Summer, cocktails & sunshine!

What belongs to summer as much as unclouded sunshine? Exactly – a delicious cocktail in your hand. Sitting on a beautiful sun terrace, you can forget that you're not sitting on a swing on the beach in Bali, but in Wels in Upper Austria.

Since I don't take holidays during the holiday season (I avoid the peak travel season as much as possible), I am a big fan of ‘staycations’. Head out to the garden, go to the lake, enjoy life! A cocktail makes balcony time even more enjoyable, so today I'm going to share a few recipes with you and have them tested by a ‘highly professional jury’.

There is a rumour going around that I deliberately scheduled the cocktail afternoon for 15 July. The football World Cup final and all that. So that the drama on television and the shouting in front of the TV would be easier to bear. But of course, that's just a rumour...

Cool summer cocktails put to the test

The jury

Horst. An international advertising photographer. Travel enthusiast. Private cocktail expert for over 50 years. Never averse to a good red wine, or a game of sambacanasta.

Axel. Director and cameraman. Best brother. Saviour in WordPress emergencies. Former New Yorker and new Viennese resident. Enjoys a good glass of wine, but if there isn't any, it doesn't matter. Difficult to schedule appointments with – good thing he's there!

Michael. Certified husband (note 2025: ex-husband). Instagram husband in the making. Culinary soulmate. Long-time restaurateur with a genuine knowledge of cocktails and wine. Experienced cocktail bartender. Loves gin, can't stand tequila. Tattoo lover.

Markus. . Kitchen god and Michael's drinking, football and gossip buddy. A friend you can trust with your life. Not really a cocktail drinker, but a helping hand in times of need for the article. Single and available for ladies between legal age and 30.

Rocco. Movement dyslexic. Depending on his willingness to cooperate, either a sweetheart or a bastard. Finds alcohol disgusting, but loves being stroked. Professional photo poser. Loves long walks and cheese. Inspector general for unusual occurrences such as sneezing or blowing your nose.

Martina. Wanderhunger author. Let's keep it short: loves cocktails.

The cocktails

I looked for recipes that I didn't know yet and whose ingredients were easy to obtain and made sense to have in the home bar. Honestly, who wants to buy grapefruit vodka or cucumber syrup just for a cocktail when you'll never need it again?

What's more, each of the following recipes makes me personally long for summer, sun and sunshine! 🙂

The quantities given are for one glass, i.e. one serving.

#1: Watermelon Fresca

by 7up

5 cl Tequila Silver
2 cl Cointreau
4 watermelon cubes
5 cl Seven Up (lemon lemonade)
Ice cubes, mint

 PREPARATION

1. Place 3 watermelon cubes, tequila and Cointreau in a cocktail shaker, add a few ice cubes and shake vigorously.
2. Pour through a bar strainer into a suitable glass.
3. Add fresh ice cubes and Seven Up, stir gently with a bar spoon.
4. Garnish with the remaining piece of watermelon and a few mint leaves.

#2: Monsieur Henry

by Springlane

1 ripe vineyard peach (if not quite ripe: add a little sugar syrup)
6 cl Lillet Blanc
3 cl Cognac
2 cl lemon juice
2 twigs of rosemary
1 piece of thinly peeled lemon zest
Soda water, ice cubes

 PREPARATION

1. Cut the peach into small pieces, place in a cocktail shaker together with the Lillet, cognac, lemon juice, half of the rosemary and a few ice cubes, and shake vigorously.
2. Pour through a bar strainer into a glass, add fresh ice cubes, a good dash of soda water and stir gently.
3. Squeeze the lemon peel over the glass to extract the essential oils.
4. Carefully tap the remaining sprig of rosemary (with your fist or a meat tenderiser) and add it to the jar.

#3: Blackberry Basil Moscow Mule

 by Host the Toast

4 ripe blackberries
3 basil leaves
6 cl Wodka
Juice of half a lime
Ginger Beer
Ice cubes, lime wedges, basil and blackberries for decoration

 PREPARATION

1. Mash the blackberries in a cocktail shaker, then add vodka, lime juice, basil and a few ice cubes and shake vigorously.
2. Fill glasses (original: copper cups) with fresh ice cubes and pour the contents of the cocktail shaker through a fine sieve into the glass.
3. Top up with ginger beer. Garnish with basil leaves, blackberries and a lime wedge.

#4: Rasberry Mojito

by Mara’s Wunderland

5 cl white rum
Soda water
1 tbs brown sugar
Half of a lime
2 twigs of mint
5 rasberries
Crushed ice, mint and raspberries for decoration

 PREPARATION

1. Wash the mint and lime. Pluck the leaves from the stems and cut the lime into eighths.
2. Place four lime wedges, the mint leaves and the sugar in a glass and crush with a wooden pestle. Add 5 raspberries and press down gently.
3. Fill the glass with crushed ice, add rum, top up with soda water and stir gently. Add more fresh crushed ice on top.
4. Garnish with raspberries and mint leaves.

The test result

The cocktails were prepared, photographed and tasted one after the other. The highly professional jury awarded scores for each drink on a scale from 0 (‘Yuck!’) to 10 (‘Oh yeah baby, gimme more, gimme more!’).

Watermelon Fresca

Unfortunately, the taste is somewhat disappointing; the watermelon simply does not provide enough intense flavour. One could add watermelon syrup to improve the taste, but would I want to do that? Perhaps I will try again next time with more melon; the basic recipe is still promising.

Test result: 26 out of a possible 50 points

 Monsieur Henry

Very refreshing, with a hint of fizz, making it an ideal summer cocktail. Unfortunately, it was a little too sour and bitter for my taste; sugar syrup would have been highly recommended. Slightly sweetened, but highly recommended. We also tried adding Sprite instead of soda. It's an option, but not really my thing, as the taste of Sprite overpowers the peach.

Test result: 29 out of a possible 50 points

Blackberry Basil Moscow Mule

Funnily enough, it wasn't the test winner, although in retrospect it was our favourite, but very close to the Rasberry Mojito. A really good alternative to the classic, the original Moscow Mule. The berries in the cocktail are great, especially for snacking after drinking.

Test result: 40 out of a possible 50 points

 Rasberry Mojito

Voilà, our winner! The Mojito narrowly beat the Moscow Mule and became the test winner by just one point. A really good drink for a fine summer's day: fruity and refreshing. But not entirely without... 😉

Test result: 41 out of a possible 50 points

And now it's your turn – get mixing those cocktails!

Cocktails often seem to inspire a special kind of awe. How many times have I heard, ‘You can mix cocktails, wow, that's amazing!’ Yes, I did actually train as a professional cocktail bartender a long time ago, and Michael worked in this profession for two years. But honestly – give it a try! It's foolproof, you can't go wrong. Of course, there are a few subtleties, but they're not important for home use.

Ihr habt nicht das richtige Glas? Who cares! Eine Piña Colada schmeckt aus einem Wasserglas genauso gut wie aus einem Fancy Glas. Den Cocktail mit Eis geschüttelt statt gerührt? Na dann ist halt ein bisschen mehr Wasser drinnen. Und ganz sicher ist: Er schmeckt genauso gut, ob er nun ganz simpel geschüttelt wurde oder ob der Shaker dabei dreimal über die Schulter geworfen und die Bar angezündet wurde.

 

Do you like to drink cocktails at home, or is that something you only do occasionally in a cool bar?
Once you've stocked up on basic spirits and the most important liqueurs and syrups, drinks become really inexpensive. My money-saving tip of the month, so to speak. 😂

 

Let me know if you try any of these drinks, I'd love to hear your feedback!