Warm weather has arrived, and summer is in full swing! Welcome the sunny season and prep for summer shindigs with these must-try cocktail recipes.
Liquor
Whip up just about any cocktail with this variety of liquor recommendations from our very own local Berkshire Mountain Distillers.
Round out your liquor selection with a great scotch and Tequila. BMD recommends Macallan Scotch and Casamigos Blanco Tequila.
Cucumber Fizz
2 slices of thickly cut cucumber
1½ oz Ice Glen Vodka
½ oz St. Germain
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup*
Soda water
Cucumber slice, mint or lemon
-Muddle cucumber and lemon.
-Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice.
-Top with soda water. Garnish with a cucumber slice, mint or lemon.
*Simple syrup is optional. Try making one without it and add if desired.
French 75
1 oz Greylock or Ethereal Gin
¾ oz Simple syrup
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Champagne
Lemon twist
-Shake all ingredients (except champagne) with ice and strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top with champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Strawberry Ginger Highball
1½ oz Ragged Mountain Rum
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
¾ oz Simple Syrup
2 fresh strawberries
2 Slices of ginger
Ginger beer
-Muddle one strawberry and one slice of ginger in mixing glass.
-Shake remaining ingredients (except ginger beer) with ice and strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice.
-Top with ginger beer. Garnish with strawberry and mint.
Vodka Thyme Lemonade from Jean Georges – Annie’s favorite summertime cocktail!
3 Lemon Wedges
Granulated Sugar
2 oz Ice Glen Vodka (Jean Georges used Ketel One Citroen but we love it with BMD Vodka).
2 oz Lemon-Thyme Syrup*
1 Splash Club Soda
1 Sprig Fresh Thyme, preferably lemon thyme
-Run 1 lemon wedge over the rim of a 12 oz highball glass; dip the rim into sugar. Reserve the lemon wedge.
-Put the remaining 2 lemon wedges in a cocktail shaker. Muddle hard, breaking the lemon skins to release their oils. Add Syrup, Vodka and Ice. Cover and shake.
-Pour the mixture into the sugar-rimmed highball glass, lemon wedges and all.
-Top off with club soda, the squeeze the reserved lemon wedge over before dropping it into the glass. Garnish with the thyme sprig and serve immediately.
*Lemon-Thyme Syrup (Makes 1 cup)
¾ cup sugar
1 small bunch fresh thyme, preferably lemon thyme (1/2 ounce)
-In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup water and the sugar to boiling, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the thyme, remove from the heat, and let stand until cool. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
If you need something cute to keep all of your cocktail necessities organized, we highly suggest getting a stylish bar cart!
Which cocktails will you be in enjoying this summer? Sound off in the comments below!