Easy Recipes To Create fun summer Drinks Out Of Classic Cocktails

As a working mom of four very active kids, I am all about “semi-homemade” cooking. The meals I can create with a rotisserie chicken are endless. If I can do it with food, why not drinks as well? I obviously drink a lot of Crafthouse Cocktails and recently I’ve had fun using them as a base cocktail and turning them into something a little more fancy. Basically, I’ve been playing dress up with my ready-to-drink cocktails and the end result has been delicious and so much fun!

My first attempt at doctoring up a Crafthouse Cocktail was with the Paloma. I love our Paloma — it is light, refreshing and never too sweet (a problem I have with most margaritas). Over at Crafthouse there has been a lot of talk about Spicy Margaritas, so I thought why not try a spicy Paloma? Using the advice of our mixology master, Charles Joly, I made a simple syrup using one cup of sugar to one cup of really hot water. I mixed it until the sugar dissolved and then added one jalapeno pepper cut into slices, seeds removed. I let it sit for a couple hours and then strained the peppers out of the syrup. I poured about 2 teaspoons of the syrup into a glass, added the Crafthouse Paloma and stirred (add more or less syrup depending on taste preference). Then I added ice and a jalapeno slice for garnish. It was amazing. Better than I could have imagined…grapefruit & jalapeno are like long lost lovers united in a glass of ice just for my enjoyment.

My next attempt at creating an original-semi-homemade cocktail recipe involved a Smoky Margarita and juicy watermelon. I bought a huge watermelon but didn’t have enough room in my fridge to store the leftovers. Being that it was taco Tuesday, I also had a Smoky Margarita (made with Mezcal) on hand. So, I took the leftover watermelon (about 2 cups), ice, the juice of one lime and blended it together making a delicious frothy frozen drink and then added my 200ml can of our Smoky Margarita and blended for about 10 more seconds. The end result was cold, refreshing and delicious. And since the ice and fruit diluted the margarita, it was a low alcohol treat as well — which is sometimes a good thing on a Tuesday night.

My final cocktail concoction came about last weekend when my brother and his family were in town. We had been to the mountains and returned to find some super soft strawberries waiting for us. Instead of tossing them, I made another 1 to 1 simple syrup and this time added sliced strawberries. I let the syrup sit overnight in the fridge to really infuse the strawberry flavor. Since we had company, I went and bought a couple of our 750ml bottles of Southside, a gin cocktail made with mint and lime. It is one of the original Crafthouse Cocktails and a true classic. After straining the strawberries out, the syrup was deep pink and the taste reminded me of homemade strawberry jam. The freshness of the strawberries was a perfect companion to the mint and lime and before we knew it, we had drank it all. The syrup was just enough for the one big bottle, about 6 servings, and we all wished we had more. It felt like a real summer cocktail with just enough sweetness to make it special.

Each recipe was super easy and fun to make. The simple syrups can easily be mixed with sparkling water to make non-alcoholic “mocktails” as well. I’m already thinking of some fun ways to doctor up our other cocktails but in the meantime, I’ll definitely add these semi-homemade drinks to my happy hour rotation.

Cheers!

Jen Stamper