The 5 Summer Cocktails You Need to Know
The unofficial commencement of summer cocktail season kicks off this weekend as we celebrate Memorial Day. During cooler months I’ll usually have a Manhattan – a cocktail rich in depth and flavor, but too heavy for the hot and sunny days ahead. It’s time to restock the bar and prepare for some warm weather drink staples.
I’m not generally inclined toward summer cocktails, which tend to be a bit on the fruity side, but there are a few that are fantastic. Besides, having several in the arsenal to make for your family and friends in a heat wave is a must.
My general rule for cocktails is that they can’t be too complicated; three, maybe four, ingredients, and none of them too obscure.
If you don’t already have a good setup for making cocktails, here are the basics tools I’d recommend you have.
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Cocktail Essentials
Cocktail Shaker Set
This has all of the basics – a jigger for measuring quantities, a classic Boston shaker, a barspoon, a Hawthorne strainer, and a couple other items. For ~$30, this is a great setup.
Mixing Glass
Some stirred drinks are easier in a mixing glass. Same with making multiple batches of stirred drinks. I’d suggest getting one if you plan on making cocktails with any regularity.
Ice Molds
For less than $10, you can get two ice molds to make spherical and square cubes. If you plan on making a lot of highball cocktails, you could bite the bullet and buy molds to make long cubes, too.
Glassware
Ideally, you’ll have at least rocks glasses and highball glasses. Last year, we bought a combined set of each in acrylic so we could do cocktails on the patio without fear of broken glass.
If you want actual glass for your glassware, go for it. If you want to trade in one of your children and splurge on something special, look no further than Norlan Glass – they have my favorite rocks glass and an awesome highball glass to match.
Bar Mat
If you are making one-off cocktails for yourself, skip on this. If you like to host and are planning some cocktails for gatherings, get a bar mat to look cool and avoid messes.
If nothing else, make sure you’ve got the main items in the above shaker set and a decent set of glasses. That should be enough to get you started.
Enough prep, time to make some drinks. Here are my go-to summer cocktails for 2022.
The Negroni
The Negroni was my first experience with Campari. And if you’ve never had Campari before, the bitterness can be quite… surprising.
I reluctantly gave the Negroni a second try, then a third. And then, I was hooked. The Negroni has become my second favorite cocktail, and probably my most consumed.
It is a simple, equal-parts recipe with just three ingredients, so you don’t need to worry about messing anything up.
1 oz gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
Pour ingredients into a rocks glass over a large ice cube
Stir gently for 20-30 seconds until chilled
Optionally, garnish with an orange peel
The Classic Daiquiri
This is not your sugary, frozen, touristy beach drink that might come to mind when you hear “daiquiri.” This is the classic: a straight-forward sour recipe (2 parts liquor, 1 part sweetener, 1 part citrus) that may be the ultimate summer cocktail.
In a weak moment or when the temperature and humidity numbers both start with a 9, this is a drink that I’ll reach for.
2 oz white rum
1 oz simple syrup
1 oz lime juice
Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake 20 seconds
Strain into coupe, Martini, or rocks glass
Garnish with lime wheel
The Simple Paloma
Most people don’t realize it, but the Margarita isn’t the national cocktail of Mexico. That designation would go to the Paloma, the Margarita’s bubbly cousin.
I include the word “Simple” in this Paloma recipe because some call for fresh squeezed grapefruit juice which is, by definition, inconvenient. My version calls for grapefruit soda (e.g., Squirt, Fresca, etc.) instead.
2 oz tequila blanco
½ oz lime juice
Grapefruit soda
Fill highball glass with crushed ice
Pour in lime juice, then tequila
Top with soda and stir gently
Garnish with lime wheel
The Perfect Margarita
If I’m going to include the Paloma, I must also share my Margarita recipe. It’s my wife’s favorite, is a quintessential summer cocktail, and is a highly debated recipe to begin with.
Why such a contentious cocktail? Because sweeteners abound. Simple syrup? Cointreau? Agave nectar? Some combination? And what about rimming the glass? Salt? Sugar? Nothing?
There are just so many hills to die on. After rigorous testing (i.e., making and trying lots of margs with my wife), the “perfect” recipe is as follows.
2 oz tequila blanco
1 oz lime juice
¾ oz simple syrup
¼ oz triple sec (ideally Cointreau)
Optionally, rim Margarita glass or rocks glass with salt or sugar
Pour ingredients into cocktail shaker with ice and shake 20 seconds
Strain into glass
Garnish with lime wedge
Aperol Spritz
The Aperol Spritz competes hard for the title of “My Favorite Summer Cocktail” with the Negroni. The benefit of the Spritz is that it is highly versatile.
First, the Spritz can hold its own at brunch, right next to the Mimosa. Bubbly wine has a way of making a cocktail seem permissible in the morning.
Likewise, the Aperol Spritz can sit atop a pool deck beneath a thatch roof cabana. That’s a good spot to be as a cocktail.
It is also worth noting a third place you could find an Aperol Spritz: anywhere in Italy upon completion of the workday. This is truly a summer cocktail worth having in your playbook.
Aperol
Prosecco
Pour ingredients 1-to-1 in a wine glass filled with ice
Stir gently for 15-20 seconds
Garnish with an orange slice
You can get a short-hand version of each of these recipes on my Recipe page where you can print them off.
There are a thousand summer cocktails you can learn to make, and a dozen variations of each. I’m just not a fancy guy, and I like being able to commit my cocktail recipes to memory so I keep it simple.
Now, it is your turn. Get your equipment, get your ingredients, and get mixing. Summer is calling.
What are your go-to summer cocktails? Anything else you’d put in your top 5? Send me your thoughts at michael@theothermichaeljordan.com. I hope to hear from you.
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