Summertime and the Drinking is Easy

It's Memorial Day weekend! Summer is officially on! Break out the calypso records! Make the potato salad! Turn on the sprinkler! Put on the sandals, sundresses, shorts! It's time for weekend barbecues and long evenings sipping cool refreshing cocktails. Ladies and gentlemen, start your blenders!

First, let's give a salute and raise a glass in toast to the armed forces. 

Submariner
What you'll need:
2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz. Rum
1 1/2 oz. Spiced Rum
1/2 oz. Midori
1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
Ice
Cherry for garnish

How you'll build it:
Add all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and martini shake.  Strain into an iced filled glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Navy Grog 
What you'll need:

1/2 oz. Light Rum
1/2 oz. Gold Rum
1/2 oz. Dark Rum
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
1 oz. Grapefruit Juice
1 oz. Orange Juice
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
Ice
Collins glass
Orange Wedge and Pineapple for garnish



How you'll build it:

Fill Collins glass with ice. Add all liquors to ice filled glass.  Add juices. Pour contents of glass into a shaker and roll to blend. Return contents including ice to Collins glass. Garnish with a orange wedge and pineapple.

Army Special
What you'll need:

1 oz. Vodka

1 oz. Gin 
1 1/2 oz. Rose's Lime Juice
Ice
Rocks glass

How you'll build it:
Pour vodka, Gin and Rose's lime juice into glass, and top up with crushed ice.



There are loads of summer cocktails. Fruity, fizzy, chilled, sparkling and refreshing are the benchmarks of a summer cocktail. I like the classics: Long Island Iced Tea, Madras, Sea Breeze, Cape Cod, Daiquiri, Whiskey Sour, Tom Collins, Tequila Sunrise, Slo Gin Fizz, Vodka Lemonade, Gin and Tonic. Broader spectrum, anything made with Midori®, Curaçao, sour mix, lime juice, cherry juice, cranberry juice, grenadine or lemonade. Anything that requires ice and a blender.

Orange and pineapple juices are heavier, pulpier juices which, if not chilled to nearly frozen, can get syrupy and not as refreshing as their lighter juice cousins. When mixing with orange and pineapple juice in summer I like to add a carbonated ingredient to dilute the the juice. Chilled carbonation also adds a refreshing aspect to the drink. I tend to avoid them on the super hot, humid summer days. 

Here then, are all the drink ideas you'll need to drink your way from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Any drink that does not contain carbonation can be made Slurpee® style. You'll need a blender. But other than that the recipes are the same. One glass full of ice = enough ice to make a glass full of a frozen beverage. Just add a glass full of ice and the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth but not liquid. Note that typically frozen drinks are not served with a garnish.

Tom Collins
What you'll need:
1 oz. Gin
Sour Mix*
Soda Water
Ice
Cherry and/or orange for garnish
Collins glass

How you'll build it:
Fill Collins glass with ice.  Add gin. Add equal parts sour mix and soda. Garnish with cherry and/or orange.

*If you can procure pre-made Tom Collins mix, replace Sour Mix with Tom Collins mix.


Whiskey Sour
What you'll need:
1 oz. Whiskey
Sour Mix*
Ice
Cherry for garnish
Rocks glass

How you'll build it:
Fill rocks glass with ice.  Add sour whiskey and sour mix. Pour all contents, including ice, into shaker. Martini shake. Return contents to glass (strain if serving straight up). Garnish with cherry.


Sloe Gin Fizz
What you'll need:
1 oz. Sloe Gin*
Sour Mix
Soda Water
Ice
Cherry and/or orange for garnish
Collins glass

How you'll build it:
Fill Collins glass with ice.  Add sloe gin. Add equal parts sour mix and soda. Garnish with cherry and/or orange.

*Sloe gin is not a brand of gin, it is a type of gin. Regular gin is made from juniper berries. Sloe gin is made with sloe berries which impart a fruitier flavor than juniper berries. If you make a Sloe Gin Fizz with regular gin, you're making a Tom Collins.

Tequila Sunrise

What you'll need:
1 oz. Tequila
Orange Juice*
1/2 oz. Grenadine
Ice
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add tequila. Fill with orange juice to almost full. Add grenadine float. Garnish with a cherry.

*If made with grapefruit juice it's called a Tequila Sunset.

Long Island Iced Tea
What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Gin
1/2 oz. Rum
1/2 oz. Tequila
1/2 oz. Sour Mix
Coke
Ice
Lemon for garnish
Collins glass

How you'll build it:
Fill Collins glass with ice.  Add vodka, gin, rum and tequila. Add equal parts sour mix and Coke. Garnish with lemon wedge.



Madras

What you'll need:
1 oz. Vodka
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka. Add equal parts orange and cranberry juice. A Madras is not supposed to be garnished. Some bars feel a need to garnish every drink, but, if you're a purist, this is one drink that should be served garnish free. A splash of club soda adds a zesty zip on humid summer days.


Cape Cod

What you'll need:
1 oz. Vodka
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Lime wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka. Add cranberry juice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Sea Breeze

What you'll need:
1 oz. Vodka
Grapefruit Juice
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Lime wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka. Add equal parts grapefruit and cranberry juice. No garnish.

Bay Breeze

What you'll need:
1 oz. Vodka
Pineapple Juice
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Pineapple or lime wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka. Add equal parts pineapple and cranberry juice. Garnish with a lime or pineapple.

Sex on the Beach

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Peach Schnapps
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Orange wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka and peach schnapps. Add cranberry and orange juices. Garnish with an orange wedge.

Sand in Your Shorts

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Chambord
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Peach Schnapps
1/2 oz. Midori
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Sour Mix
Ice
Cherry and/or orange wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill Collins glass with ice.  Add liquors to a shaker and gently roll to blend. Pour over ice in glass. Add equal parts orange juice, cranberry juice and sour mix. Garnish with a cherry and/or orange wedge.

Frozen Bikini
What you'll need:
2 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Peach schnapps
2 oz. Orange Juice
3 oz. Peach Nectar
splash of lemon juice
1 oz. Champagne

How you'll build it:
Fill blender with ice and blend and everything except champagne.  Pour into a chilled glass and top with champagne.



This next drink is one of my favorites to drink and make, but I hate ordering it.

Sloe Comfortable Screw

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Sloe Gin
1/2 oz. Southern Comfort
Orange JuiceIce
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add sloe gin and Southern Comfort. Fill remainder of glass with orange juice. I like to pour ingredients into a shaker and roll to thoroughly blend. Garnish with cherry.

*This is a great example of the juice getting too syrupy. Southern Comfort is a blend and is a bit heavy on its own. Added with orange juice this drink can get real heavy on a hot day. Reducing the amount of orange juice and adding club soda or 7 Up solves the syrupy problem.

Melon Ball

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Midori
Orange Juice Ice
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka and Midori®. Fill remainder of glass with orange juice. I like to pour ingredients into a shaker and roll to thoroughly blend. Garnish with cherry.

Watermelon

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Midori
Cranberry Juice Ice
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka and Midori®. Fill remainder of glass with cranberry juice. I like to pour ingredients into a shaker and roll to thoroughly blend. Garnish with cherry.


Cherry Lime Flip

What you'll need:
1 1/4 oz. Cherry Vodka
1/4 oz. Lime Juice
3/4 oz. Lime Syrup
1/4 oz. Grenadine
7 oz. Sprite
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka and Midori®. Fill remainder of glass with cranberry juice. I like to pour ingredients into a shaker and roll to thoroughly blend. Garnish with cherry.