Summer officially starts this weekend, which means you’re probably preparing for a ton of upcoming BBQ’s, pot lucks, and dinners outside. Us too. We host a lot of BBQ’s … almost every weekend. Well, when the world is open anyway. Right now, it’s just six-feet-apart driveway drinking (Side note: There are driveway drinker t-shirts now because of course there are). I try to vary what we cook and what our side dishes are when we do host company in the summer, which takes a lot of planning. And of course, we have to plan drinks. Because it’s not a backyard BBQ at this house without some simple summer cocktail recipes.
Simple is key.
In the summer, you just want to make a batch of something easy. And that’s it. You don’t want to slave over something complicated, and you certainly don’t want anything warm.
To make your life easier, we put together a list of 75+ Simple Summer Cocktail Recipes. You can try these easy summer drinks out now so that you have a few recipes ready for when we’re allowed to be social again.
We wanted to keep these really feeling summer-y, so almost all these cocktails have fruit, fruit juice, or fruit flavorings/syrups in them. Or cucumbers. I know, cucumber isn’t a fruit, but it just feels so summer-like, doesn’t it?
Maybe it’s something about relaxing with cucumbers on your eyes and that shiny, horrible for you, piece of foil that catches the sun and tans your chin.
I don’t know what that’s called, but I know you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Right?
No. Okay. Onto the list then for you while I head on to Google to find out the name of that thing.
(I found out it’s called a deep tan sun reflector after a deep dive into Google.)
75+ Simple Summer Cocktail Recipes
I’m breaking this into a few categories, so you can get to your favorite drink easily. There’s frozen cocktails, spiked sweet teas, lemonades, margaritas, martinis, mimosas, mojitos, sangrias, and then a long “others” category with everything else fruity and fun that didn’t fit into any of those other categories.
At the top of each category (with the exceptions of the frozen cocktails and the “other” category), you’ll get the basic recipe for that drink. Then click through the links before for variants of the recipe.
And, finally, I put the recipes in each category in alphabetical order because that just felt easier.
Frozen Summer Cocktails
Anything frozen, frothy, milkshake-y, or slushy falls into this category. Plus, isn’t that the perfect way to cool down on a hot day?
1. Frozen Bananas Foster Cocktail
7. Frozen Strawberry Basil Margaritas
8. Frozen Watermelon Margarita
9. Peanut Butter Whiskey Milkshake
12. Slushy Pineapple Rum Drink
13. Strawberry Creamsicle Cocktail
14. Strawberry Frose
15. Strawberry Prosecco Slushie
Spiked Sweet Teas
To make a spiked sweet tea, start with brewing tea, cooling it with ice, then add your favorite alcohol.
Sweet tea mixed with lemonade is an Arnold Palmer. If you add vodka to an Arnold Palmer, it’s called a John Daly.
True story.
16. Irish Whiskey Sweet Iced Tea
17. Strawberry Whiskey Sweet Tea
18. Sweet Tea Vodka Lemonade Mojitos
Summer Lemonades
You can juice your own lemons or use lemon juice to make lemonade. Then, add your liquors to make spiked lemonade.
19. Minty Raspberry-Lemonade Cocktail
22. Vodka and Mint Lemonade Cocktail
Summer Margaritas
Combine tequila, lime juice, and cointreau (or Grand Marnier) to make a margarita. Add fruit or fruit juice to make a summer margarita.
27. Fresh Strawberry Margarita
29. Mango Margarita
Summer Martinis
Martinis are gin and vermouth. They usually have an olive or lemon twist as a garnish. These summer martini recipes add a bit of summer fruit and flavors.
35. Strawberry Lemon Drop Martini
Summer Mimosas
Mimosas are champagne and a citrus juice, traditionally orange juice. So they’re summery by nature. These ones add a little twist on the orange juice portion.
Summer Mojitos
A mojito recipe is usually white rum, sugar, lime juice, soda water, and mint. Add a little twist to it with one of these summer mojito recipes.
39. Coconut Mojito
40. Cucumber Mojito
41. Mango Mojito
42. Raspberry Mojito
Summer Sangrias
Sangria is usually fruit mixed in wine, so it’s already summery. So definitely try one of these summer sangria recipes at your next party.
46. Mango Sangria
48. Pineapple Raspberry Sangria
51. Sweet Sangria
Other Summer Cocktails
Smash cocktails (which are basically a mint julep with whiskey), coladas, daiquiris, and more.
53. Blue Bomb Drink
54. Boozy Strawberry Watermelon Drink
57. Cucumber Melon Vodka Cocktail
58. Cucumber Watermelon Spatini
59. Gilligan’s Island Cocktail
61. Hawaiian Mai Tai
66. Peach and Blackberry Vodka Cocktail
67. Peach Bourbon Smash Cocktail
68. Pineapple Coconut Spritzer
69. Refreshing Berry Vodka Spritzer
Which of these refreshing summer cocktail recipes is your favorite? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
If you’re looking for more drink ideas, you can always find new recipes everywhere from Pinterest to cocktail books for your Kindle. What’s great about those options is they can be pulled up on a smart phone while you’re already in the kitchen.
Be sure to also pick up a cell phone holder so you don’t have to worry about holding a phone while you’re mixing — and you won’t worry about dropping your phone into your cocktail.
And if you’re looking for homemade summer drinks that are non-alcoholic, can I suggest our Watermelon Lemonade?