Five Spring Cocktail Recipes from COOK by VIE You Have to Try

Spring Cocktail Recipes

With creative ingredients like pink lemonade, mint simple syrup, and pear vodka, these cocktails are sure to add a fun twist to your spring gatherings. We’ve selected five deliciously spring-inspired cocktail recipes from the Northwest Florida coastal communities, all featured in the latest coffee-table book, “COOK. Cocktails. Cuisine. Culture.” by VIE, available at VIEmagazine.com/shop-vie. So, grab your cocktail shaker and let the mixology begin!

Better Together Beverage

Love Letters

This cocktail by Christine Tarpey of Better Together Beverage is full of gratification and love!

Ingredients

1 ounce vodka

1 ½ ounces pink lemonade

¼ ounce rose syrup

¼ ounce lemon juice

Sparkling wine

Dehydrated food-grade rose petals, for garnish

1 mini envelope

1 mini clothespin

Coupe glass or martini glass

Directions

Place all ingredients except the sparkling wine in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a coupe glass and top with sparkling wine.

Sprinkle in a pinch of dehydrated rose petals for garnish. Then, write your guest an uplifting message on the mini envelope and pin it to the rim of the glass.

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The Citizen

The Jalisco Swizzle

Refreshing and minty, the swizzle hails from the long-standing West Indian tradition that paved the way for tiki. This one by The Citizen in Alys Beach, Florida, is a riff on the classic Queen’s Park Swizzle, replacing rum with tequila.

Ingredients

2 ounces Cimarron Blanco Tequila

¾ ounce lime juice

½ ounce mint simple syrup

Muddled mint

Angostura bitters

Mint bundle, for garnish

Crushed ice

Directions

Add 5 to 7 mint leaves and mint syrup to a highball glass and gently press mint with a muddler. Add tequila and lime juice, then insert your swizzle stick. Fill the glass with crushed ice, swizzle until all ingredients are mixed, and top with more crushed ice. Float bitters on top. Garnish with a mint sprig, and enjoy. ¡Salud!

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Firefly

The Dark Horse

This recipe is courtesy of Firefly PCB, a beautiful venue for casual fine dining any night of the week.

Ingredients

2 ounces Horse Soldier Bourbon

¾ ounce lemon juice

¾ ounce simple syrup

Handful of ripe blackberries

Directions

Muddle 2–3 blackberries and pour into a cocktail shaker with the liquid ingredients and fresh ice. Shake until the ingredients are well mixed, then strain over a large ice cube in a rocks glass. Garnish with a whole blackberry, and enjoy!

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Seagar’s

Fit for a Queen

Have a seat at the gorgeous cocktail bar at Seagar’s Prime Steaks and Seafood in Miramar Beach, Florida, enjoy the live piano, and take in the elevated atmosphere with incredible drinks to match.

Ingredients

1 ounce Beefeater Pink Strawberry Gin

½ ounce St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur

3 ounces brut rosé Champagne

Candied hibiscus flower, for garnish

Directions

Shake gin and St-Germain with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Top with brut rosé Champagne, and garnish with candied hibiscus flower. Cheers!

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Bijoux

Pear Lychee Martini

Visit the cocktail lounge at Bijoux in Miramar Beach, Florida, for this and other irresistible craft beverages.

Ingredients

For the Lychee Simple Syrup

6 lychees, peeled

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

For the Cocktail

2 ounces pear vodka

1 ounce sparkling wine

½ ounce lychee liqueur

¼ ounce lychee simple syrup (directions follow)

¼ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

Dehydrated lemon slice, for garnish

Directions

For the lychee simple syrup: Muddle or smash lychees and set to the side. Add the water and sugar to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add in the lychees and stir, pressing lightly on the fruit. Let the syrup reduce and thicken, then take it off the heat. Let the syrup cool. Once cooled, place the syrup in the fridge for 1 hour to let the flavor from the lychees permeate the syrup. Pour the lychee syrup through a sieve to strain.

For the cocktail: In a cocktail shaker, add pear vodka, lychee liqueur, lychee simple syrup, and lemon juice. Add ice. Shake well and strain into a cold martini glass. Top with sparkling wine. Set the dehydrated lemon slice right on top to finish.

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See many more spring cocktail recipes from mixologists around the Northwest Florida coastal communities in our latest coffee-table book, COOK. Cocktails. Cuisine. Culture. by VIE, now available at VIEmagazine.com/shop-vie.