Spirit.ED: Drinks To Enhance Your Memorial Day Weekend Celebration

Memorial Day weekend tends to be a time where family and friends join together to salute the troops and enjoy good times. Nothing beats a weekend kickback like a good adult beverage, and we’ve got some offerings below that might help out in a major way.

Memorial Day Drink Ideas For All

The array of adult beverages is staggering, and I’m usually at a loss for what to go for most weekends. If you’re a reader of this space, you’ll know I’m mostly into cocktails but I’ve managed to become a neat bourbon and whisky sipper too. For this list of drinks, we’re mixing it up with all kinds of brands, RTD offerings, and more. Hopefully, you’ll find something here that’ll catch the eye.

The Paloma cocktail hits a lot of marks as it’s equally refreshing, sweet, tart, savory, and bubbly. Milagro Select Silver tequila forms the backdrop for this recipe.

Paloma Select

Ingredients:

1 1/2 parts Milagro Select Silver

½ part agave nectar

1 part pink grapefruit juice

½ part fresh lime juice

3 parts sparkling water

1 pink grapefruit wedge

Method:

Pour all ingredients, except sparkling water, into a Boston shaker with ice.

Shake vigorously and strain into a highball glass with fresh ice.

Top with sparkling water.

Hendrick’s Gin is a fine spirit with tonic water or on the rocks, but it absolutely shines in cocktails too. The Hibiscus Collins is a twist on the classic Tom Collins, created by Hendrick’s Gin East Coast Ambassador Erik Andersson.

Hibiscus Collins

Ingredients:

2 parts Hendrick’s Gin

¾ parts Hibiscus Syrup

3/4 parts Lemon Juice

Top with Soda Water Mint Sprig & Lemon twist to garnish

Method:

Combine ingredients in a highball glass filled with cubed ice and lightly stir.

Garnish with a mint sprigs & lemon twist and serve.

Americans love their bourbon and rye whiskey (with an “e”) and other parts of the world prefer their whisky. Glenfiddich 14 Year Bourbon Barrel Reserve brings Scotland lore together with Kentucky flair. We’ve never tried this particular whisky but we’ll search for it in the wild. Check out this cocktail from Allan Roth Glenfiddich Ambassador Allan Roth.

The Glenfiddich Highland Cooler

Ingredients:

1 part Glenfiddich 14-Year-Old Bourbon Barrel Reserve

5 parts Watermelon Juice

Garnish: Watermelon & Mint

Method: This might be one of the simplest, and most delicious, drinks you can make on the 4th of July.

Simply cool the juice (pureed fruit) of a ripe, seedless watermelon, and mix it five to one with Glenfiddich 14 Year Bourbon Barrel Reserve.

Pour into a highball or rocks glass and garnish with a small watermelon wedge and some mint.

For extra credit, stick the 5:1 mixture in the freezer. Once it’s set, scrape it out with a fork to create a delicious watermelon Glenfiddich snow cone.

The RTD market is exploding and the celebrity-backed Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits brand wants to be your next go-to grab. Sarah Jessica Parker presents The Perfect Cosmo; John Cena offers The Classic Old Fashioned; Ashley Benson, Rosario Dawson, and Vanessa Hudgens teamed up for The Margalicious Margarita, and Playboi Carti shows out with The Hardscatto. Check them out below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc1L2cFMIcj/

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Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and Fistful Of Bourbon are brands we’ve featured before and this delightful pair of cocktails are perfect for the holiday weekend. Check them out!

Don’t Tread On Jerry

Ingredients:

2 parts Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

3 dashes Bitters

Top with sarsaparilla or root beer

Method: Build cocktail in Collins glass over ice, stirring until mixed well. Garnish with lime wedge.

Fistful Pops, Created by Anthony Bohlinger, National Fistful of Bourbon Brand Ambassador

Ingredients:

Strawberry Top

2 cup Diced Strawberries

1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

½ cup Greek yogurt

Colada Center

1 ½ cups of fresh pineapple cubes

1 cup unsweetened coconut cream

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 part Fistful of Bourbon

1 ½ Teaspoons Fresh lime Juice

¼ Teaspoon kosher salt

Blueberry Base

2 cups Blueberries

1/4 cup Granulated sugar

½ cup Greek Yogurt

Method: Makes 12 popsicles. For each flavor section, add all ingredients in a blender & puree. Fill popsicle molds ¼ full with strawberry blend and freeze for 1 hour. Take colada mix and fill popsicle molds ¾ full and freeze for 1 hour. Add the blueberry mix and insert popsicle.

The Sierra Nevada brand is known for its fine lineup of brews and we’re featuring the seasonal Summer Break, the newest Little Things offering, Sunny Little Things, and Strainge Beast hard kombucha.

Lastly, our final entries in our Memorial Day cocktail roundup come from Svedka. Crafted here in the United States, the brand rolled out some vodka seltzers and a pair of fun cocktails that we’ll share below.

Red Fin

Ingredients:

2 Parts SVEDKA Vodka

6 Parts Chopped Seedless Watermelon

½ Parts Simple Syrup

¼ Parts Fresh Lemon Juice

How To:

Combine ingredients in a blender with ½ cup of ice and blend until smooth. Garnish with a watermelon slice.

Red, White & Boom Punch

Ingredients:

1 ¾ Parts SVEDKA Vodka

¾ Parts Lemonade

½ Parts Triple Sec

1 Part Cranberry Juice

1 Part Fresh Lime Juice

How To:

Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl or pitcher. Add 5-6 cups of ice, stir, and garnish with blueberries and strawberries. As the party continues, add more ice and fruit as needed.

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Photo: Getty