Cool Summer Drinks

"Garnish with a pineapple leaf, an umbrella, a lounge chair, the sun and a pool," say the founders of Mean Mule, the KC distillery that concocted this crazy-easy summer drink.

Piña Piña Colada

Sangria is usually made with red wine, but white just says summer, doesn't it? Choose an affordable light and dry variety, such as Spanish Albariño, Portuguese Vinho Verde or Sauvignon Blanc. 

Watermelon-Lime Sangria recipe

Imagine a refreshing cross between a bloody mary and a beer. That's a michelada. Our version is inspired by the TJ Red Michelada served at Taco Joint in Chicago.

Michelada 

The fastest way to downgrade a margarita (or any drink) isn't cheap tequila; it's bottled lime juice. Dig out that squeezer and pull up your sleeves. It's worth it.

Frozen Strawberry-Mango Margarita

We raided both the fruit bowl and the liquor cabinet for this sparkling make-ahead party drink, marrying citrus and stone fruits with brandy, orange liqueur and rose wine. (You can use either a sweet wine, such as White Zinfandel, or a more dry variety, like a French or Spanish import.)

Rosy Stone Fruit Sangria

Mixology doesn't get any easier than this! Whip out this easy version of a classic Mexican cocktail for Cinco de Mayo, or just your average Taco Tuesday. The recipe comes from Kansas City's Mean Mule Distilling Co.

Paloma

This lemonade calls for less sugar than most recipes and tastes just enough like cream soda to make you smile. The recipe comes from The Watkins Company, a 151-year-old spice and extract company in Minnesota.

Sparkling Vanilla Lemonade recipe.

Puree berries, peaches or mangoes to make vibrant "syrups" for swirling with ice cream and sparkling water. (Or skip the ice cream to make refreshing fresh-fruit sodas.)

Fresh-Fruit Ice Cream Sodas

Once you have the method down, you can improvise aguas frescas with almost any soft fruit.

Any-Fruit Agua Fresca

Canned apricot nectar is the easy, fruity sweetener in this refreshing summer sipper.

Apricot-Mint Tea

This water tastes just like drinking a strawberry — with no colors, flavorings or added sugar.

Next time you cook with strawberries, skip hulling (carefully excising the leaves and cores with the tip of a paring knife), and just slice the tops right of, catching a big of fruit with the leaves. (Make sure the strawberries have been well-washed.) From there, the method isn't too scientific: Put a cup of water (or so ) of the strawbery tops in a quart (or so) of water in the refrigerator for a couple of hours (or up to overnight). Then strain it. The result: all-natural, rosy-hued, strawberry-flavored water. For a twist, add sprigs of mint or basil along with the strawberry tops. 

Using Darjeeling tea imparts floral notes beyond what you find in ordinary black tea, which makes it a more interesting base for this refreshing, honey-laced drink. Keep the punch virgin, or add a tablespoon of vodka, gin or bourbon to each glass.

Honeyed Lemonade Tea Punch

Here's a new take on a summer staple, lemonade. Combine homemade lemon syrup with watermelon juice and serve with fun Kiwi Cubes or Watermelon Cubes (or with regular ice cubes). You can also use the watermelon-lemonade mix as the base for a Watermelon Martini.

Watermelon Lemonade

A little bit of honey sweetens a refreshing mixture of pineapple or orange juice blended with strawberries, mango and banana.

Strawberry and Mango Smoothies

Berry-flavored carbonated water and fresh mango and strawberries with a hint of lime juice give this slushy drink recipe plenty of sweetness without added sugar.

Berry-Mango Slush

Garden flavor infuses this refreshing make-ahead white wine cocktail.

Cucumber White Sangria

Have you heard of limoncello? You can make the classic Italian liqueur with almost any citrus fruit. (Only lime doesn't work.) Serve the chilled liqueur with sparkling water, sip it chilled alongside chocolate truffles or try drizzling it over strawberries for a boozy pound cake topper.

Citrus Liqueur

Brew this refreshing drink with green, ginkgo or ginseng tea mixed with honey. When the liquid cools, stir in your choice of fruit juices, such as orange or tangerine and lemon or lime. Add assorted fresh fruit and plain or flavored sparkling water just before serving.

Green Tea Soda

David Fries, an amateur barbecue competitor from the Twin Cities, loves to serve this refreshing and subtly spicy margarita at family cookouts.

Cucumber Habanero Margaritas 

This fizzy pink drink is a kid-friendly, real-fruit alternative to bottled pop. For an adults-only version, add two tablespoons of rum, tequila or citrus-infused vodka to each serving or 1 to 1 1/4 cups to the batch.

Sparkling Berry Lemonade

Think of this recipe as a flexible formula for making boozy, fruity milk shakes. Substitute black raspberry or peach cooler, or make with lime sherbet and lime wine cooler.

Caribbean Milk Shake

Cucumbers add a fresh take to a traditional summer-cocktail favorite. Just blend with tequila and triple sec and serve in a salt-rimmed glass and garnish with a lime, if you’d like.

Lime and Cucumberita

Blend spiced coffee with chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla or coffee ice cream for a smooth drink that's served like a milk shake. Garnish with whipped cream, chocolate curls, a sprinkle of cocoa powder or a chocolate-covered espresso bean.

Spiced Coffee and Cream Sipper

Mix mint syrup with fresh lemon and lime juice for this zesty lemonade alternative. Our recipe also tells you how to use the blend to make Fizzy Frisky Whiskey.

Mint Lemonade

It's no wonder people love smoothies. Not only are they great-tasting, but they're good for you, too. Try this one with a sliced strawberry garnish.

Sunrise Smoothie

Traditionally, this sweet drink is made by soaking rice (and sometimes blanched almonds, too) overnight in water, then pureeing and straining the mixture. We kept the seductively sweet, authentic taste, but skipped the drawn-out process. Our shortcut version uses purchased rice milk, and we could barely tell it apart from the real deal in side-by-side tests.

Horchata

Perfect for entertaining, this dessert-in-a-glass can be made with mixed berries rather than just raspberries, if you prefer.  

Raspberry Cheesecake Shake

You don't have to set aside hot cocoa comfort in the summer just because the temperature climbs. We mixed up a cocoa concentrate, then added ice, flavorings and whipped topping or ice cream to create a comfort cooler.

Iced Cocoa

Frozen limeade, grapefruit juice and orange juice make a low-calorie mocktail that tastes like a margarita without the alcohol. Add salt or sugar to the rim and garnish with a lime wedge for the full effect.

Mock Margarita

Choose from peaches or strawberries and rum or orange juice for this chiller. Then rev up your blender. Our recipe includes variations with and without alcohol.

Summer Fruit Daiquiris

The coffee-chocolate blend in this drink is refreshingly cool, especially when topped with scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. The amounts we give will make about 10 individual floats.

Mocha Floats

This quick-and-easy blender drink, from the Michigan Cherry Committee, combines cherries, milk, yogurt, blueberries or raspberries, juice concentrate, honey and vanilla.

Cherry-Berry Smoothie

A refreshing blend of berry, apple and citrus juices makes for a delicious sipper that's light on calories. Pierce the berries to ensure juice release. This drink can also be spiked with vodka or light rum for an adult beverage.

Summerberry Cooler