16 Vodka Cocktail Recipes Perfect for Summer

Vodka's neutral taste gives way to classic and creative cocktails, from the cosmo to unique sours.

When temperatures are soaring and your party guests are parched, check out this collection of summery vodka cocktails. Vodka is famous for it's clean finish and neutral taste, so it really lets the other cocktail ingredients shine through. This allows for classics like bloody marys, but also creative twists like a lemongrass sour or pamplemousse cooler.

When it's high summer and you need refreshing and boozy, check out this collection of our favorite vodka cocktails.

Lemongrass Sour

A far cry from the vodka sour you'll find in the average bar, this cocktail is made with lemongrass-infused vodka and shaken with egg white to produce an elegant foam. You can take a week or two and infuse vodka the old-fashioned way or use a whipped cream canister to do it instantaneously.

Get Recipe: Lemongrass Sour

Thyme for a Salty Dog

One reason to use vodka over, say, gin, is that its more neutral flavor gets out of the way and lets other ingredients be the star. That's the case in this spin on the Salty Dog, which is all about the bitter grapefruit and woodsy thyme. Don't skip salting the rim—it further amplifies the flavors.

Get Recipe: Thyme for a Salty Dog

Spicy Bloody Mary With Cilantro and Fried Shallots

A classic bloody mary is never a bad choice for a summer brunch, but this intense Thai-style variation is even better. We start with the standard vodka and tomato juice, but replace the Worcestershire with fish sauce and the Tabasco with sambal oelek. Cilantro brightens the drink up, a brown sugar simple syrup adds sweetness, and beer gives it a little fizz.

Get Recipe: Spicy Bloody Mary With Cilantro and Dried Shallots

Moscow Mule

My first choice when it comes to vodka cocktails any time of year, the Moscow Mule is even more refreshing once the temperature starts to rise. It's so simple that you don't really need a recipe—just spike ginger beer with vodka and squeeze in half a lime. The copper cup isn't required, but I swear the drink doesn't taste right without it.

Get Recipe: Moscow Mule

Pamplemousse Cooler (Vodka-Cucumber Cocktail With Grapefruit LaCroix)

Simply pouring booze into LaCroix might sound good, but it doesn't really work—most of the flavors have a bitterness that doesn't work with alcohol without some help. Bring other ingredients into play and the story changes—this pamplemousse LaCroix and vodka cocktail is brought together with simple syrup, elderflower liqueur, and muddled cucumber.

Get Recipe: Pamplemousse Cooler (Vodka-Cucumber Cocktail With Grapefruit LaCroix)

El Gallito (Pineapple-Chipotle Pitcher Cocktail)

This rare treasure, an umami-rich sweet/salty/smoky chipotle number, balances juicy pineapple with grassy, green cilantro. It straddles the line between sweet and savory: A handful of cherry tomatoes tamps down the fruity flavor without pushing the drink into full-on bloody mary territory.

Get Recipe: El Gallito (Pineapple-Chipotle Pitcher Cocktail)

Fizzy Ginger Cocktail With Pickled Watermelon Rind

This crisp, slightly spicy cocktail is made with bubbly prosecco, dry vermouth, and vodka infused with fresh ginger. What really makes the drink is the garnish of watermelon rind pickled in a sweet and spicy brine flavored with cinnamon, peppercorns, clove, and red pepper flakes.

Get Recipe: Fizzy Ginger Cocktail With Pickled Watermelon Rind

Great Gatsby

Sometimes you want to keep it simple, so we make this drink with just three ingredients: grapefruit juice, vodka, and Lillet Blanc (a citrusy wine-based aperitif). With such a short ingredient list it's important that each one is high quality—squeeze the grapefruit juice fresh and pull a decent bottle of vodka off the bar.

Get Recipe: Great Gatsby

Honey and Marmalade Sour

Orange marmalade may be sweet, but it also offers an underlying bitterness reminiscent of burnt caramel. Lemon juice helps the citrus sing while honey mellows the whole thing out in this intensely flavorful vodka sour. It's the kind of versatile cocktail that's equally appropriate day or night, all year round.

Get Recipe: Honey and Marmalade Sour

Lady Grey

Mixing one or two individual drinks is fine, but pitchers are the way to go for summer entertaining. Next time you throw a cookout try stirring up a batch of this complex sipper made with Earl Grey tea, vodka, lemon juice, mint, and ginger syrup. Even better for entertaining, the tea and syrup can be made well ahead of time and kept in the fridge.

Get Recipe: Lady Grey

L'Aventura Punch (Vodka, Mint Tea, and Amaro Cocktail)

Vodka adds a neutral kick of booze, allowing the more intriguing flavors of amaro, vermouth, and a mint tea syrup to come through.

Get Recipe: L'Aventura Punch (Vodka, Mint Tea, and Amaro Cocktail)

Strawberry-Mint Sparkler

I never let strawberry season pass without mixing at least a few cocktails. To make this one we muddle the fruit with simple syrup, lime juice, and mint leaves, shake with vodka, and top with club soda. Muddle the strawberries first before adding the mint—you want the berries to be completely pulverized, but the mint will turn bitter if you're too rough with it.

Get Recipe: Strawberry-Mint Sparkler

Cosmopolitan

I can't think of many drinks that are as maligned as the poor Cosmopolitan, and I don't doubt that most versions are less than stellar. But all it takes are better ingredients to make the Cosmo into a drink worth keeping in rotation—we make ours with citrus-flavored vodka, high quality triple sec, unsweetened 100% cranberry juice, and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Get Recipe: Cosmopolitan

Rhubarb Ginger Cocktail

Rhubarb is puckeringly tart, so recipes often pair it with sweet fruits like strawberries or raspberries. Here we go in a different direction, making the rhubarb into a syrup and mixing it with spicy ginger ale (or ginger beer, if you want it even stronger). If you're looking for something non-alcoholic, this tastes great without the vodka.

Get Recipe: Rhubarb Ginger Cocktail

The Phil Collins

The Tom Collins—made with gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup—is ripe for variation. Scott Marshall of The Hawthorne in Boston came up with this version, swapping the gin for cucumber vodka, which gets mixed with lime juice, Yellow Chartreuse, and a dash of cranberry bitters.

Get Recipe: The Phil Collins

The Best Bloody Mary

To make the best bloody mary skip the mix and doctor up your tomato juice from scratch with horseradish, Worcestershire, and hot sauce.

Get Recipe: The Best Bloody Mary

Read the original article on Serious Eats.