Memorial Day is almost here, which means it’s time to break your bathing suits out of storage, start shopping for sunscreen, and plan which pool party you’ll be crashing come May 29th. Not only does the holiday bring with it the first three-day weekend in months, but it also signifies something bigger: the arrival of sweet, sweet summertime. And I’ll raise a glass to that. (*Cue “What Time Is It” by the High School Musical 2 cast, aka the banger of the century.*)
After the last couple of years we’ve had, I’m really banking on this summer being a good one, and I think we should all at least try to kick off the season in style. Why not, right? Naturally, that calls for a drink or two (or three?). Sure, you could pop by your closest convenience store and pick up a six-pack of spiked seltzer, but I propose we put a little more effort into the festivities this year. Get a little fancy. Buy that new bottle for your bar cart. Use a shaker. Make some fun ice. We deserve it, people! We somehow made it to Memorial Day 2023!
So, grab your bar tools, bust out that cute stemware, and prepare to get your ~mixologist~ on. Below, I’ve rounded up 26 truly delicious, festive, and all-around chill Memorial Day co*cktails to craft over the holiday weekend. Promise they're not hard to make, but they will impress your friends. Cheers to the red, white, and booze blue!
Princess Peach
1½ oz. Freeland Bourbon
¾ oz. peach liqueur
5 dashes rhubarb bitters
1 oz. lemon juice
½ oz. simple syrup
Add ingredients into a shaker tin with ice and shake for 8-10 seconds. Strain into a glass of your choice. Top with ice and garnish with fresh herbs.
Recipe from Freeland Spirits.
Skrewball Lava Flow
8 oz. ice in a blender
1 ¼ oz. Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey
¾ oz. white rum
2 oz. pineapple juice2oz. cream of coconut
2 oz. strawberry puree
Pour the strawberry puree into a glass. Blend the remaining ingredients and pour them into the glass. Garnish with a strawberry.
Recipe from Skrewball.
Jungle Bird
2 oz. RumHaven
¾ oz. Italian Aperitivo
2 oz. pineapple juice
¼ oz. simple syrup
¼ oz. fresh lime juice
Add ingredients into an ice-filled shaker, and shake together. Strain into an ice-filled double rocks glass. Top it off with a garnish of pineapple and lime.
Recipe from RumHaven.
Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below
Backyard Cooler
1.5 oz. Aviation American Gin
0.5 oz. grapefruit juice
0.5 oz. lime juice
0.5 oz. simple syrup
Club soda
Grapefruit half wheel
Combine all ingredients except club soda into a co*cktail shaker with ice. Shake, then strain into glass with ice. Top with club soda and garnish with grapefruit half wheel.
Recipe from Aviation American Gin.
Pink Flamingo
2 oz. Plume and Petal Lemon Drift
1 part raspberry liqueur
1 part lemon juice
Raspberries
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a coupe or martini glass. Pierce three raspberries with a toothpick and garnish.
Recipe from Plume and Petal.
Summer’s Eve
2 oz. King St. Vodka
½ oz. dry vermouth
3 ripe raspberries
Muddle 3 ripe raspberries, add 2 oz King St. vodka, 1/2 oz dry vermouth, and shake with ice. Serve in a chilled martini glass. Optional: Add 1 dash of lemon or berry bitters before shaking.
Recipe from King St. Vodka.
Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below
Sprezzatura
3 parts G.H. Mumm Grand Cordon
1 part Ramazzotti Aperitivo Rosato
1 part watermelon syrup
.75 part fresh lemon juice
Measure all ingredients except G.H. Mumm into a shaking tin. Add ice and shake briefly and vigorously. Strain into a cold glass with ice. Top with G.H. Mumm and garnish with a mint bouquet.
Recipe from Sam Johnson, mixologist at Death & Co.
Hibiscus Paloma
2 oz. Camarena Silver
Hibiscus tea bags
2 oz. ruby red grapefruit juice
Squeeze of lime
Sparkling water
½ ruby red grapefruit wheel
Rim: a blend of hibiscus tea and sea salt
Steep hibiscus tea bags in Camarena Silver. Remove tea bags and add ingredients into an ice-filled glass rimmed with hibiscus tea and sea salt blend. Garnish with ruby red grapefruit wheel and sea salt.
Recipe from Camarena Silver Tequila.
Legendary Lemonade
2 parts New Amsterdam Vodka
2 parts lemonade
2 parts sparkling Moscato
Lemon wheels, strawberries, raspberries
Add ingredients into a rocks glass filled with ice and stir together to combine/chill. Garnish with lemon wheels, strawberries, or raspberries.
Recipe from New Amsterdam.
Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below
Juniper Champagne co*cktail
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup crushed juniper berries
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup prosecco
Make the syrup by simmering sugar, water, and berries in a pot. Stir until sugar is totally dissolved. Let it cool before straining the liquid through a sieve. Refrigerate for an hour. Combine 3 tablespoons of the syrup with the prosecco. Stir and enjoy.
Recipe from Martha Stewart.
Raspberry Beer co*cktail
1 cup raspberries (you can use frozen!)
4 12 oz. bottles of chilled Corona Extra
1 container pink lemonade
1/2 cup vodka
Lime slices and fresh raspberries for garnish
Stir the raspberries, Corona, lemonade, and vodka. Serve in a pitcher with plenty of ice. Garnish to your heart's desire. Recipe from Pretty Plain Janes
Ginger Margarita
1 oz Cointreau
2 oz tequila
.75 oz lime juice
2 oz ginger beer
Add Cointreau, tequila, and lime juice to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into glass over more ice. Finish with ginger beer and garnish with lime.
Recipe from Cointreau.
Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below
The GBC (Gin, Basil, Cucumber)
3 cucumber slices
3 basil leaves, sliced into small pieces
1/2 tbsp sugar or simple syrup
1 oz. gin
1/2 cup crushed ice
1/2 cup tonic
Lime juice to taste
Add sugar and gin to class. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Mix in the two cucumber slices and two basil leaves. Add ice, tonic, and lime juice to taste. Garnish with the leftover cucumber slice and basil.
Recipe from BS In the Kitchen.
Rainbow Sangria
1 1/2 bottles of chilled moscato
1/2 cup triple sec
Juice of 3 limes
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 cups blackberries
3 cups blueberries
6 kiwis, peeled and sliced
2 cups diced pineapple
2 cups diced mango
2 cups halved strawberries
In a large pitcher, stir moscato, triple sec, lime juice, and sugar until combined. In separate glasses, layer blackberries, blueberries, kiwis, pineapple, mango, and strawberries. Pour wine over fruit and serve.
Recipe from Delish.
Aperol Spritz
Note: We know you probably know how to make this one by now but it's just the best way to kick off summer. Go forth and memorize it if you haven't already!
4 oz. prosecco
2 oz. Aperol
Splash of soda
Orange slices
Pour the prosecco into an ice-filled glass. Add the Aperol, soda, and orange. Stir and sip.
Recipe from Baker By Nature.
Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below
Moscato Margarita
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Lime wedges
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 cup tequila
1 cup moscato
1 cup triple sec
1/2 cup lime juice
2 cups ice
Pour sugar into a small dish. Rim the glasses with lime wedges and dip them into sugar. Combine strawberries, tequila, moscato, triple sec, lime juice, and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth, then divide mixture between 4 glasses. Garnish with lime wedges.
Recipe from Delish.
Red, White, and Boom
1.75 oz. SVEDKA Stars & Stripes
.75 oz. lemonade
.5 oz. triple sec
1 oz. cranberry juice
6 limes, juiced
12 cups ice
Blueberries and strawberries
Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher filled with ice. Garnish with blueberries and strawberries.
Recipe from SVEDKA Vodka.
Frozen Blue Lemonade
1.5 oz. white rum
1 oz. blue curacao
3 oz. Lemonade Sparkling ICE
Combine all ingredients with ice in a blender. Blend on high until it becomes slushy. Pour into a glass and garnish with whatever fruit you want.
Recipe from Sparkling ICE.
Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below
Citrus Paradise
1.5 oz. GREY GOOSE Le Citron Flavored Vodka
.75 oz. orange juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 oz. club soda
Combine all ingredients in a glass. Stir vigorously and top with club soda.
Recipe from Grey Goose.
Stars and Stripes Sipper
2 oz. Brugal Extra Dry Rum
Grapefruit juice
Club soda
Lime wedges
Pour rum into a glass filled with ice. Top with juice and soda. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Recipe from Brugal Rum.
Sarah Weldon
Associate Lifestyle Editor
Sarah is the associate lifestyle editor at Cosmopolitan where she covers food, home, health, career...basically all the things you love to love — follow her on Instagram.
Hannah Chubb
Lifestyle Editor
Hannah Chubb is the lifestyle editor at Cosmopolitan, covering all things home, travel, food, health, career, and more. She spends pretty much every hour of every day curating the internet for the best new products, trends, and travel destinations. You can typically find her looking for houses she can’t afford on Zillow or Airbnb, planning her next meal before she gets to the restaurant, or taking all of the Justin Bieber classes over and over and over again on Peloton. Follow her on Instagram.
