Cocktail

Effervescent and floral, this drink is ideal for afternoon sipping. Purée the fruit with the skin on to capture the color of September.

Coming right up: an elegant concoction designed for warm-weather happy hour. It's pale pink in color, floral but not too sweet, and completely refreshing.

In July, the abundance of ripe tomatoes means making your own tomato juice is a breeze, and fresh juice, in turn, means a truly superb Bloody Mary. With a range in the amounts of horseradish, Tabasco, and lemon juice, you can customize the drinks to your liking. The final flourish, rimming the glasses with sea salt and black pepper, adds a slight tingle to each sip.

In their quest to achieve this drink's signature demarcation between stout and ale, some beer fanatics invest in a special Black and Tan spoon that can hook over the side of the glass. An inexpensive spoon bent at a 90-degree angle will work just as well.

By this point in the summer, the mint in most gardens has grown knee-high and is threatening to take over. Don't panic—harvest a few armloads and turn the bounty into a refreshing drink. Plan on making a couple of batches, both with and without alcohol: Adults will swoon over the smooth, bourbon-laced juleps; kids will enjoy the lightly sweetened herbal tea all on its own.

This recipe is from Eben Freeman, bartender of Tailor Restaurant in New York City.

A perfect summertime cocktail. Because it's a combination of iced tea, lemonade, and booze, we've dubbed it the Tipsy Arnold Palmer.

For the kids, simply serve the cocktail base over ice—hold the vodka, naturally.

Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine, and cava, a Spanish sparkler, both work well in this pink drink, which is as pretty as it is refreshing.

My sister likes to call this drink an adult Slurpee®. And in some ways she is right. It's really almost like a whiskey sour that's been frozen and stirred so that it crystallizes like a granita. It may be the ultimate hot summer day libation. But be warned, once you fix this for your friends and neighbors, they'll expect it all through the summer heat. And you can either brew the tea and let it cool, or use bottled or canned.

Pucker up with this refreshing sweet-sour spin on the classic gimlet. Ruby Red grapefruit vodka from Napa Valley stands in for gin, and fresh lime juice adds just the right amount of tartness.

Sangria is traditionally made with red wine. In this version, rosé gives the drink a pretty pink blush. If you prefer a stronger drink, mix in some light rum.

A meal this romantic calls for a sparkling cocktail. This pretty and delicious drink is a new take on the classic Kir Royale, a mixture of Champagne and black-currant liqueur. Here, Prosecco (the Italian bubbly) stands in for the Champagne, and peach nectar and liqueur are used instead of crème de cassis.

Frozen organic strawberries look great in the wineglasses—and help keep this pretty cocktail cool. Double the recipe if you'd like to be able to offer your guests seconds.

Editor's Note: This recipe originally accompanied a story on Mother's Day. Tequila and beer make these slushy, orange-and lime-flavored drinks pack a Texas-size punch. They're just the thing on a blazing-hot summer night.

Aromatic sprigs of rosemary smooth out vodka-spiked lemonade, providing a bracing counterpoint to the lusty flavors of the many antipasti dishes. It's a great addition to anyone's cocktail canon. To make a kid-friendly quaff, simply omit the vodka.

Pisco, a potent brandy distilled from grapes, is made in Peru and Chile, and each country claims the Pisco Sour—recognizable by its distinctive foamy head (from egg white) and tart lime flavor—as its own. A swirl of fresh pineapple juice boosts the tropical vibe.

Yanni Kehagiaras of San Francisco's Nopa restaurant created this dessert drink for a beer-cocktail competition. He says, "The rum is in there to give this beer cocktail a bit of a punch. I wanted to use a dark rum, but nothing too spicy or funky that would take the focus away from the beer. So I chose Diplomatico, which adds a subtle sweetness and caramel flavor without clashing." That approach—and this drink—is likely to wins fans on both sides of the beer/cocktail divide.