Summer Sips and Spirits – Tasty Lake-Inspired Cocktails

Article co-written by LakeHomes.com intern Sam Harvey

Get your sweet summer sip on with these fun and fruity lake-inspired cocktails!

Summer Sangria with Watermelon and Pineapple

This simple, delicious summer sangria is crisp and refreshing, exactly what you need after a relaxing day of sunbathing by the lake. (Serves 4-6.)

Photo Courtesy of What the Fork Food Blog

Ingredients:

  • 1 bottle of Moscato (750 ml)
  • 1 cup brandy
  • 1 lime, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups fresh watermelon cubes, chilled
  • 2 cups fresh pineapple cubes, chilled
  • Lemon Lime soda, for serving

 Directions:

Prepare your sangria by first combining the wine and brandy in a large pitcher, and stir.

Next add the majority of the lime wheels, watermelon cubes, and fresh pineapple.

Place the remaining fruit pieces in the bottoms of your guests’ drinking glasses, and fill with ice.

Pour your finished sangria over ice, and top with lemon-lime soda for a little extra pop.

Serve!

Courtesy of: What the Fork

Mermaid Lemonade

Mermaids may be the stuff of tall tales, but this lovely, thirst-quenching lemonade definitely measures up to the myths. (Serves 4.)

Photo Courtesy of Ethan Calabrese

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup blue curacao
  • 1 cup white rum
  • Lemonade
  • 1 lemon, thinly sliced
  • Maraschino cherries, for garnish

 Directions:

For a fun drink that is as visually refreshing as it is delicious, first fill each of your glasses halfway with ice, then pour in a splash of blue curacao. 

Add 1/4 cup of rum, then top with more ice. 

Add lemonade, then garnish with a lemon slice and two cherries.

Courtesy of: delish.com

Grilled Peach Whiskey Smash

A southern-inspired indulgence, this fancy treat is sure to impress your guests this lake season.

Ingredients:

  • 1 small peach (or ½ of a large peach), pitted and quartered
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 2 fresh basil leaves (or 4 fresh mint leaves)
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 2 oz bourbon
  • 3 oz club soda, chilled

Directions:

For a warm, smoky flavor, place the peach and lemon slices on the grill and cook, covered, until golden brown, turning once. 

Combine the peaches and lemons, basil (or mint) and honey in a cocktail shaker. 

Muddle — crush and stir– the fruits and herbs to release their juices and aromas. 

Pour the bourbon and mixture over ice, cover and shake for 10 to 20 seconds. 

Strain your cocktail over a fresh glass of ice, and top with club soda before serving.  

Courtesy of: Better Homes & Gardens

Meyer Lemon Shandy

Pucker up for this summer classic combination. (Serves 4.)

Photo Courtesy of Lori Yates Photography

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 2 cups cold water
  • 3 Meyer lemons, juiced
  • 4 12-oz bottles of wheat beer

Directions:

Begin by bringing the sugar and the ½-cup of water to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until dissolved. 

Let the mixture cool, then transfer the sugar-water to a pitcher and place in the refrigerator to chill into a syrup.

Combine this chilled syrup with fresh lemon juice, and add 2 cups of water. 

Stir lemonade into one bottle of beer in a chilled pint glass. 

Courtesy of: Foxes Love Lemons

For more taste bud-approved sips and spirits, check out these “5 Delicious Cocktails to Enjoy All Summer Long.”

5 Amazing Summer Cocktail Recipes

What is a summer get together with no cocktails? There are many different types of cocktails, but here are five of the tastiest summer cocktails that are sure to please any guest!

MojitoMojito Perfecto

Ingredients:

  • 6 Leave of Mint
  • 4 tsp. of White Sugar
  • 1 Lime – Cut to 6 Wedges
  • 2 -1.5 Ounce Jiggers – Lemon Flavored Rum
  • 1 Cup of Ice Cubes
  • ½ Cup of Carbonated Water

Directions:

Put 3 of the mint leaves and 2 teaspoons of sugar in glasses.

Stir them vigorously.

Crushing the mint with the spoon, add 3 lime wedges into each glass.

Stir vigorously.

Pour 1 jigger of the rum into each of the glasses.

Fill the glasses with ice, and then top it with carbonated water.

Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Lemon Drop

Ingredients:

  • 4 Ounces of Lemon Juice
  • 2 Ounces of Vodka
  • 1 tsp. of White Sugar
  • Crushed Ice
  • 1 Sliced Lemon
  • 4 Fresh Mint Sprigs

Directions:

In a mixing glass, combine vodka, lemon juice and the sugar.

Stir it, and then pour it into glasses that are filled with ice.

Garnish the glasses with the slices of lemon and a sprig of mint.

Daiquiri Cocktail

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ Ounces of Light Rum
  • 1 Tbsp. of Triple Sec
  • 1 ½ Ounces of Lime Juice
  • 1 tsp. of White Sugar
  • 1 Cup of Crushed Ice
  • 1 Maraschino Cherry

Directions:

Combine the rum, lime juice, triple sec and the ice in a food processor or blender.

Add in 1 cup of ice; blend it until it’s smooth.

Pour it in the Champagne flute.

Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Bikini Martini 

Ingredients:

  • 1 Ounce of Coconut Rum
  • ¾ Ounce of Vodka
  • 1 Ounce of Pineapple Juice
  • 1Dash of Grenadine Syrup

Directions:

Combine the vodka, rum and pineapple juice in a shaker.

Shake it until it is frothy.

Pour it into a martini glass.

Add in a touch of the grenadine to the middle.

Garnish it with an orange wheel.

Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Easy Bloody Mary

Ingredients:

  • 3 Cups of Bloddy Mary Mix
  • 1 Tbsp. of Horseradish
  • 1 tsp. of Fresh Dill
  • 1 tsp. of Pepper Sauce – Franks Redhot
  • 2 Tbsp. of Dill Pickle Juice
  • ½ Cup of Salt
  • 1 tsp. of Black Pepper
  • 1 tsp. of Celery Seed
  • 1 Lime – Juiced
  • 6 – 1.5 Ounce Jiggers of Vodka
  • 6 Dill Pickle Spears
  • 1 Lime – Cut to Wedges

Directions:

In a pitcher stir in the Bloody Mary mix, dill, horseradish, hot sauce and the dill pickle juice. Taste and adjust your seasoning to your liking.

In a shallow type dish, stir in the salt, celery seed and pepper.

Pour in the lime juice into a saucer. Dip each glass in it.

Fill each of the glasses with ice and pour in one shot of the vodka.

Fill it with the Bloody Mary mix and then garnish it with a wedge of the lime and a pickle.