What better way to spend your summer evening than with good company and a cold drink in hand. Celebrate the long-weekend in style with these fabulous cocktails and our favourite glassware to serve them in.
1. Ginger-Peach Soda
Recipe adapted from: The Perfect Peach: Recipes and Stories from the Masumoto Family Farm by Marcy Masumoto, Nikiko Masumoto, and David Mas Masumoto. Add rum to turn this refreshing drink into a delicious cocktail.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 c. sugar
- 2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
- 2 very ripe peaches
- 2 L Seltzer
- 16 fresh mint leaves
DIRECTIONS
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, bring 1 cup water, sugar, and ginger to a gentle simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove simple syrup from heat, cover, and steep for about 30 minutes.
- Over a medium bowl, pour syrup through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing minced ginger against sieve with the back of a spoon to extract flavor. Discard ginger. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until well chilled.
- Evenly distribute peach slices among 8 tall glasses. For each glass, lightly press peaches with the back of a wooden spoon to release their juice. Pour about 2 tablespoons chilled syrup over peaches. (Store remaining syrup in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.) Add ice cubes; then top with seltzer. Stir to distribute syrup, peach juice, and seltzer evenly. Garnish with 2 mint leaves.
Serve in: Zara Diamonds Tumbler and Jug
2. Watermelon Gin Punch
Makes about 6 cups
INGREDIENTS
- One-half small round seedless watermelon (about 3-1/2 lb.), peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice, strained
- 1/2 cup simple syrup
- 8 sprigs fresh mint; more for garnish
- 2 cups Gin (choose you’re favourite,)
DIRECTIONS
Working in batches if necessary, purée the watermelon in a blender or food processor and press the purée through a strainer*. (*NOTE: You can forgo this step with a juicer). You’ll need about 4 cups of juice—it’s fine if there’s some pulp in the juice. Chill.
Put the lime juice, simple syrup, and mint in a 3-quart serving pitcher or a punch bowl and mash the mint thoroughly with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon. Add about 4 cups of ice, the gin, and the watermelon juice and stir.
Serve over ice. Garnish with balled watermelon and mint sprigs.
Serve in: Decorated Hobstar Glassware
3. Spicy Cucumber Margaritas
Makes 8-10 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 100% Agave Tequila (Silver/Blanco works best)
- Cucumber lime juice, fresh squeezed, strained
- Jalapenos seeded and sliced.
DIRECTIONS
- Drop sliced jalapeno directly into tequila bottle. Let sit for at least 1 hour and strain (the longer the tequila sits, the spicier it will become). Note: do not leave jalapeno in longer than 24 hours. It can spoil and ruin your tequila…and that would be so sad.
- Combine the juice of 3 peeled cucumbers and 2 cups fresh squeezed lime. You should have about 3.5 cups of juice mix total.
- Fill glass with ice
- Use a shot glass to measure one shot of tequila into the glass
- Top with juice
- Sweeten with agave nectar and stir. (Optional)
Serve in: Zara Gold Ombre Glass Tumbler
4. Hibiscus Nojito
INGREDIENTS
- 1.5 oz P&H Hibiscus syrup
- 1/2 lime, quartered
- 3 sprigs of mint
- pinch of sugar
- lime for garnish
- 6 oz sparkling water
DIRECTIONS
- Muddle sprigs of mint and quartered lime in syrup and a pinch of sugar.
- Top up with ice and sparkling water, garnish with fresh mint.
Serve in: Aino Aalto Highball
5. Beyonce's Lemonade
“Take one pint of water, add a half-pound of sugar, the juice of 8 lemons, and the zest of half of a lemon. Pour the water from one jug into the other several times, strain through a clean napkin. Grandmother, the alchemist. You spun gold out of this hard life. Conjured beauty from the things left behind. Found healing where it did not live. Discovered the antidote in your own kitchen. Broke the curse with your own two hands. You passed the instructions down to your daughter, who then passed it down to her daughter.”
Cut it with a splash of sparkling water and it makes a great fizzy lemonade. But the best addition so far? A shot of bourbon!
Serve in: Iitalla Kastehelmi Tumbler
