Looking to do a spot of seasonal entertaining? You’ll be the host with the proverbial most with our take on the best cocktails for spring.
With Spring just around the corner, it’s high time you ditch your Scotch – we know, it’s hard – and reach something a little lighter, sweeter, more refreshing and fragrant. In spring we like to mix it tall and keep it cold, with cocktails that’ll beat the heat and keep you motoring well into the early hours.
To bring out all the freshness of the season, reach for fresh garnishes and ingredients, spirits packed with botanicals – gin is an obvious choice – and supplement with good bitters, citrus and even a touch of modern liqueurs or vermouths. The results are sure to make you look like the host with the most when it’s your turn to entertain.
Cucumber Julep
We ditch the bourbon for this springtime
1.5 o.z Square One Cucumber Vodka
2 oz. cucumber juice
.5 oz. lime juice
.5 oz. simple syrup
Torn mint
Place ingredients in a shaker and give a quick up-down. Pour into a cup with crushed ice. Garnish with cucumber wheel, mint sprig, and a tall straw.
The John Daly
Named for the famed bad boy of golf, and based on a non-alcoholic North American favourite – the Arnold Palmer – the spiked version combines two classically refreshing beverages – ice tea and lemonade – along with enough vodka to warrant an inevitably stiff back-swing.
2 oz. Russian Standard Vodka
1 oz. Árvero limoncello
½ oz. simple syrup made with orange and lemon zest
Dash of 18.21 Earl Grey bitters
Lemon wheel
Mix the vodka, simple syrup and limoncello with ice in a cocktail shaker and mix. Strain into an ice-packed glass. Top with a dash of Earl Grey bitters and garnish with a lemon wheel.
Tom Collins
Keep it cool and classy with this timeless blend of gin, lemon and sugar, a drink made famous by bartender Jerry Thomas, the father of modern mixology.
2oz West Winds “Cutlass” Gin
Juice of half a lemon
4oz soda water
2tbs caster sugar
Ice
Add freshly squeezed lemon juice, sugar and gin to a highball glass and stir to mix. Add dry cubed ice and stir again. Top with soda and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Paloma
One of the best cocktails for spring and a great drink for lovers of tequila or mezcal, this drink cools you down and spins you up all at once.
2oz tequila (reposado, preferably)
1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
Pinch of salt
Grapefruit soda
Combine all ingredients in a salt-rimmed rocks glass and add ice. Top off with grapefruit soda, and stir before garnishing with grapefruit wheels.
Gin Basil Smash
Packed with springtime flavours and created to accentuate the botanicals of good gin, this relatively modern cocktail is a must as the mercury rises.
50ml Hendrick’s Gin
1 bunch basil leaves (if in doubt as to how much, go heavy on the basil)
1oz fresh lemon juice
1/2oz sugar syrup
Place basil and lemon into a cocktail shaker. Gently muddle the lemon and basil – don’t take the name literally – before adding the gin and sugar syrup. Top with ice before shaking vigorously. Double strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and g
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