Summer season is cocktail season. Here are some of the best cocktail recipes to get you started.
There is nothing like lounging in the sun, drink in your hand, not a care in the world. But, you should be drinking the right drink. If you’re going to live your best life, you should be drinking the best drinks. A nice cold cocktail is a perfect companion for your summertime fun.
While the avant-garde end of cocktails can get complicated, all these classics are easy to make at home. Unless otherwise noted, each recipe is for a single drink so scale up as necessary.
General Cocktail Tips
Before diving in, let’s go over a few things.
The quality of your cocktails is (up to a point) directly in proportion to the quality of your ingredients. You can make a margarita with cheap tequila, but your head will not thank you the next day. On the other hand, you absolutely shouldn’t make a margarita with a good sipping mezcal—you’re wasting it! For most cocktails, you’ll get the best result with a decent premium liquor—the kind of thing you see decent bars making cocktails with.
While you can make cocktails with any gear, a proper shaker makes things easier. Similarly, a jigger for measuring pours goes a long way towards keeping your cocktails consistent. A set like this has pretty much everything you need for the cocktails on this list, though you will also need a blender if you want to make frozen cocktails.
And, of course, while alcohol is legal and fun almost everywhere, it is a drug that’s regularly abused. Drink responsibly. Cocktails tend to be pretty potent (and their sweetness often masks how strong they are) so be extra careful not to have one too many.
Classic Daiquiri
The classic daiquiri is one of my all-time favorite drinks. It’s one of the simplest cocktails possible—just rum, sugar syrup, and lime juice—but owe how it works with the sour limes offset by the sweet sugar and rum.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz white rum
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz simple sugar syrup
- Lime
