5 Fresh Summer Cocktail Recipes-Part 1

Summertime is the season for hosting events, attending them or both! That means less clothing, more outdoor lounging and lots of refreshing beverages to keep you cool. [Insert my ecstatic excitement here!] Summer party perks that I take complete and full advantage of during these blistering temperatures are my blender and new summer cocktail recipes.

In fact, all of my favorite liquor companies are coming out with their hottest (or coldest) cocktail recipes just for this season and I am stocking up for all the summer entertaining I will be doing. Yes, I lead an interesting life, or maybe I just need an excuse to sip a few cocktails. Whatever my reasoning may be, with this great list of summer cocktails, you will be planning your fair share of summer shin-digs just the same.

If you’re planning on hosting a swanky summer event be sure to skim through our recent cooking and entertaining guides for more inspiration. And for the parties you’ll be attending…see all of our favorite host and hostess gift ideas.

Basil Watermelon Cooler
You need:
GREY GOOSE® Original

2 Parts
4 Basil Leaves
1 Slice Peeled Ginger
2 Chunks Watermelon
Fresh Lime Juice
½ Parts Simple Syrup

Ginger Ale

To make:
1. In a cocktail shaker, muddle 3 basil leaves with ginger slice, 1 watermelon chunk and simple syrup.
2. Add ice, GREY GOOSE® Vodka and lime juice.
3. Shake well and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.
4. Top with ginger ale.
5. Garnish with remaining watermelon chunk and basil leaves.

Berry Lemonade Pitcher

You need:
16 Parts GREY GOOSE® Le Citron
32 Parts Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
12 Raspberries
8 Parts Sugar

To make:
1. In a large pitcher, muddle the raspberries and sugar.
2. Add the GREY GOOSE® Le Citron Flavored Vodka and fresh lemonade.
3. Stir well.
4. Pour into highball glasses filled with ice and garnish with lemon and raspberries.
5. Serves 8.

Beach Bum

You need:
2 Parts GREY GOOSE® La Poire
Crushed Ice
½ Parts Cointreau®
½ Parts Maraschino Liqueur
1 Dash Grenadine
Fresh Mint
1 Part Fresh Lime Juice
To make:
1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all ingredients.
2. Shake well and strain into rocks glass filled with crushed ice.
3. Top with grenadine and garnish with fresh mint.

Meyer Lemon Margarita Recipe

Yield: 1 cocktail
Total Time: 5 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. fresh Meyer Lemon Juice
• 1 1/2 oz. Tequila
• 1 oz. Triple Sec (or Cointreau if you want to go "top-shelf")
• sea salt for rimming glass

Directions:

1. Rub the rim of an old fashioned glass (or whatever similar vessel you prefer) with a meyer lemon slice. Swirl the rim through a small pile of kosher or sea salt to salt the rim.
2. Put the meyer lemon juice, tequila, and triple sec in a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake for 15 seconds.
3. Put a few cubes of ice in your glass. Strain the cocktail into the glass and enjoy.

Sriracha Bloody Mary & having fun with garnishes

So it appears we’re on a culinary journey to create a small, but sinfully spicy collection of sriracha infused recipes. And loving every minute of it! Playing with a bottle of hot sauce has never been so hot and gratifying. Previously, we’ve shared our homemade sriracha-style chili hot sauce recipe, an addicting creamy spicy hot sauce mayo that you can lather on just about anything, and a party pleasing recipe for hot sriracha chicken wings!

With many other hot sauce recipes in queue, we’ve been experimenting with so much sriracha hot sauce, everyone thinks we’re drinking the bottle of red gold!

Oh, wait! Drink it? What a great idea!

A Sriracha Bloody Mary recipe is now born and ready to blow the socks off anyone who is a self-proclaimed sriracha and Bloody Mary addict.

Using your favorite hot sauce to replace the conventional Tabasco hot sauce used in most Bloody Mary recipes, this sriracha addition will leave you with an equally quenching, but slightly brighter spicy flavors from your traditional Bloody Mary. There are many recipes for Boody Marys out there, so you can stick to your tried-and-true favorite Bloody Mary recipe and all you need to do is squirt in the sriracha instead of the Tabasco.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Vodka
• 4 oz. Tomato Juice
• 1/2 oz. fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/4 t freshly grated Horseradish or Creamy prepared Horseradish *see note above
• 2 pinches Celery Salt
• 3 dashes Sriracha Chili (or more to taste)
• 2 dashes Worcestershire Sauce

Directions:

garnish - There are a ton of variations. Go with what you prefer... Celery Stalk, Lemon Wedge, Lime Wedge, Pickled Green Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Olives (add a little olive juice for a dirty Bloody Mary), Baby Carrots, Cocktail Onions...

1. Combine all the ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and roll the mixing glass to combine ingredients. This is not a shaken cocktail.
2. Strain into an ice filled glass and garnish.

Chocolate Martini Recipe: Indulge in this exotic Martini.

CHOCOLATE MARTINI RECIPE ONE:

Ingredients

• 1 ½ shots of Godiva chocolate liqueur
• 1 ½ shots crème de cacao
• 1 shot of Grey goose or Stolichnaya vodka
• 2 shots of half & half or milk
Mix all the ingredients in a chilled shaker with ice then pour into a chilled martini glass. Rim the glass with cocoa powder.

CHOCOLATE MARTINI RECIPE TWO
Ingredients

• 2 shots Vodka
• 2 shots Creme De Cacao

Mix ingredients in a cocktail shaker and pour.
Line rim with chocolate power.

Exotic cocktail drinks: The Raven cocktail is a dark and mysterious cocktail

Exotic cocktail drinks: Learn to make "The Raven" cocktail drink.

Note: This is the basic or easy to make version of the Raven.

Dark and mysterious describe this cocktail nicely. You can layer this drink for a even more dramatic effect.

"The Raven" Recipe

Ingredients:

1 oz vodka (Absolut, Skky, Grey Goose, Van Gogh Vodka, Ketel One, etc.)
1 oz rum (Go with a dark rum like Myer's)
1 oz blue curacao
1/2 oz Chambord
Cocktail Mixing Instructions:

Pour the vodka, rum and blue curacao into a shaker with ice.
Shake until cold.
Strain into a cocktail glass with ice cubes.
Finish with a layered effect by slowly pouring the Chambord over a bar spoon to float the spirit.

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Article Summery:

Exotic and unusual drinks presents how to make a dark and mysterious version of "The Raven". A layered mixed drink that uses Vodka, Rum, Blue Curacao and Chambord raspberry liqueur.

Ice Ice Baby!

Just about every cocktail that is cold contains ice or is created in a shaker using ice. While you might think that the type of ice you use doesn't matter, it can actually make or break your drink.

Unfortunately, ice isn't usually considered an important drink ingredient. If the recipe calls for the chilly stuff, there's a good chance that standard cubes straight from the freezer will be added without a second thought. But, ice isn't just used to make a drink cold. When used in a shaker or left in the glass to melt into a cocktail, it becomes an integral part of the cocktail whether you are aware of it or not.

So, next time you reach for the ice, make sure you are choosing the right type for the recipe:

• Cubes - Cubes are the most recognizable form of ice, and the most versatile. The uses for ice cubes are just about endless. Used for liquor on the rocks, for stirring, for shaking, or even just to chill a drink, you are more likely to see ice cubes in a drink than any other form. Ice cubes are thicker and larger than other types of ice. Because of this, they are slower to melt and less likely to dilute a drink.

• Shaved - Shaved ice is the type of ice that you probably recognize from snow cones. It is softer, fine, and perfect for making drinks that have a thicker, frosty consistency. This type of ice works well in a shaker and is also ideal for making an adult, alcoholic version of the aforementioned snow cone.

• Cracked - Cracked ice looks similar to cubes, but are smaller. This type of ice melts much quicker than cubes, and has a tendency to augment a drink with more water. The best time to use cracked ice is when creating frozen drinks in a blender because they break up easier and into more consistent pieces..

• Block - If you are a bartender or just like to create a lot of drinks in your home bar, then block ice is ideal for you. Ice tools allow you to break off various sizes and shapes of ice from the block to accommodate your drink. This may be a practice you don't see much anymore, but block ice is still quite useful. These days you most commonly see block ice used for cooling punches. With the use of molds, block ice can be made into just about any form you want.

How you store your ice can greatly affect its performance in a drink. Ice can pick up the flavor of things around it, so unless you want your cocktail tasting like the catch of the day, don't store it in a freezer near fish or any other item with a prominent smell. If you keep your ice in an open container, rotate it every once in a while so that older ice also gets used. Keep several ice cube trays filled in your freezer. Cubes can easily be broken to create crushed ice or put in a shaver. Remember, ice is as important to your drink as the ingredients themselves. Use only the freshest ingredients, including your ice and you'll have great drinks.

Exotic cocktails and unusual drinks: The China Blue using lychee liqueur.

Exotic cocktail recipes: How to make The famous "China Blue" cocktail.

This is a wonderful blue cocktail that takes you out of the norm. The name alone sounds exotic. This cocktail gets it's main flavor from the lychee liqueur. The overall taste is semi-sweet and flowery. The grapefruit adds a nice balance and the blue curacao makes this cocktail visually stunning.

China Blue Recipe:

Ingredients

4 oz grapefruit juice
3/4 oz lychee liqueur
1.25 oz blue curacao

Mixing instructions:

Skip the cocktail shaker on this one, just pour right into a collins glass.
Give a gentle stir.
You can garnish with a cherry, or a grapefruit.

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Article Summary:

Exotic cocktails features the China Blue cocktail drink recipe. Learn about a great lychee recipe. Drinks that use blue curacao.