Best Spring Cocktails: Easy Spring Drinks Recipes to Make at Home

Best Spring Cocktails: Easy Spring Drinks Recipes to Make at Home
spring cocktails
Celebrating the new season with a fresh and fizzy spring cocktail.

Spring is in the air, which means it’s time to start making the most of the longer days and warmer weather. Yes, we can finally put away those winter coats, sweaters and boots, but aside from switching up your wardrobe, what better way to welcome in the new season than by mixing up a refreshing cocktail that celebrates all things spring? It’s been a long, cold and grey winter, so let’s bid adieu to hot toddies, mulled wine and espresso martinis until next year, and embrace spring with a fresh and rejuvenating beverage.

While it’s always nice to head out to a favorite cocktail bar or lounge, there’s something special about testing out your own bartending skills right at home, whether you’re preparing a drink solo or mixing up a batch of refreshments for a celebratory springtime fête. From bubbly beverages and champagne cocktails to cheerful spritzers and mezcal libations, these are the best spring-ready cocktail recipes to whip up this season.

Subscribe to Observer’s Lifestyle Newsletter

The Best Spring Cocktail Recipes to Sip This Season

The League Favorite.

The League Favorite

Ingredients:

2 oz The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
.75 oz fresh lemon juice
.25 oz simple syrup
1 bar spoon apricot preserves
Elderflower tonic water
Lemon wedge and sprig of thyme

Directions:

Add all ingredients, except tonic, to a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Fine strain over ice into a highball glass; top with elderflower tonic and garnish with a lemon wedge and fresh sprig of thyme and enjoy this gin cocktail.

Spring Garden.

Ketel One Spring Garden

Ingredients:

45 ml Ketel One Vodka
10 ml sugar syrup
20ml fresh lemon
65 ml fresh pressed apple juice
3 fresh raspberries
8 fresh mint leaves

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with mint sprig and raspberry.

Peach Flower Power.

Peach Flower Power

Ingredients:

3 oz Rosa Regale Sparkling White Wine
1 oz gin
.5 oz elderflower liqueur
.5 oz peach puree
1 oz lemon juice
2 dashes lavender bitters

Directions:

Shake over ice; top off with sparkling white wine. Strain into coupe glass and garnish with lemon twist and edible orchard.

Sipsmith’s Lavender Dreams. Pranthik Samal

Sipsmith’s Lavender Dreams

Ingredients:

2 oz Sipsmith London Dry Gin
.75 oz lemon juice
.75 oz lavender syrup
Luxardo cherry

Directions:

Shake ingredients well over ice. Strain over a coupe or martini glass; garnish with a cherry skewer.

Betty Buzz Grapefruit Thyme Fizz Mocktail. Moriah Sawtelle

Betty Buzz Grapefruit Thyme Fizz Mocktail

Ingredients:

1/2 bottle Betty Buzz Sparkling Grapefruit
Meyer lemon juice
Thyme

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a lowball glass filled with ice. Stir gently and garnish with thyme.

Raspberry Rosé Cocktail.

Raspberry Rosé Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 lime, cut into wheels
.5 part raspberries
Sugar, to taste
1 bottle chilled Mumm Napa Brut Rosé
Raspberries and lime wheel, for garnish

Directions:

Muddle lime wheels, raspberries and sugar. Let rest until sugar dissolves, then strain using fine mesh strainer. Add one part compote and five parts Mumm Napa Brut Rosé sparkling wine to a glass. Garnish with raspberries lime wheels.

Herbal Gin and Tonic.

Herbal Gin and Tonic

Created by Marshall Minaya at Valerie

Ingredients:

1 oz Empress 1908 Gin
.5 oz génépi
4 dashes lavender bitters
2 dashes cardamom bitters
Thomas Henry Tonic Water
2 dehydrated lemon wheels and lavender sprig, for garnish

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a goblet; garnish with lemon wheels and lavender sprig.

What’s The Tea, Rosarita.

What’s The Tea, Rosarita

Ingredients:

1 oz Patron Silver
1 oz St. Germain
.75 oz hibiscus tea
.75 oz beet juice
.5 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions:

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice; add all ingredients and shake well. Strain into a chilled coupe.

Meatpacking Spritz.

The Meatpacking Spritz

Created by Federico Doldi at Gansevoort Meatpacking

Ingredients:

2 oz Martini Fiero
1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Splash of Prosecco
1 slice of grapefruit

Directions:

Mix the Martini Fiero and St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur together in a wine glass with ice. Top with a splash of Prosecco and add a fresh slice of grapefruit.

Berry-Mint Kenny. 818 Tequila

Berry-Mint Kenny

Ingredients:

1.5 oz 818 Blanco
1 oz strawberry puree
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz agave syrup
Perrier
Mint leaves and strawberry slice, for garnish

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Top with a splash of Perrier sparkling water and garnish with mint leaves and a strawberry slice.

Bee’s Knees.

Bee’s Knees

Ingredients:

2 oz  Barr Hill Gin
.75 oz fresh lemon juice
.75 oz raw honey syrup (mix two parts raw honey and one part warm water until honey dissolves)

Directions:

Combine gin cocktail ingredients in a mixer, add ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Tanteo Tequila Lavender Jalapeno Cocktail.

Tanteo Tequila Lavender Jalapeno Cocktail

Ingredients:

2 oz Tanteo Jalapeño Tequila
1 oz lavender syrup
.75 oz fresh lime juice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a shaker with ice; shake well and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of lime or a slice of jalapeño.

Sake Blossom.

Sake Blossom

Ingredients:

2 oz Yes Way Rosé
2 oz Nigori unfiltered sake
.5 oz cherry liquor
1 oz peach juice
.5 oz simple syrup
Cherry blossom garnish

Directions:

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add rosé, sake, cherry liquor, peach juice and simple syrup. Shake well. Strain over a cocktail glass with a large ice cube; garnish with cherry blossom.

Slip of The Tongue.

Slip of the Tongue

From Off the Record at The Hay-Adams, a Leading Hotel of the World.

Ingredients:

1 part vodka or liquor of choice
2 parts limeade (combine lime juice, cucumber juice, basil water, pineapple juice and honey syrup)

Directions:

Pour vodka and limeade into shaker; shake and serve straight up. Garnish with a cucumber ribbon or a lime wheel.

Blueberry Mojito Cocktail.

Blueberry Mojito Cocktail

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège
.75 oz simple syrup
.5 oz fresh lime juice
Soda water
Blueberries
Mint

Directions:

Add all liquid ingredients except for the soda water, as well as four blueberries, into a cocktail shaker. Shake until blueberries are bruised. Strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice; top with soda water. Garnish with a sprig of mint and blueberries.

Pina Margarita.

Pina Margarita

Ingredients:

2 oz blanco tequila
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz fresh pineapple juice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice; shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass and garnish with a pineapple slice.

The Jasmine.

The Jasmine

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Bulldog Gin
.25 oz Campari 
.25 oz Grand Marnier
.75 oz fresh lemon juice
Lemon twist

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice; shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Sunset Rose.

Sunset Rose

Ingredients:

3 oz Whispering Angel
1.5 oz Belvedere Vodka
.5 oz lime juice
.25 oz honey water
3 blackberries
Mint sprig, for garnish

Directions:

Add blackberries into shaker and muddle. Add all remaining ingredients, except for rosé, into the shaker. Shake with ice and strain into rocks glass over fresh ice. Top with rosé and garnish with Mint.

Brancott Blossom.

Brancott Blossom

Ingredients:

4 oz Brancott Estate Flight Song Sauvignon Blanc
3 oz elderflower soda (or elderflower tonic)
0.5 oz squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Fill highball glass with ice cubes. Add all ingredients into glass; stir.

Aperol Spritz ‘3-2-1.’

Aperol Spritz ‘3-2-1’

Ingredients:

2 parts Aperol
3 parts Cinzano Prosecco
1 part club soda
Orange slice

Directions:

Pour Prosecco into a stemmed balloon glass filled with ice. Add Aperol, then add splash of soda. Stir gently and garnish with an orange slice.

Mana Daisy.

Mana Daisy

Ingredients:

2 oz Teremana Blanco
.75 oz lemon juice
.75 oz passion fruit syrup
Splash of soda water

Directions:

Add lemon juice, passion fruit syrup and Teremana Blanco into shaker. Shake and add a splash of soda directly into the tin before straining. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with edible flower.

​​Raspberry Tequila Spritz.

​​Raspberry Tequila Spritz

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Tequila Cazadores Reposado
1 oz lychee juice
.25 oz fresh lime juice
5 raspberries
1 pinch kosher salt
2 oz Martini & Rossi Rosé

Directions:

Muddle raspberries in the bottom of a wine glass. Add ice cubes; pour in all remaining ingredients. Top with rosé and then gently stir to combine. Garnish with a lime slice and raspberry.

Lillet Rosé Spritz.

Lillet Rosé Spritz

Ingredients:

3 parts of Lillet Rosé
3 parts of tonic water
Grapefruit or orange, for garnish

Directions:

Shake Lillet Rosé and tonic water with ice; strain into a white wine glass filled with ice. Garnish with either a slice of grapefruit or orange slice.

Stranahan’s April Showers Sour. Kyle Ford

Stranahan’s April Showers Sour

Ingredients

1.5 oz Stranahan’s Original 
.5 oz sweet vermouth
.75 oz simple syrup
.75 oz lemon juice
2 bar spoons cranberry preserve
Egg white
Italian bitters
Lemon oil
Cherries

Directions:

Combine whiskey, vermouth, simple syrup, lemon juice, cranberry preserve and egg white in a shaker. Shake and strain into glass over fresh ice. Garnish with cranberries on a stick and lemon oil. Add a dash of Italian bitters and stir. Pour into coupe glass and garnish with brandied cherry.

Romance in the Garden.

Romance in the Garden   

Ingredients:  

1.5 oz Delisa Pinot Grigio Rosé
0.5 oz fresh grapefruit juice
0.5 oz sugar syrup
1 egg white  
3 oz Rotari Brut 

Directions:

Pour rosé, grapefruit juice, sugar syrup and egg white into a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a fresh wine glass or coupe. Garnish with grapefruit slices or edible florals. 

Mezcal Unión Passionfruit Paloma.

Mezcal Unión Passionfruit Paloma 

Ingredients

1 oz Mezcal Unión Uno
1 oz Red Verjus or aperol
1 oz passion fruit syrup
Fever Tree sparkling grapefruit soda

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a highball or large rocks glass. Add ice; top with cold Fever Tree sparkling grapefruit soda.

The Fresh and Vibrant Spring Cocktails to Celebrate the Season