Food Beverages Cool Summer Drinks By Midwest Living editors Midwest Living editors Midwest Living's experienced editors create best-in-class travel, lifestyle, food, home and garden content you won't find anywhere else. We're loudly, proudly Midwestern, and we're passionate about helping our audience explore and create through award-winning storytelling. Midwest Living's Editorial Guidelines Updated on June 1, 2021 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Brie Passano Take a break from the heat with a tall, cool fruit or ice cream drink. Our recipes—some with alcohol and some without—include frozen slushies you can make in a bag, fresh-fruit ice cream sodas, DIY soda syrups, watermelon lemonade and strawberry smoothies. 01 of 44 Smoky Peach-Bourbon Slushie Brie Passano Coat the rim of a chilled glass with smoked sea salt and garnish this slushie with fresh basil and peach chunks on a decorative pick. View Recipe 02 of 44 Watermelon-Lime Sangria Sangria is usually made with red wine, but white just says summer, doesn't it? Choose an affordable light and dry variety, such as Spanish Albariño, Portuguese Vinho Verde or Sauvignon Blanc. View Recipe 03 of 44 Piña Piña Colada "Garnish with a pineapple leaf, an umbrella, a lounge chair, the sun and a pool," say the founders of Mean Mule, the KC distillery that concocted this crazy-easy summer drink. View Recipe 04 of 44 Chocolate Milkshake Brie Passano Using the best chocolate and ice cream you can find ensures a super rich shake. You won't want more than a small glass! View Recipe 05 of 44 Any-Flavor Margarita Carson Downing A traditional margarita calls for tequila, orange liqueur and a tart jolt of lime juice (plus a sweetener, if you like). Stop at that—or start playing. Our any-flavor recipe has you covered! View Recipe 06 of 44 Mango Lassi Smoothie Brie Passano You can make this Indian-inspired smoothie with fresh mango, but unless you score a really ripe fresh one, you'll get better flavor using canned or frozen. (And they're much easier to work with!)) View Recipe 07 of 44 Blackberry Lemonade Blackberry Lemonade. Blaine Moats Refreshing, zingy and just a little flamboyant, the fruity lemonade at Bramble Cafe at Elderslie Farm is a summer favorite. If you like, add a splash of vodka to the glass for a patio cocktail. View Recipe 08 of 44 Frozen Strawberry-Mango Margarita The fastest way to downgrade a margarita (or any drink) isn't cheap tequila; it's bottled lime juice. Dig out that squeezer and pull up your sleeves. It's worth it. View Recipe 09 of 44 Watermelon Ginger Granita Brie Passano Fresh lime and ginger take watermelon's flavor up a notch. Make this icy treat when you'll be home all day. It's super easy, but you need to scrape it a few times over the course of a few hours. View Recipe 10 of 44 Spiked Blue Lemonade Slushie Brie Passano You might associate it with college-era bar-hopping, but blue curaçao is actually more than 100 years old. Its orange flavor plays nicely with lemonade in this citrusy slushie. View Recipe 11 of 44 Michelada Imagine a refreshing cross between a bloody mary and a beer. That's a michelada. Our version is inspired by the TJ Red Michelada served at Taco Joint in Chicago. View Recipe 12 of 44 Date Shake Paul Lowe Made by blending dates into a vanilla milkshake, date shakes are a roadside icon in Palm Springs, California. View Recipe 13 of 44 Rosy Stone Fruit Sangria We raided both the fruit bowl and the liquor cabinet for this sparkling make-ahead party drink, marrying citrus and stone fruits with brandy, orange liqueur and rose wine. (You can use either a sweet wine, such as White Zinfandel, or a more dry variety, like a French or Spanish import.) View Recipe 14 of 44 Paloma Slushie Brie Passano Garnish this twist on a classic tequila cocktail with some fringe: Peel a wide strip of grapefruit peel with a vegetable peeler, then snip along its length. Groovy! View Recipe 15 of 44 Paloma Mixology doesn't get any easier than this! Whip out this easy version of a classic Mexican cocktail for Cinco de Mayo, or just your average Taco Tuesday. The recipe comes from Kansas City's Mean Mule Distilling Co. View Recipe 16 of 44 Sparkling Vanilla Lemonade This lemonade calls for less sugar than most recipes and tastes just enough like cream soda to make you smile. The recipe comes from The Watkins Company, a 151-year-old spice and extract company in Minnesota. View Recipe 17 of 44 Fresh-Fruit Ice Cream Sodas Blaine Moats Puree berries, peaches or mangoes to make vibrant "syrups" for swirling with ice cream and sparkling water. (Or skip the ice cream to make refreshing fresh-fruit sodas.) View Recipe 18 of 44 Cucumber Paloma Brie Passano Cucumber and grapefruit juice combine for ultimate refreshment in this happy hour cocktail. Jalapeño adds just a hint of heat. View Recipe 19 of 44 Rhu-Berry Gin Punch Slushie Brie Passano Gin can be dry, piney, aromatic or any other style a distiller chooses. Go for a floral-tasting gin for this fruity slushie. View Recipe 20 of 44 Any-Fruit Agua Fresca Once you have the method down, you can improvise aguas frescas with almost any soft fruit. View Recipe 21 of 44 Malty Chip Milkshake Brie Passano Drink this thick, ultra-rich shake through an oversized straw or employ a spoon to eat it like ice cream. View Recipe 22 of 44 Limonana Brie Passano Made of lemon and fistfuls of fresh mint, limonana is a favorite drink in Israel, where you can often buy it as a slush. This version isn't blended with ice but it's just as refreshing on a hot day. View Recipe 23 of 44 Apricot-Mint Tea Canned apricot nectar is the easy, fruity sweetener in this refreshing summer sipper. View Recipe 24 of 44 Red Sangria Slushie Brie Passano Make this slushie with a big, bold red wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel. It will have better color and a more well-rounded flavor than with a lighter red. View Recipe 25 of 44 Strawberry Water This water tastes just like drinking a strawberry - with no colors, flavorings or added sugar.Next time you cook with strawberries, skip hulling (carefully excising the leaves and cores with the tip of a paring knife), and just slice the tops right of, catching a big of fruit with the leaves. (Make sure the strawberries have been well-washed.) From there, the method isn't too scientific: Put a cup of water (or so ) of the strawbery tops in a quart (or so) of water in the refrigerator for a couple of hours (or up to overnight). Then strain it. The result: all-natural, rosy-hued, strawberry-flavored water. For a twist, add sprigs of mint or basil along with the strawberry tops. 26 of 44 Caribbean Milk Shake Think of this recipe as a flexible formula for making boozy, fruity milk shakes. Substitute black raspberry or peach cooler, or make with lime sherbet and lime wine cooler. View Recipe 27 of 44 Strawberry and Mango Smoothies A little bit of honey sweetens a refreshing mixture of pineapple or orange juice blended with strawberries, mango and banana. View Recipe 28 of 44 Cucumber White Sangria Garden flavor infuses this refreshing make-ahead white wine cocktail. View Recipe 29 of 44 Piña Colada Slushie Brie Passano If you like piña coladas, you'll know that rimming the glass with chili seasoning is a rebel's move. Feel free to revert to a classic maraschino cherry garnish. View Recipe 30 of 44 Cucumber Habanero Margaritas David Fries, an amateur barbecue competitor from the Twin Cities, loves to serve this refreshing and subtly spicy margarita at family cookouts. View Recipe 31 of 44 Horchata Traditionally, this sweet drink is made by soaking rice (and sometimes blanched almonds, too) overnight in water, then pureeing and straining the mixture. We kept the seductively sweet, authentic taste, but skipped the drawn-out process. Our shortcut version uses purchased rice milk, and we could barely tell it apart from the real deal in side-by-side tests. View Recipe 32 of 44 Honeyed Lemonade Tea Punch Using Darjeeling tea imparts floral notes beyond what you find in ordinary black tea, which makes it a more interesting base for this refreshing, honey-laced drink. Keep the punch virgin, or add a tablespoon of vodka, gin or bourbon to each glass. View Recipe 33 of 44 Citrus Liqueur Have you heard of limoncello? You can make the classic Italian liqueur with almost any citrus fruit. (Only lime doesn't work.) Serve the chilled liqueur with sparkling water, sip it chilled alongside chocolate truffles or try drizzling it over strawberries for a boozy pound cake topper. View Recipe 34 of 44 Sunrise Smoothie It's no wonder people love smoothies. Not only are they great-tasting, but they're good for you, too. Try this one with a sliced strawberry garnish. View Recipe 35 of 44 Raspberry Cheesecake Shake Perfect for entertaining, this dessert-in-a-glass can be made with mixed berries rather than just raspberries, if you prefer. View Recipe 36 of 44 Mocha Floats The coffee-chocolate blend in this drink is refreshingly cool, especially when topped with scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. The amounts we give will make about 10 individual floats. View Recipe 37 of 44 Cherry-Berry Smoothie This quick-and-easy blender drink, from the Michigan Cherry Committee, combines cherries, milk, yogurt, blueberries or raspberries, juice concentrate, honey and vanilla. View Recipe 38 of 44 Watermelon Lemonade Here's a take on a summer staple, lemonade. Combine homemade lemon syrup with watermelon juice and serve with fun Kiwi Cubes or Watermelon Cubes (or with regular ice cubes). You can also use the watermelon-lemonade mix as the base for a Watermelon Martini. View Recipe 39 of 44 Green Tea Soda Brew this refreshing drink with green, ginkgo or ginseng tea mixed with honey. When the liquid cools, stir in your choice of fruit juices, such as orange or tangerine and lemon or lime. Add assorted fresh fruit and plain or flavored sparkling water just before serving. View Recipe 40 of 44 Lime and Cucumberita Cucumbers add a fresh take to a traditional summer-cocktail favorite. Just blend with tequila and triple sec and serve in a salt-rimmed glass and garnish with a lime, if you'd like. View Recipe 41 of 44 Mint Lemonade Mix mint syrup with fresh lemon and lime juice for this zesty lemonade alternative. Our recipe also tells you how to use the blend to make Fizzy Frisky Whiskey. View Recipe 42 of 44 Sparkling Berry Lemonade This fizzy pink drink is a kid-friendly, real-fruit alternative to bottled pop. For an adults-only version, add two tablespoons of rum, tequila or citrus-infused vodka to each serving or 1 to 1 1/4 cups to the batch. View Recipe 43 of 44 Summer Fruit Daiquiris Choose from peaches or strawberries and rum or orange juice for this chiller. Then rev up your blender. Our recipe includes variations with and without alcohol. View Recipe 44 of 44 Spiced Coffee and Cream Sipper Blend spiced coffee with chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla or coffee ice cream for a smooth drink that's served like a milk shake. Garnish with whipped cream, chocolate curls, a sprinkle of cocoa powder or a chocolate-covered espresso bean. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit