Perfect Sips

Cool seasonal libations to help you spritz, splash and surf your way through summer

“Idrink upon occasion and sometimes I drink upon no occasion,” declared literary icon Don Quixote, the title character of Cervantes’ classic 17th-century novel. That seems as reasonable an approach as any, especially in these times, for navigating our treasured and leisured way through post-lockdown summer season. And if any season demanded reason for a splash or spritz of indulgent liquefaction, then surely it’s this one. Here are three of our favourites among the coolest, most quaffable and thirst-quenching summer cocktails.

One of the iconic summer cocktails is the Cuban mojito – from Havana to be exact. This perfectly balanced libation of lime, rum and fresh mint maximises the season’s herbs. It’s not only the perfect summer concoction, but one that will get you dreaming of the sea and surf in the deep, dark solitude of winter nights, too.

30ml (1 ounce) lime juice 60ml (2 ounces) white rum 120ml (½ cup) soda water 15ml (½ ounce) maple syrup

4g (1 tsp) fine sugar

3 mint leaves, plus additional for garnish

The Italian neo-realist cinema and sunglasses-clad drink of choice, the spritz Veneziano was invented in the 19th century as a way of watering down wine to make it more palatable for delicate constitutions, while the Aperol Spritz became a cocktail du jour from the glamorous 1950s onwards. As bright as sunlight and bittersweet as orange today, the contemporary drink’s success relies on using the best-quality prosecco to mix with the Aperol – and serving it as chilled as possible.

60ml (2 ounces) Aperol, chilled 90ml (3 ounces) prosecco or other sparkling wine, chilled

30ml (1 ounce) soda water

Ice

Orange slices (for garnish)

No cocktail exudes aesthetic credentials in quite the way this summer classic does. Yet the drink, much like the spirit it’s based on, is simplicity itself – tequila, grenadine (a pomegranate-based liqueur) and orange juice. Created in the 1930s, the drink originally used crème de cassis, lime and soda water up until the 1970s, when the present-day libation was reborn. Concocting the vivid layers of colour in the glass, which resemble the summer sunrise, is more than enough to whet the appetite; it’s Instagram in a glass.

60ml (2 ounces) tequila 120ml (½ cup) orange juice 22ml (¾ ounce) grenadine syrup Ice Cocktail cherry (for garnish)