin, Aperol, St-Germain liqueur, fresh citrus juices, and sparkling rosé.

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Absinthe Frappé

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

You don’t have to be a tortured artist to enjoy absinthe: The anise-flavored spirit is easy to throw back when combined with simple syrup, anisette, and soda water in this cooling cocktail.

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White Sangria

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This bright and bubbly punch includes dry white wine, Lillet blanc, peaches, apples, lemons, mint leaves, and club soda. Like all Sangrias, it’s riffable based on your ingredients.

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Averna Limonata

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Two-ingredient cocktails are perfect for no-fuss summer sipping. This low-ABV drink is slightly more complex than your poolside Vodka Tonic, thanks to the Italian amaro Averna and a high-quality lemon soda such as San Pellegrino.

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Piña Verde

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Bar pro Erick Castro created this herbaceous Piña Colada riff at his San Diego bar Polite Provisions in the early 2010s. The combination of cream of coconut, pineapple and lime juices, and green Chartreuse has since become a modern classic.

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Cheeky Peach

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Peach season calls for this fruity mix of vodka, peach schnapps, pineapple juice, simple syrup, Peychaud’s bitters, mint, and club soda. Served over crushed ice and garnished with mint leaves, it’s the ultimate summer sipper.

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Lemon Shandy

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Instead of cracking a cold one, mix up a tasty beer cocktail. Popularized in Europe in the early twentieth century, this equal-parts combination of lemonade and lager beer is practically made for warm-weather drinking.

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Tequila Mockingbird

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Heat up and cool down at the same time: This Spicy Margarita twist from New York City bartender Greg Seider combines muddled jalapeño and watermelon, silver tequila, lime juice, and agave syrup.

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Reggae Rum Punch

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Ian Burrell, also known as the Rum Ambassador, created this Rum Punch riff with a funky Jamaican overproof white rum, strawberry syrup, and a blend of fruit juices. Like the classic, it’s the perfect summer party drink.

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Bicicletta

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

If you’re an Aperol Spritz fan, consider another beloved Italian aperitivo. This simple three-part drink combines the slightly more bitter Campari, dry white wine, and sparkling water.

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Tomato Spritz

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Make the most of tomato season with this slightly savory spritz from Katana Kitten managing partner and “director of deliciousness” Masahiro Urushido: He combines both tomato water and a cherry tomato shrub with gin, extra-dry vermouth, club soda, and prosecco.

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Daiquiri

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Allegedly invented in the Cuban town of the same name in 1898 by an American engineer, the Daiquiri made its way stateside when a U.S. Navy officer brought the recipe to Washington, D.C. Although it has often fallen victim to slushy machines over the years, the original combination of light rum, lime juice, and sugar is bright, balanced, and delicious.

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Por Mi Amante

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Two dashes of Tabasco add an unexpected kick to this fruity cocktail, which also calls for strawberry-infused rum and a strawberry demerara syrup. Bonus: You can save the strawberry syrup for other summer sippers.

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Mai Tai

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

This famous Tiki cocktail’s name translates to “the best—out of this world,” in Tahitian, which is supposedly what the first person to try one cried out. One sip and you’ll believe the story: The combination of white and dark rums, orange curaçao, lime juice, and orgeat is irresistible.

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Summer Tonic

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Think beyond your Gin and Vodka Tonics: This bittersweet rum-based cocktail combines Mount Gay rum, Bordiga Bitter Rosso amaro, lemon juice, and tonic water.

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Bay Breeze

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This 1980s favorite is as easy to make as it is to drink: Build it right in the glass with vodka and pineapple and cranberry juices.

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Across the Pacific

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Like its name implies, this drink from New York City bartender Meghan Dorman evokes the tropics with two dark rums, lime juice, and orgeat, with the Italian amaro Averna lending its bittersweet complexity.

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Gin Buck

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

The classic Buck formula includes a spirit, citrus, and either ginger ale or ginger beer, meaning you’ve tried one if you’ve ever sipped a Moscow Mule or Dark ‘n Stormy. The Gin Buck, of course, swaps vodka or rum for the botanical spirit.

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Cucumber, Basil & Lime Gimlet

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Turn the bounty from your summer garden into a thirst-quenching drink. This Gimlet variation includes vodka, muddled cucumbers and basil leaves, lemonade, and lime juice.

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Island Oasis

Tyler Zielinski

This drink from cocktail educator and consultant Jena Ellenwood lives up to its name: A fruity mix of aged rum, coconut water, pineapple juice, and a homemade pineapple shrub will indeed transport you to the tropics.

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Bahama Mama

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

This mid century cocktail resembles many other tropical drinks, thanks to its blend of coconut rum, dark overproof rum, and pineapple and lemon juices. But a coffee liqueur such as Kahlúa adds unexpected depth to the mix.

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Continue to 25 of 25 below.
Strawberry Basil Lemonade

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

If summer brings back memories of lemonade stands, mix up a grown-up twist on the classic. Gin, muddled strawberries and basil, lemonade, and club soda produce a drink that’s just as delightful as the original.

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25 Cocktails to Make This Summer