Summer Cocktail Recipes to Soothe the Heat

By Jennifer Shanteau

Now that summer has finally graced us with its presence, its time to celebrate its long awaited arrival with simple Summer Cocktail Recipes. I don’t know about you, but to me, rum and summer go hand in hand, and when I think “rum”, the first cocktail that comes to mind is the Mojito. It’s light, minty, refreshing and effervescent, everything you want in a Summer Cocktail Recipe, and it couldn’t be easier to create.

All you need is, Rum, mint, lime, sugar and seltzer. If you’re like me, you have all of these ingredients except the mint in your kitchen already, so one quick trip to the nearest produce store, and you’re in business.

Step one, muddle a few fresh mint leaves and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Use fine, white sugar. None of this Sugar in the Raw business here. Muddling will release the essential oils in the fresh mint, and allow the fragrance and flavor to come through. If you don’t have a dedicated muddler, like I do, just use a wooden spoon or anything that can get the job done.

Step two, add ice, 1 1/2 ounces of rum and 1 ounce of fresh lime juice, stir, then top with seltzer. Seriously, that’s it. You’re finished. How easy was that?

Typically, Mojitos are made with light rum, but I tweaked the classic cocktail recipe by using Diplomatico dark rum instead, and frankly, I like it both ways. If you don’t happen to have lime and seltzer on hand, don’t despair. With just rum, mint and simple syrup, you have a Rum Julep. If all you have have is cola, lime and rum, you’ve got yourself a Cuba Libre. Rum is just so versatile.

Here’s a concoction I came up with on my very own, dark rum, grenadine and seltzer. Just mix to taste and garnish with mint. After an intense Google search to try to find the name of this new libation, the closest I came was the Shark’s Tooth, (an appropriate name for a summer cocktail), which is comprised of all the afore mentioned ingredients, but with the addition of lime and lemon juice. Not only is this drink easy to make and delicious, but its pretty, too.

If those weren’t enough to get your summer party started, here’s one more for you, the Hurricane: shake together 2 ounces of light rum, 2 ounces of dark rum, 2 ounces of Passion Fruit Juice, 1 ounce of Orange Juice, the juice of half a lime, 1 Tablespoon of Simple Syrup, 1 Tablespoon of Grenadine, and garnish with an orange slice and a cherry. Now take a sip, close your eyes, and pretend you’re in a tropical paradise.

As you can see, there are so many options when it comes to simple summer cocktail recipes. You can’t go wrong with rum. Experiment with something new this summer, who knows where it will lead you.