Cocktail

Here's a take on the classic Blood and Sand cocktail, using Flemish-style sour ale or kriek (which means "cherry") lambic instead of cherry liqueur. Lambic is a distinctively Belgian style of beer, made with wild yeast as opposed to the carefully controlled fermentation of conventional ales. It is often flavored with fruit, such as cherries or raspberries. Thanks to Eben Freeman, who serves a version of this drink at Ai Fiori in New York City.

Maru is the name of the adorable Japanese cat whose love of jumping into and out of boxes has inspired us to waste many happy hours drinking beer in front of our computer when we should have been working instead. This cocktail has the popular Japanese lager Sapporo as its base, a crisp and well-carbonated brew that is typically paired with sushi. Here, the slight bitterness of the beer is tempered by tart berries and mandarin oranges.

Another dessert cocktail made with oatmeal stout, the Oatmeal Cookie gets a spicy edge from Goldschläger, a Swiss cinnamon schnapps that has thin flakes of gold leaf floating in it.

Forget the mezcal. Use this chile-infused tequila in Margaritas and Palomas—salt-rimmed cocktails made with tequila, lime juice, and grapefruit soda.

St. John Frizell of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, created this recipe for a Fourth of July drinks feature—this is the white option in a special red, white, and blue Sangria series. For this Caribbean-inspired pitcher drink, Frizell recommends using good white rum or, even better, a mix of white rum and aged rum. "A funky aged Jamaican rum, like Smith & Cross, will add a profound depth of flavor to the mix," he notes. For the wine, Frizell says to use a young unoaked white, such as a Sauvignon Blanc or a dry Riesling.

St. John Frizell of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, created this recipe for a Fourth of July drinks feature—this is the blue option in a special red, white, and blue Sangria series. The drink gets its oceanlike hue from just 1 ounce of blue curaçao, but if color isn't important to you, feel free to use regular (clear) curaçao instead. Frizell warns against using cheap vermouth: "An excellent dry vermouth, like Dolin, is necessary for this recipe." The drizzle of Maraschino liqueur, Frizell explains, "adds a nutty, bittersweet note."

St. John Frizell of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, created this recipe for a Fourth of July drinks feature—this is the red option in a special red, white, and blue Sangria series. Dubonnet takes center stage in Frizell's Sangria but is a supporting player in many classic cocktail recipes, including the gin-based Dubonnet cocktail (also known as the Zaza). It's an aperitif wine that Frizell says is similar to vermouth and has been popular in French cafés since the 19th century.

You can use any ripe berries to make this seasonal pitcher cocktail.

Can't find aquavit? It's easy to make your own by infusing vodka with herbs and spices.

Portland-based Salt & Straw adds a drop of vinegar and a hint of pepper to balance the sweetness in this strawberry shake, plus a splash of rum to make it deliciously complex in flavor. If you're making this for non-drinkers, just omit the booze.

This triple sec-free recipe was inspired by one from Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco.

Among the few recipes known to have been used by the Washington family is this one for cherry bounce, a brandy-based drink popular in the eighteenth century. It seems to have been such a favorite of General Washington's that he packed a "Canteen" of it, along with Madeira and port, for a trip west across the Allegheny Mountains in September 1784. This fruity, spiced cordial requires a bit of work and time, but the result is well worth the effort. After pitting, halving, and mashing the cherries, be prepared to set away the sweetened brandied juice for twenty-four hours and then again for about two weeks after infusing it with spices. Enjoy small glasses of cherry bounce at room temperature, and keep the remainder on hand in the refrigerator.

Stephen Cole, bartender at The Barrelhouse Flat in Chicago, created this dressed-up take on the classic gin and tonic for our story Spring Cocktails Perfect for Brunch. While you should feel free to use your favorite gin, for this absinthe-laced cocktail, Cole suggests trying Hayman's Old Tom Gin, which is slightly sweeter than more traditional English dry gin.

Jasper Soffer, bartender at the Mulberry Project in New York City, created this simple-to-prepare seasonal cocktail for our story Spring Cocktails Perfect for Brunch. The rhubarb simple syrup, Soffer explains, is simultaneously sweet and tart, not unlike a rhubarb-apple crumble or a strawberry-rhubarb pie. If you want to make this drink outside rhubarb's short early-spring season, frozen fruit makes a great substitute.

Martin Cate, owner of the rum-centric Smuggler's Cove bar in San Francisco, shares his spiced rum recipe below. The secret: Start with good rum, and don't overinfuse the mixture.

Ben Clemons, bartender at Bar 308 in Nashville, created this sage- and lime-infused cocktail for our story, Spring Cocktails Perfect for Brunch. Cocchi Aperitivo Americano is an Italian aperitif wine beloved for its citrus, herbal, and bitter flavor profile. It's becoming easier to find, but if you can't locate a bottle, Clemons recommends substituting Lillet Blanc.

Sure, you can mix it with cola, but we prefer our spiced rum in a proper cocktail like the Kona Swizzle, a floral riff on the classic Queen's Park Swizzle, Created by New York city bartender Brian Miller.

Sean Traynor, bartender at The Windsor in Phoenix, Arizona, created this crisp, beautifully hued cocktail for our story Spring Cocktails Perfect for Brunch. Sparkling wine is often used to top off a drink, but in this case Traynor mixes it with the rest of the ingredients in the cocktail shaker. The reason? He's using it more for its acidity and flavor than effervescence. For pure peach flavor, Traynor insists on a true peach-based liqueur, so put away the peach Schnapps; he recommends Sathenay Crème de Pêche de Vigne Liqueur, Rothman & Winter Orchard Peach Liqueur, or Massenez Crème de Pêche.

Matt Wallace, bartender at Harvard & Stone in Los Angeles, created this potent fruit-filled punch for our story Spring Cocktails Perfect for Brunch. The combination of pineapple, orange, and lemon plus the crisp, dry bubbles from the Champagne really wake up your palate after a long winter, he says. The citrus and sugar base is called oleo-saccharum, and is common in older punch recipes. Wallace says it's an excellent way to add a subtle citrusy perfume to the final drink, and requires time but very little labor.

This refreshing cocktail is a play on the traditional British cocktail, Pimm’s Cup, made with gin instead of Pimm’s.