Wine is always refreshing, but sometimes a wine lover just needs a cocktail. What’s this summer’s go-to drink? Take a look at these cool cocktails to beat the summer heat with unique and flavorful ingredients ranging from lychee juice to blackberries.
Cool cocktails to beat the summer heat. Featured image courtesy of Pixabay [public domain].
Cool Cocktails to Beat the Summer Heat
Baby, it’s hot outside, and yes, refreshing and crisp wine is always a good choice in the summer. But sometimes, you just need cool cocktails to beat the summer heat, right?
There are always new ingredients and methods popping up when it comes to cocktails, this year, ingredients like activated charcoal and cloves are coming into fashion. This summer, go ahead and reach for refreshing Campari and fresh juices, from mango and lychee to pumpkin. Here are all the cocktail recipes you’ll need to while away the warm days ahead. You’re welcome!
The Bitter Mai-Tai
The Bitter Mai-Tai, compliments of Amanti Vino in Montclair
“The Bitter Mai-Tai is the drink that I will be using to quench my thirst all summer long,” says Wesley Kirk, Sales Manager at Amanti Vino in Montclair. “It’s low alcohol and super refreshing. I took this picture where I first had it at Dear Irving, made by bartender Sarah Morrissey. It rocks!”
The Bitter Mai-Tai
1.5 oz. Campari
.5 oz. Jamaican rum
.5 oz. Dry Curaçao
.75 oz. fresh lime juice
.5 oz. orgeat
Combine ingredients with ice in a shaker and shake to chill. Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with mint.
History of Mai-Tai: Victor J. Bergeron claimed to have invented the Mai Tai in 1944 at his Trader Vic’s restaurant in California. Of course, Trader Vic’s rival, Don the Beachcomber, chimed in with his claim to have created the Mai-Tai in 1933 at his then-new bar named for himself (later a famous restaurant) in Hollywood.
Where did you taste your first Mai-Tai? My first Mai-Tai sip was in Honolulu, which of course lead to several more.
BURG’s Two Seasonal Summer Drinks to New Jersey
Mix pumpkin juice, soda, bitters, and Jim Beam, and you have the first of the BURG’s seasonal summer drinks.
For the tequila drinkers out there, how about adding lychee juice? A tropical and subtropical nutritious fruit, the lychee grows wild in regions of Southern China and Southeast Asia. With bright red rough skin and clear, and single brown seed, its whitish flesh is sweet with a very peculiar taste and looks to match. The juice can be bought in Asian food stores and is hard to substitute.
BURG, a New Jersey restaurant, created these 2 unique summer drinks: Brick City and New Ark.
Brick City
1.5 oz Jim Beam Black Bourbon
1.5 oz pumpkin juice
1.5 oz club soda
2 dashes orange bitters
Shake and strain into an old-fashioned glass with ice. Garnish with a 1/4 orange wheel.
New Ark
1.5 oz El Jimador Tequila
.5 oz Triple Sec
1.25 oz lychee juice
.5 oz lime juice
1 oz coconut water
Shake and pour into high ball glass. Garnish with lime wheel.
Prefer someone else to do the mixing? BURG introduced the BURG Garden,a 100-seat patio to Newark’s beautifully restored Military Park. With the added outdoor space comes a new menu of seasonal cocktails paying homage to NJ’s biggest city. Cheers!
Cuba Cool: Mango Mojito
Mango Mojito brings a new level by adding the tropical flavor and vitamin-rich benefits of fresh mango. Photo courtesy: Strip House at Westminster Hotel
Havana, Cuba, is the birthplace of the Mojito, although the exact origin of this classic cocktail is the debated amongst cocktail scholars around the world (and likely while sipping mojitos). Cuba is on my travel bucket list, and hopefully I’ll make it there soon. Meanwhile, why not bring the taste of Cuba to your home with this twist on the classic mojito.
Recipe courtesy of Strip House at Westminster Hotel, the Mango Mojito brings a new level by adding the tropical flavor and vitamin-rich benefits of fresh mango. Salud!
Mango Mojito
3 oz mango
6 fresh mint leaves
1 tsp sugar
2 oz rum
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T club soda
Muddle mango, mint, and sugar in a glass. Add ice, rum, lemon juice, and soda. Stir and garnish with a mint leaf.
The Amelia and Blackberries
There’s so much to love about this cocktail by Ho-Ho-Kus Inn & Tavern head bartender Caitlyn Ritz. The gorgeous color. The fresh blackberries. Not to mention two of our favorite spirits. Take a picture before you sip, it’s that pretty.
The Amelia
1.5 oz Grey Goose vodka
.5 oz St. Germain
1 oz fresh lemon juice
4 muddled blackberries
blackberries for garnish
Muddle blackberries with lemon and St. Germain. Add ice and vodka. Shake and strain into martini glass.
