5 easy and refreshing cocktails to make this summer
2021-01-15
Hit the bar cart this summer and try out these 5 summer cocktails!
Is there anything better on a hot summer day than a fresh and fruity cocktail to keep you cool and content?
Cultures the world over have contributed to the world of cocktails, with the classics including ingredients from mint to lemon and fresh fruit to wine.
Hit the bar cart this summer and try out these five summer cocktails that are guaranteed to keep you cool, tickle your tastebuds and impress your guests.
1. Pink Señorita
A pretty pink twist on a classic Margherita, the Pink Señorita is a fresh and fizzy cocktail perfect to impress on a girls night. The primary ingredients of pink lemonade and fresh lemon juice blend perfectly with tequila and triple sec. Pretty in pink indeed, with a Spanish name to boot!
Ingredients:
- Lemon wedge, for glass rim
- Coarse salt, for glass rim
- 2 cups ice
- 2 ¼ cups pink lemonade
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup triple sec
- 1 cup tequila
- 4 lemon slices, for garnish
How to make it:
- Rub a lemon wedge around the rim of four glasses, then dip rims into salt.
- Add ice, pink lemonade, lemon juice, triple sec, and tequila to each glass. Stir to combine.
- Garnish each glass with a lemon slice.
2. Blueberry Lemon Vodka Fizz
A summer fizz to die for, made with just three ingredients? This blueberry lemon vodka fizz recipe is quick, easy and absolutely mouth-watering, and looks fantastic when served up too. Berry-licious!
Ingredients:
- 2 oz vodka
- 1 can San Pellegrino limonata (available at various retailers across Australia)
- A handful of fresh blueberries
How to make it:
- Put a handful of blueberries in the bottom of your glass. Muddle the blueberries using a muddler or any fork or spoon. Just make sure they are properly mashed up.
- Pour the vodka in.
- Fill the glass with ice, and pour the limonata in to fill the glass.
- Garnish glass with lemon.
3. Spanish Sangria
It wouldn’t be a list from La Española Olive Oil without us sneaking our favourite Spanish cocktail onto the list! Sangria is a drink that dates back around 2000 years to when the Romans in Spain first created it. They invented the timeless red wine and fruit punch in a bid to kill off bacteria in the local water. And we couldn’t be more thankful!
Ingredients:
- 4 oranges
- 2 lemons
- 1 apple, unpeeled, core removed, diced
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup brandy
- 750ml bottle red wine (a good Shiraz, Cab Sav, Merlot or Rioja works best)
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- 750ml bottle soft drink (lemonade, soda water or ginger ale)
How to make it:
- Thinly slice one orange and one lemon. Cut each slice into small wedges and place in a large bowl.
- Add apple, cinnamon and brandy. Stir to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Classic Mojito
A classic cocktail that hails from Cuba, the mojito is an exotic, minty beverage that is guaranteed to pick you up on a hot summer afternoon! It is also another drink that was invented to curb diseases like scurvy and dysentery. Lime, mint and white rum really are a match made in cocktail heaven!
Ingredients:
- 45mL white rum
- 20mL sugar syrup
- 8 mint leaves
- 6 lime wedges
- Soda water, to top
- Fresh mint and lime wedges, to garnish
- Crushed ice
How to make it:
- Muddle mint leaves, lime wedges and sugar syrup in a tall glass.
- Add rum.
- Top with crushed ice and soda water.
- Stir well.
- Garnish with fresh mint and lime wedges.
5. Frozen strawberry daiquiri
If you love a slushie on a scorching summer day, you’ll love this recipe for frozen strawberry daiquiris. The daiquiri cocktail is another Cuban creation, and is sweet, subtle and sublime. Add in fresh strawberries, lots of ice and your blenders, and you have a taste explosion that will fast become your summer go-to refreshment.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups white rum
- ½ to ¾ cup fresh lime juice (approx 6 limes worth)
- ¼ to ⅓ cup simple syrup, amount dependent on your preferred sweetness (here’s a super simple recipe to make your own simple syrup with two pantry staples)
- 1 16-ounce package frozen strawberries
- 4 cups ice cubes
- Strawberries or lime for garnish
How to make it:
- Place the rum, ½ cup of the lime juice, ¼ cup of the simple syrup, strawberries, and ice cubes into a blender and pulse until completely blended and slushy.
- Check the consistency and flavor. Add more lime juice for more tartness or more simple syrup to sweeten, if needed. To make it slushier add more ice.
- Pour into glasses to serve. Garnish.
You can find these cocktail ingredients at our exclusive stockist in Australia, Coles Supermarkets. While you’re there, stock up on Spain’s oldest and most trusted olive oil, La Española.
