It’s Memorial Day weekend, which means you’ve likely got at least a few barbecues, pool parties, or other celebrations on your schedule. Rather than kick your summer off sipping the same old cocktails, why not spice up the season with something new?
We put together a collection of exciting new drink recipes that are bound to get the party started right, and will be perfect to have in your arsenal for the rest of summer.
Red, Red Rita
Sauza Tequila’s Red, Red Rita cocktail offers a delicious balance of blood orange juice, lime juice, simple syrup and fresh orange. Just the color of this thing has us mesmerized.
Ingredients
1 part Sauza® Signature Blue Silver Tequila
1 part blood orange juice
1/2 part lime juice
1/2 part simple syrup
1 blood orange wheel
Instructions: Add ingredients to an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain over ice into a margarita glass. Garnish with a blood orange wheel.
Spring Green
Who can resist a cocktail with a few bubbles? This one by Prosecco DOC pairs the wine with apple and pear juice. It’s just like sipping on summer on a glass.
Ingredients
2 oz. Prosecco DOC
2.5 oz. pear and apple juice
.3 oz. Midori
.3 oz. simple syrup
Instructions: In a glass or pitcher filled with ice, pour juice, midori and simple syrup. Mix well and pour into glasses until one third full and top with Prosecco.
Glow Sangria
Who says a Memorial Day cocktail needs to be red, white, and blue? Vinq’s Glow Shimmery Liqueur gives this one a distinctive celebratory look of its own.
Ingredients
1.5 oz. of Viniq Glow
1 oz. of lime juice
½ oz. of orange liqueur
2 oz. of white wine
5 blueberries
½ to 1 cup of ice
Instructions: Chill all ingredients for 2 hours prior to serving. In a serving glass add Viniq Glow, lime juice, orange liqueur, white wine, blueberries and ice. Stir mixture. Garnish with lime slice. Serve in a punch bowl and old fashioned glass.
Watermelon Refresher
Skinnygirl Cocktails’ Watermelon Refresher cocktail offers a cool combination of watermelon juice, lemonade and fresh watermelon, perfect for those afternoons by the pool.
Ingredients
1 ½ parts Skinnygirl® Cucumber Vodka
1 ½ parts lemonade
1 ½ parts watermelon juice
Thyme or watermelon for garnish
Instructions: Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice. Pour mixture into a tall glass, add garnish and enjoy!
Berry American
Smirnoff is starting summer with a new limited-edition version of its vodka: Smirnoff Red, White, & Berry. It’s a mix of cherry, citrus, and blue raspberry that will definitely give your average vodka soda a bit of a twist. Take the drink up a notch by adding some muddled blackberries in this recipe.
Ingredients
1.5 oz. SMIRNOFF™ Red, White & Berry
3 oz. lemon-lime soda
Muddled blackberries
Instructions: In a Collins glass, muddle blackberries with ice. Add 1.5 oz. SMIRNOFF™ Red, White & Berry and stir. Top with 3 oz. lemon-lime soda. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Pineapple Fizz
Prosecco DOC’s Pineapple Fizz is simple enough anyone can make it, and delicious enough you’ll want to be making them all afternoon.
Ingredients
4 oz. Prosecco DOC
1 oz. Pineapple juice
1 oz. Elderflower liqueur
Pineapple chunk for garnish
Instructions: Combine ingredients and serve in a flute glass, garnish with pineapple.