25 Spring Cocktails to Look Forward to After You've Been Freezing for Months
I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave. -My couch
Now that spring is arriving and we're officially moving on from cuffing season (and by moving on I mean never using the term again), it's time to enjoy the weather and invite some close friends over for a get together. The first step? Choosing from these spring cocktail recipes, below, that will give everyone the refresh they need after four months of hot toddies and espresso martinis. Think of them as frosé's older, more sophisticated siblings that still like to have a little fun.
1. The Secret Garden
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. The Botanist Gin
.75 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
.75 oz. Elderflower Liqueur
1.5 oz. Sparkling Rosé
Directions:
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Combine The Botanist Gin, fresh lemon juice, and Elderflower Liqueur in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain into a flute glass. Top with sparkling rosé. Garnish with a lemon peel.
Courtesy of The Botanist Gin
2. GM-P Collins
Ingredients:
2 oz Ford’s Gin
¾ oz fennel syrup
¾ oz lemon juice
1 dash Scrappy’s Celery Bitterspinch of salt
Soda
Fennel Frond
2 dashes of Peychaud
Directions:
Add gin, fennel syrup, lemon, celery bitters, and salt to a small tin, add ice, and shake. Strain into a collins glass and top with soda and two dashes of Peychaud bitters on the top cube.
Courtesy of Marshall Minaya and available at Valerie
3. Champagne Ginger Beer Punch
Ingredients:
16 oz (2 cups) pomegranate juice
12 oz (1.5 cups) cranberry Juice
3 T lemon juice
8 oz (1 cup) peach vodka
1 bottle (750 ml) champagne
12 oz Brooklyn Crafted Ginger Beer Mini, Traditional
Mint Leaf
Directions:
In a glass with ice, combine the listed ingredients. Stir and add pomegranate seeds, as desired. Garnish with a mint leaf and enjoy.
Courtesy of Brooklyn Crafted
4. Kim Crawford Rosé-jito
Ingredients:
20 oz Kim Crawford Rosé
4 sprigs of fresh mint
2 oz agave syrup or simple syrup
3 oz fresh lime juice
10 oz grapefruit flavored soda water
Directions:
In a large pitcher, gently muddle mint with syrup. Top with lime juice, rosé and soda. Mix well. Serve over ice and garnish with grapefruit slices.
Courtesy of Kim Crawford
5. Green Cup
Ingredients:
2 parts SVEDKA Vodka
¾ part fresh lime juice
¾ part simple syrup
Cucumber slices and basil
Directions:
Muddle cucumber and basil in a cocktail shaker. Add remaining ingredients and shake vigorously. Fine strain into a chilled Martini glass, and garnish lavishly with cucumber and basil.
Courtesy of SVEDKA
6. Classic Moscow Mule
Ingredients:
1 ½ ounces vodka
1 ½ ounces lime juice
4 oz Brooklyn Crafted Extra Spicy Ginger Beer
Directions:
In a Moscow mule mug, combine the listed ingredients and pour over ice. Stir, garnish with a lime, and enjoy.
Courtesy of Brooklyn Crafted
7. Taste the Tropics
Ingredients:
4 oz. Jose Cuervo Orange
Pineapple Margarita
Directions:
Garnish with lime slice, orange zest, and pineapple wedge.
Courtesy of Jose Cuervo
8. Noble Punch
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Casa Noble Crystal Tequila
0.5 oz lime juice
1 oz pineapple juice
0.75 oz simple syrup
Soda water
Dash bitters
Pineapple wedge
Directions:
Place Casa Noble, lime juice, pineapple juice, and simple syrup into shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into glass; top with soda and bitters. Garnish with pineapple wedge.
Courtesy of Casa Noble
9. Peach Nectar Ginger Beer
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Handcrafted Peach Vodka
3.5 oz. Brooklyn Crafted Ginger Beer Mini in Mango
Mint Leaf
Directions:
In a short glass with ice, combine the two ingredients. Stir and add peach slices, as desired. Garnish with a mint leaf and enjoy.
Courtesy of Brooklyn Crafted
10. J&T
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Johnnie Walker Black Label
1.5 oz. Guava Nectar Juice
0.25 oz. Lime Juice
4 oz. TonicThyme Sprig
Directions:
Add all ingredients into a balloon glass except for tonic. Add ice and stir to chill. Top off with tonic and thyme sprig garnish.
Courtesy of mixologist Carlos Ruiz
11. The Favorite Sangria
Ingredients:
1 part SVEDKA Peach
3 parts Ruffino Lumina
1 part white grape juice
¼ part fresh lime juice
Peach slices
Mango cubes
Raspberries
Apple slices
Other fresh fruit (optional)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher over ice and stir.
Courtesy of SVEDKA
12. Ginger Apple Cooler
Ingredients:
2 oz. Crown Royal Regal Apple
1 tsp. Maple Syrup
1 tsp. lemon juice
Brooklyn Crafted Extra Spicy Ginger Beer, to fill
Garnish with Candied Ginger
Directions:
Combine Whiskey, maple syrup, lemon juice, and ice in a cocktail shaker; shake vigorously. Serve topped with ginger beer and garnish with candied ginger.
Courtesy of Brooklyn Crafted
13. Sparkling Punch
Ingredients:
1 750-ml bottle chilled Santa Margherita Sparkling Rosé
3/4 cup limoncello
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup quartered fresh strawberries
1 medium lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
Directions:
In a large pitcher, combine the limoncello, raspberries and strawberries. Top with the chilled rosé champagne and stir in half of the lemon wheels. Pour into old-fashioned glass with ice. Place fruit in each glass and garnish with a lemon wheel, and be sure each glass contains fresh berries.
Servings: 6
Courtesy of Santa Margherita
14. Crawford on the Green
Ingredients:
1 bottle of Kim Crawford, chilled
2 oz St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur
1 green apple, sliced thinly
1 bunch fresh rosemary sprigs
Directions:
Half-fill six chilled coupe glasses with ice cubes. Add a splash of St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur to each glass. Fill each glass with Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. Garnish with three apple slices and a rosemary sprig on a cocktail pick. Enjoy.
Courtesy of Kim Crawford
15. Lemon Sours Spritz
Ingredients:
1.5 oz HI-CHEW Lemon Sours Elderflower Liqueur
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup
Sparkling wine
Directions:
Shake the liqueur, juice, and syrup with ice in a cocktail shaker, strain into a chilled coupe, top with sparkling wine. *Infusions: The infusion ratio is one piece of candy per ounce of liquor. Soak the candy until dissolved.
Courtesy of HI-CHEW
16. Crown Royal Peach Cocktail
Ingredients:
Royal Peach Tea
1.5 oz Crown Royal Peach
6.0 oz Iced Tea
1 Slice of Lemon or Peach
Royal Peach Fizz
0.5 oz Crown Royal Peach
0.5 oz Orange Juice
4.0 oz Champagne
1 Mint Sprig
Directions:
Royal Peach Tea
Fill a mason jar with crushed ice. Add Crown Royal Peach and iced tea. Stir gently then garnish with a lemon or peach slice (or both!).
Royal Peach Fizz
Add Crown Royal Peach and orange juice to a stemless champagne glass. Top with champagne. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Courtesy of Crown Royal
17. Lucky Lychee
Ingredients:
2 oz D’Usse Cognac XO
1 lychee
1 strawberry
¼ oz simple syrup
2 dashes rhubarb bitters
Ace Of Spades champagne
Directions:
Muddle lychee, strawberry, and simple syrup in a shaker. Add D’USSE XO, rhubarb bitters, and ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled coup glass. Top with champagne. Garnish with a lychee on a metal skewer.
Courtesy of D'Usse Cognac XO
18. Cucumber Lime & Basil Prosecco Spritzer
Ingredients:
1 lime juiced
4 basil leaves
4 cucumber slices
Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore DOCG
Directions:
Muddle lime juice, basil, and cucumber in a shaker glass. (For extra flavor infusion allow mixture to marinate in the fridge for at least one hour.) Add ice and shake mixture. Strain the juice only (about ½ oz.) into a prosecco glass. Top with Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore DOCG, and garnish with a basil leaf and cucumber slice.
Courtesy of Santa Margherita
19. Orchard Rosé Refresher
Ingredients:
4 oz Angry Orchard Rose Cider
0.75 oz Citrus Vodka
0.5 oz Cointreau
0.75 Cranberry Juice
0.5 oz Simple Syrup
0.25 oz
Lime Juice
Directions:
Build in a hurricane glass with ice and top with Cider. Garnish with an orange twist.
Courtesy of Angry Orchard
20. Spritz Lautrec
Ingredients:
3oz champagne
1oz cold chai tea
1/2oz St-Germain
1/2oz vermouth
2 dashes Pernod
Directions:
Pour all ingredients into a collins glass filled with ice. Garnish with grapes and a lemon twist.
Courtesy of St-Germain’s new cocktail book How to Spritz French Fluently on sale March 1.
21. Rosé Clover
Ingredients:
2oz SVEDKA Rosé
.75oz lillet rose
.75oz lemon juice
.75oz 1:1 simple syrup
4 raspberries
2 dashes orange bitters
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a mixing tin and shake vigorously with ice. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a triangular lemon twist and two skewered raspberries.
Courtesy of SVEDKA
22. Hibiscus Cocktail
Ingredients:
Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore
Whole hibiscus flowers, packed in syrup
8 tsps of hibiscus syrup used to pack the flowers
Directions:
Place a whole hibiscus flower in the bottom of glass. Fill glass with Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore to ¾” of the rim. Carefully spoon 2 tsps of the hibiscus syrup down the interior side of each glass.
Courtesy of Santa Margherita
23. Lavender Honey Fizz
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. The Botanist Gin
.75 oz. fresh lemon juice
.75 oz. White Wine Aperitif
.5 oz. honey water (1:1 honey to water)
4 dashes rosemary bitters
1.5 oz. soda water
1-2 sprigs fresh lavender
Directions:
Combine The Botanist Gin, lemon juice, White Wine Aperitif, honey, and bitters in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain over ice into a rocks glass and top with soda water. Garnish with lavender.
Courtesy of The Botanist Gin
24. Via Alpina
Ingredients:
1.5oz Lemorton Pommeau
0.5oz clear creek douglas fir brandy
0.5oz St-Germain
2oz dry sparkling cider to top
1oz soda water to top
Directions:
Pour all ingredients except sparkling cider and soda water into a wineglass filled with ice. Stir to combine. Top with sparkling cider and soda water. Garnish with a lemon twist and a Castelvetrano olive on a pick.
Courtesy of St-Germain’s new cocktail book How to Spritz French Fluently on sale March 1.
25. Frosé Watermelon Granita
Note: We've included this if you just can't wait until summer for a good frosé.
Ingredients:
1 bottle Santa Margherita Sparkling Rosé
1 quart watermelon-rosemary sorbet (store bought or recipe below)
2 cups diced, seedless watermelon
Directions:
Spoon a scoop of sorbet into the bottom of a chilled glass and top with a tablespoon or so of the watermelon cubes. Pour the Santa Margherita Sparkling Rosé over the sorbet and melon. Garnish with mint. Serve immediately with a silver spoon.
Servings: 4
Courtesy of Santa Margherita
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Rachel Epstein is a writer, editor, and content strategist based in New York City. Most recently, she was the Managing Editor at Coveteur, where she oversaw the site’s day-to-day editorial operations. Previously, she was an editor at Marie Claire, where she wrote and edited culture, politics, and lifestyle stories ranging from op-eds to profiles to ambitious packages. She also launched and managed the site’s virtual book club, #ReadWithMC. Offline, she’s likely watching a Heat game or finding a new coffee shop.
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