Nothing says summer quite like sipping great cocktails in the sun. Explore our refreshing, easy summer cocktail recipes to take after-work drinks to the next level, while avoiding those rip-off watered-down woo woos.
Doing Dry January or prefer alcohol-free cocktails? Check out our refreshing mocktail recipes!
Great summer cocktail recipes for this summer
Whether you’re looking for fizzy and fruity or temptingly tropical, our refreshing summer cocktail ideas will transport your taste buds to palm trees and sandy beaches. Even if you’re sipping them on a drizzly grey afternoon in Manchester.
But first, let’s settle a few quick and easy debates…
What is the best alcoholic drink in the summer?
That’s like asking who’s your favourite child or which Shrek movie is the best. It doesn’t matter – they’re all good!
We’re a firm believer of horses for courses and choosing your own boozing, but if we had to pick the best summer cocktail recipes, we’d probably go with (… drumroll please) something refreshingly fruity, ice-cold and easy to make.
There’s something oddly disturbing about the thought of slurping on a mulled wine or Bailey’s in the sunshine. Kind of like watching someone fly a kite at night. Or smiling on the London underground.
Certain drinks are associated with certain weather and times of the year. And fruity, refreshing drinks are to summer what woolly hats and mittens are to winter. Or what Michael Bublé is to Christmas.
Which drink is good for hot weather?
The best drink in hot weather is water, that goes without saying. But hot drinks like tea and coffee are also proven to keep your body cool in the scorching heat.
It’s important to stay hydrated when sipping on your favourite summer cocktails. This can go a long way towards easing the next day’s inevitable hangover, especially if you stock up on delicious, fresh natural spring water.
Outside of hydration, if you’re looking for thirst-quenching, summery alcoholic drinks, you might want to try spirits that combine well with:
- • Fruit juice
- • Sparkling water
- • Naturally delicious cordials
- • Zesty and tropical drinks like diet pineappleade, lemonade and orange crush
Fortunately for you (and the planet), our green milkround delivers all of these in return-and-reuse glass bottles!
What are the most popular summer cocktail recipes
According to Just Eat, the UK’s most popular cocktails are:
- 1. Espresso Martini
- 2. Mojito
- 3. Pina Colada
- 4. Sex on the Beach
- 5. Long Island Iced Tea
- 6. White Russian
- 7. Frozen Margarita
- 8. Strawberry Daiquiri
- 9. Vodka Martini
The same league table revealed that vodka, gin and rum are the best summer spirits.
Done with the cocktail schtick and ready to get the next (milk)round in? Stop clutching at straws and check out our favourite summer cocktail recipes below!
Vodka summer cocktail recipes
Vodka was once prescribed as medicine in certain parts of the world. Still to this day, it’s just the tonic for a hot day in the sun. Here are some of the best, most timeless vodka cocktails for summer…
White Russian
As a milkround, it would be sacrilege to start anywhere else…
Ingredients:
- • 60ml vodka
- • 120ml of milk
- • x2 tablespoons of coffee liquor
- • Ice cubes
Recipe:
- 1. Shake your ingredients together in a cocktail mixer
- 2. Plop some ice cubes in a glass
- 3. Pour your cocktail mix over the top.
Summer Woo Woo
The cocktail so nice they named it twice.
Ingredients:
- • 50ml vodka
- • 25ml peach schnapps
- • 100ml cranberry juice
- • x1 lime wedge
- • Ice
Recipe:
- 1. Mix together all of your ingredients in a cocktail shaker
- 2. Strain into a tumbler
- 3. Add your ice and garnish with a lime wedge
Vodka Lemonade
Vodka lemonades are the unsung heroes of the cocktail world. Don’t believe us? Try this recipe…
Ingredients:
- • 50ml vodka
- • 125ml lemonade
- • x1 lemon wedge
- • Ice
Recipe:
- 1. Pour your lemonade into a glass and mix in the vodka
- 2. Add your ice and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Tropical gin summer cocktail recipes
It’s beGINning to look a lot like summer! Did you know, gin was actually invented in Holland way back in the 17th century? Here are some of our favourite tropical gin cocktail recipes to ensure your summer’s filled with Dutch courage.
Apple Elderflower Cocktail
Can’t decide if you love summer or autumn the most? This cocktail captures the magic of both seasons.
Ingredients:
- • 250ml gin
- • 200ml Belvoir elderflower cordial
- • 1L apple juice
Method:
- 1. In a pitcher, stir the gin and elderflower cordial together
- 2. When ready to serve, pour the gin and cordial into eight servings and top up with the apple juice
- 3. Add ice for an extra refreshing drink.
Refreshing rum summer cocktail recipes
You can’t spell summer without rum!
Dark and Stormy Cocktail
Wanna beat the heat? Pretend you’re a pirate on the high seas or a moody heroine with a mysterious past by trying this easy-to-make cocktail recipe.
Ingredients:
- • 60ml dark rum
- • 90ml Belvoir ginger beer
- • 15ml lime juice
Method:
- 1. Fill a glass with ice cubes
- 2. Pour in ginger beer and lime juice
- 3. Stir together
- 4. Garnish with a wedge of lime
Pina Colada
Pina coladas aren’t just for getting caught in the rain. They’re even better in the sunshine!
Ingredients:
- • 60ml of white rum
- • Ice cubes
- • 60ml of coconut cream
- • 120ml of pineappleade
Method:
- 1. Chuck all the ingredients into a blender
- 2. Mix until smooth
- 3. Pour into a tall glass
Minty Fresh Mojito
A classic tropical beach cocktail brimming with cool, zesty, minty freshness!
Ingredients:
- • x1 teaspoon of sugar
- • 60ml white rum
- • Crushed ice
- • x5 mint leaves
- • The juice of a fresh lime
Method:
- 1. Crush your mint with a pestle and mortar and juice your lime
- 2. Mix the lime juice, sugar and crushed mint leaves in a glass
- 3. Stir in the rum
Whiskey summer cocktail recipes
Making cocktails without recipes is whiskey business. But luckily, we’ve got plenty of refreshing whiskey recipes to keep your spirits high throughout the summer.
Old Fashioned Summer
An old fashioned is the pinnacle of refreshing coolness, especially with our summery twist on the classic cocktail.
Ingredients:
- • x1 teaspoon of honey
- • x1 teaspoon of sugar
- • 50ml of bourbon
- • Orange peel
- • Orange zest
- • Ice (use crushed ice if you want your drink to stay cool for longer)
- • A sprig of fresh rosemary or thyme
Method:
- 1. Zest and peel your orange
- 2. Mix together your bourbon, orange zest, honey, sugar and crushed ice in a tumbler
- 3. Garnish with your orange peel and fresh herbs.
Whiskey Sour
Fed up with shelling out on expensive, overrated cocktails at your local? Have a crack at making a summer-themed whiskey sour with our farm-fresh eggs.
Ingredients:
- • 50ml of bourbon
- • ½ fresh egg white
- • The juice of one lemon
- • x1 teaspoon of sugar
- • Ice
- • The zest of half a lemon
Method:
- 1. Juice and zest your lemon
- 2. Mix all the ingredients (except the lemon zest) in a cocktail shaker
- 3. Pour into a glass
- 4. Squeeze the lemon zest in your hand over the glass, before discarding. This gives it an added summery zing.
Extra waste-saving tip: Once you’ve cracked your eggs, remember to compost the eggshells.
Tequila summer cocktail recipes
A spirit invented in the heart of Mexico is always destined for sunshine.
Mouthwatering Margarita
No summer is complete without a margarita or two. Or three. Or four…
Ingredients:
- • 50ml of tequila
- • Ice
- • 20ml triple sec
- • 25ml of lime juice
- • Salt
Method:
- 1. Dip your lime wedge in salt and smudge it across the rim of the glass
- 2. Mix your ice, triple sec, lime juice and tequila in a cocktail shaker
- 3. Strain the mixture into your limey, salty glass.
Mexican Mule
Our Mexican Mule recipe’s got quite the kick!
Ingredients:
- • 50ml tequila
- • 15ml lime juice
- • 25ml ginger beer
Method:
- 1. Combine all your ingredients in a glass
- 2. Garnish with mint and/or lime peel (optional).
Frozen cocktail recipes
Slush it to the limit with the ultimate summer cocktails! That’s right, we’ve saved the best till last. Sit back, relax and let it go with our range of frozen cocktail recipes*.
*Hats off to all the parents and hard-core Disney fans who got that pun.
Frozen Pimm’s Cocktail
Pimm’s. Strawberries. Wimbledon. The three pillars of British summer. And we assure you, this slush cocktail recipe is absolutely ace.
Ingredients:
- • 50ml of Pimm’s
- • 100ml of ginger beer or lemonade
- • x1 strawberries (sliced)
- • ½ apple (sliced)
- • x3 cucumber slices
- • x2 scoops of lemon sorbet
- • 20ml tonic water
- • A handful of mint
Method:
- 1. Pour your Pimm’s and lemonade or ginger beer into a glass
- 2. Add your cucumber, apple and strawberry slices
- 3. Add two scoops of lemon sorbet
- 4. Garnish with mint and top up with tonic water.
Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri
The Daiquiri is one of Britain’s favourite tipples. And with this frozen cocktail recipe, it’s easy to see why.
Ingredients:
- • 500g strawberries
- • 200g ice
- • 100ml rum
- • The juice of half a lime
Method:
- 1. Blend your strawberries with ice, rum and lime juice
- 2. Pour into two glasses
Frozen Gin and Tonic Cocktail
This frozen gin cocktail will make those hot summer days an absolute breeze.
Ingredients:
- • 200ml gin
- • 500ml tonic water
- • x1 slice of lemon
Method:
- 1. Mix together your gin and tonic
- 2. Pour the mixture into a freezable container
- 3. Every hour or so, remove the container and break up the ice with a fork, before placing back in the freezer
- 4. After six hours, remove the slush cocktail and pour into six glasses.
Raise a glass for the planet
Red cup parties may look like fun in American Pie, but all that single-use plastic is a nightmare for the environment.
According to 2022’s Big Plastic Count study, 88% of plastic waste is incinerated, landfilled or shipped overseas.
Next time you’re arranging a summer BBQ or cracking open the cocktail shaker, check out the range of mixers and drinks you can buy in return-and-reuse glass bottles. You may still get a hangover, but the planet won’t!
Try more eco-friendly summer cocktail recipes
Looking for more sustainable summer drinks and dishes? Look no further:
- • Summer mocktails
- • Plastic free ice pops
- • Summer fruit salad recipe
- • Zero waste cocktail recipes
- • Veggie and vegan BBQ ideas
- • Plastic free picnic recipes
- • Roasted mediterranean veggies
- • Fajita recipe
Join our milkorund
Join us on our mission to reduce waste and protect the planet from single-use plastics by signing up for our sustainable doorstep milk delivery service. We want to show the world just how easy it is to shop sustainably by delivering a range of waste free products from independent suppliers directly to your door up to three times a week.
Get started now by placing at least one repeat order with us, choosing the delivery dates that best suit you, and our milkies will be around with your orders before you know it!
