Summer Cocktail Recipes
Imagine yourself sitting on a warm, sand beach. Looking out over calm, clear, cool lake waters. The sun is setting and colors of red, orange and yellow fill the sky. Now look down at your hand and imagine there’s a refreshing, cool, tasty cocktail just perfect for a hot summer night.
Now. if you’re me, wake up from your Tahoe summer daydream and realize you’re pregnant and can’t drink for another four long months! 
My colleagues decided it would be REALLY funny to assign the task of blogging about our favorite summer cocktails to the lone prego in the building. Luckily for them, I’m a good sport and have used their delicious -sounding recipes to fill in the blanks in my summer daydreams.
Why would Heavenly blog about summer cocktails? Well when you come here in the summer, you not only come for the scenic beauty, amazing weather and on-mountain activities, but you come to have a good time! With concerts, casinos and food festivals happening all summer, there are plenty of ways to have a ball.
So here they are – four of our picks for our favorite summer cocktails:
1 heaping handful of fresh (or frozen) blueberries
3 mint leaves
2 TB simple syrup
3 TB lime juice
Club soda or Sprite
Bacardi Rum
Directions: Smash the blueberries and mint together using the back of a spoon. I prefer frozen blueberries because the skins are softer. Add lime juice, simple syrup, desired amount of Bacardi (shot and a half or so), stir and top off with club soda or Sprite. YUM.
Vanilla, Pear, and Vodka Cocktail
- 12 oz (1.5 cups) pear juice
- 6 oz vodka
- 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- vanilla sugar, for rim
- 1 cup ice, plus more to serve over
Mix pear juice and vodka in a pitcher or shaker. Split open the vanilla bean, and scrape the seeds into the juice and vodka. Add 1 cup ice, then give it a good shake. Pour into cocktail glasses over more ice and serve with sugared rim. Makes 4 drinks.
Cucumber Cooler
2 shots Effen Cucumber
¾ shot St. Germaine
Club Soda
½ tsp Black Pepper (optional)
Lime Wedge
Directions: Pour Effen Cucumber and St. Germaine over tumbler of ice. Top with club soda. Shake black pepper on top (optional). Squeeze lime wedge into drink and stir.
Virgin White Sangria (for me!)
4 cups white grape juice
1 cup pink grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 bottle club soda (750 milliliters)
Pink grapefruit slices
Directions: In a large pitcher, combine all three juices. Refrigerate. Just before serving, add the soda water and grapefruit slices (and other fruit, if you’d like). Makes about 12 servings.
Have a favorite summer cocktail of your own? Leave a recipe or link in the comments so our team can try them out and I can daydream about it!
~Liz Batman, Online Marketing Manager
