The best summer cocktails are long, cold and built on citrus: a whisky highball, Ranch Water, a Mojito and a Collins lead our twelve, along with lower-strength pours such as white port and tonic. Each comes in millilitres with its source and its bottle, for summer 2026/27, from December through to the end of February 2027.
Quick picks
- Kavalan Classic: a Taiwanese single malt with mango and pear notes, and our first pick for a highball.
- Doorly's 3 Year Old White Rum: Barbados white rum with real character for a Mojito.
- Cimarrón Blanco: a highland 100 per cent agave tequila for Ranch Water.
A standard drink in Australia is 10 g of pure alcohol. Each recipe shows its own figure, worked out from label strengths, so check the bottle you are using.
What summer cocktails are Australians drinking going into 2027?
Forbes Australia's July 2026 report on bar trends, built on interviews with bar managers in Sydney and Melbourne, says drinkers are opting for "fresher, lower ABV serves", ideally ones they can recreate at home. It reports that Paolo Maffietti of Sydney's Maybe Sammy is seeing more orders for "tall drinks loaded with plenty of ice, finished with an element of fresh citrus". He also says guests are after serves that "feel light on the palate".
That is the idea behind this list. Most are tall, all are cold, and nearly all finish with fresh citrus. We have also split them by what is in your cabinet. The Negroni, Margarita, Paloma and Daiquiri live in our Christmas cocktails, sparkling drinks for Thursday 31 December are in New Year's Eve cocktails, and all-Australian bottles for Tuesday 26 January 2027 are in Australia Day cocktails, so those do not repeat here.
Whisky
1. Whisky Highball
A highball is a spirit lengthened with a much larger measure of chilled mixer over ice. Suntory's own method is 3 to 4 parts chilled soda to 1 part whisky. Fill a tall glass with ice to chill it, pour the whisky and stir, add the soda, then give it one gentle stir from the bottom so it keeps its fizz. Finish with a twist of lemon or grapefruit peel.
Our measure: 30 ml whisky and 90 ml chilled soda, about 0.9 standard drinks. For a bigger glass, keep the ratio: 45 ml and 150 ml is about 1.4.
Kavalan Classic at 40 per cent is our first pick. It is matured mostly in refill and ex-bourbon casks, with mango, orchid and honey on the nose, and that fruit holds up to soda. Our guide to the Kavalan whisky to try has the rest of the range. Togouchi Premium at 40 per cent, a blend matured in Hiroshima with a subtle peated part, is the second option, and Japanese Whisky Explained covers the highball in Japan. If you like rye, Sortilège Rye brings a maple note to the same recipe.
Agave
2. Ranch Water
Tequila, lime and very fizzy mineral water. Texas Monthly calls its origins fuzzy, with both Austin and West Texas claiming it, and its recipe is the simple one.
Spec (Texas Monthly, converted to ml). Cut a wedge from one lime and squeeze the rest into a tall glass of ice. Add 60 ml blanco tequila and top with about 120 ml sparkling mineral water. Garnish with the wedge. About 1.9 standard drinks.
Texas Monthly names Topo Chico, the Mexican mineral water. Use the fizziest water you can find. Cimarrón Blanco at 40 per cent, listed on our site as Don Fulano Tequila Cimarron Blanco, has the herbs and pepper to come through all that water.
3. Frozen Margarita
The frozen version has a real history. Dallas restaurateur Mariano Martinez used a secondhand soft-serve machine to make premixed frozen margaritas in 1971, and the machine has been in the Smithsonian since 2005. You only need a blender.
Spec (Difford's Guide). Blend 45 ml blanco tequila, 22.5 ml triple sec, 22.5 ml fresh lime juice and 15 ml rich sugar syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water). Add a scoop of crushed ice of about 200 ml and blend again. Pour into a chilled coupe with a lime wheel. About 2.1 standard drinks. Difford's lists xanthan gum as optional, and we leave it out.
Use the same Cimarrón with Gabriel Boudier Triple Sec. For heat, our spicy margarita post has three ways to add chilli.
Rum and cane
4. Mojito
Spec (IBA). Mix 6 mint sprigs with 2 teaspoons of white cane sugar and 20 ml fresh lime juice. Add a splash of soda, fill the glass with ice, pour in 45 ml white rum, top with soda and stir lightly. Garnish with mint and a slice of lime.
The IBA specifies white Cuban rum. We use Doorly's 3 Year Old from Barbados, which spends at least three years in ex-bourbon casks before charcoal filtering. It is 47 per cent, so this comes to about 1.7 standard drinks. Compagnie des Indes Great White at 40 per cent is the lower-strength, unaged option at about 1.4. Our white rum guide compares the styles.
5. Caipirinha
Spec (IBA). Put one lime, cut into small wedges, and 4 teaspoons of white cane sugar in a double old fashioned glass and muddle gently. Fill with cracked ice, add 60 ml cachaça and stir. About 1.9 standard drinks.
One of the two short drinks here: ice, lime, sugar and cachaça, and nothing else. Germana Soul at 40 per cent comes from a farm at Nova União in Minas Gerais and rests in stainless steel rather than wood, so the sugarcane stays clear. Cachaça Explained says how it differs from rum.
6. Chilcano
Spec (Difford's Guide). 60 ml pisco, 7.5 ml fresh lime juice, 3 dashes of bitters and 105 ml ginger ale, stirred lightly in an ice-filled tall glass, with a wedge of lime. About 1.9 standard drinks.
Difford's calls it a traditional Peruvian way of serving pisco, and it is the most useful pisco drink we know for a hot day because it needs no egg white or shaking. It names Amargo Chuncho, a Peruvian bitters, and our Bitters range has alternatives. Macchu Pisco at 40 per cent is all Quebranta grape, with white pepper and lime peel. See Pisco Explained.
Gin
7. Collins
Spec (IBA John Collins). 45 ml gin, 30 ml fresh lemon juice, 15 ml simple syrup and 60 ml soda, poured straight into a highball glass filled with ice and stirred gently. Garnish with a lemon slice and a maraschino cherry.
The IBA notes that a Tom Collins uses Old Tom gin, such as Hernö Old Tom. With the two gins below, it is strictly a John Collins. Generous Gin at 44 per cent has citrus, mandarin and jasmine, about 1.6 standard drinks. Bluecoat American Gin at 47 per cent puts citrus peel ahead of juniper, about 1.7. Gin Styles Explained has more. For a version built on lemon myrtle vodka, see our Australia Day cocktails.
Lower strength and longer
These five are built on fortified wines and aperitifs rather than full-strength spirits, so they run from about 0.7 to 1.4 standard drinks.
8. White port and tonic
Spec (VinePair). 60 ml dry white port and 120 ml tonic over ice, with a lemon wedge. About 0.9 standard drinks.
VinePair says its origins are unknown and that it is popular across Portugal, especially in Porto and Lisbon, where it goes by Porto Tónico. Kopke Fine White at 19.5 per cent is the white port we stock, from a Douro house trading since 1638. It is a rounder style than the dry port VinePair names, so squeeze in the lemon wedge. Keep it in the fridge. Port Wine Styles Explained has the background.
9. Rebujito
Spec (Difford's Guide). 75 ml fino sherry and 105 ml lemon-lime soda in an ice-filled tall glass, stirred, with lemon and lime wheels. About 0.9 standard drinks.
Fino with soda has a home in southern Spain: Difford's says the Rebujito is especially popular in Seville, particularly at the April fair. Don Zoilo Fino at 15 per cent is very dry, with flor and almond, which is what the soda needs. Soda water with a squeeze of lemon makes a sharper version. See Sherry Explained.
10. Dolin Blanc and soda
Spec (the Chambéry Spritz, from Haus Alpenz). 60 ml Dolin Blanc and 30 ml soda over ice with a sliced strawberry and a lemon peel. About 0.8 standard drinks. Add more soda if you like it longer.
Dolin Blanc at 16 per cent is a Vermouth de Chambéry with 32 plants and spices, which Dolin describes as more complex and sweeter than its Dry. Our guide to the best vermouth for a Negroni or Martini covers the rest of the shelf.
11. Pommeau spritz
Spec (ours). 60 ml pommeau, 60 ml dry sparkling wine and 60 ml soda over ice, with a slice of apple or orange. About 1.4 standard drinks with a 12 per cent wine.
Lauriston Pommeau de Normandie at 17 per cent is three parts cider apple juice to one part calvados, aged three to four years. The Domfront house, now tied to Christian Drouin, suggests a long drink with Champagne, and our build stretches that idea with soda. Our Calvados guide explains the family.
12. Dubonnet and soda
Spec (ours, using the 1:1 ratio in Delicious magazine's Dubonnet sangria). 60 ml Dubonnet and 60 ml chilled soda over ice, with a slice of orange. About 0.7 standard drinks.
Dubonnet Rouge at 14.8 per cent is a red aperitif wine with herbs, spices and peels from an 1846 recipe. Soda lengthens it without hiding the herbs and peel. Our Gin and Dubonnet post covers the classic way to drink it.
How do you make frozen and slushie cocktails at home?
A home freezer will not set a strong mix on its own. The Kitchn puts pure ethanol's melting point at minus 114°C against about minus 18°C to minus 23°C in a home freezer, so spirits stay liquid in there. Blending with ice is the simple way round it. Four rules, from Punch's frozen margarita guide and Difford's:
- Use small ice. Crushed or pebble ice breaks down faster than large cubes, so you blend for less time. Allow about 200 ml a drink.
- Do not add water. Punch says frozen cocktails end up about 20 to 25 per cent water once blended, and the ice gives you all of that.
- Sweeten a touch more. Dilution mutes sweetness, so a frozen drink needs a little more than the shaken version.
- Blend short and serve cold. Punch's method is five seconds on low and ten on high, into a chilled glass, because longer blending warms the drink and makes it watery.
Spritzes and aperitifs with their own pages
- Limoncello spritz: the ratio, adjusted for your bottle's strength.
- Hugo Spritz: elderflower, with an alcohol-free version.
- What Is an Aperitif: the wider family these drinks come from.
Summer cocktails FAQ
What is the most refreshing cocktail?
For us it is a tall, sharp, very fizzy drink with plenty of ice, and Ranch Water is the clearest example. A whisky highball and a John Collins run close. Refreshing here means taste and temperature only, so have water on the table alongside any of them, as you would on any hot day.
What is the easiest cocktail for a crowd?
A two-ingredient drink over ice. The Rebujito and Dubonnet and soda both pour straight into a glass with no shaking. For a jug, chill both bottles and mix only what you will pour soon, so the fizz survives. Keep ice in the glasses, and measure the first one so you know the strength.
Which spirit suits hot weather?
Blanco tequila, white rum and gin are the natural choices because they sit cleanly with citrus and soda. Aged spirits can work too when you lengthen them enough, which is why a highball suits a single malt like Kavalan Classic. Fortified wines such as fino and white port are the lower-strength route.
What is Ranch Water?
Ranch Water is blanco tequila, fresh lime juice and very fizzy mineral water in a tall glass of ice. Texas Monthly says both Austin and West Texas claim it, and it uses Topo Chico. Our version is 60 ml tequila, the juice of one lime and about 120 ml of mineral water.
How do you stop drinks going watery?
Use more ice, not less, because a full glass melts more slowly than a half-empty one. Chill your bottles and mixers first, and use fresh ice rather than the ice you shook with. Build the drink just before you serve it, and keep the soda cold so it stays fizzy for longer.
Where to start
- Whisky drinker: Kavalan Classic and a bottle of soda.
- Tequila drinker: Cimarrón Blanco and a bag of limes.
- Rum drinker: Doorly's 3 Year Old and fresh mint.
- A lower-strength glass: Kopke Fine White or Don Zoilo Fino.
Good summer cocktails come down to cold bottles, plenty of ice and fresh citrus. The bottles are in our Gin, White Rum, Tequila, Aperitifs and Sherry ranges.