4 Garden-Fresh Summer Cocktails

Summers are for warm evenings with family and friends, sipping on refreshing cocktails on the patio. You can keep it simple, or impress your group with your bartending skills! Whatever your style, here are some cocktails made with our favorite local and western spirits that we can’t wait to enjoy this summer.

Ghostwood Bourbon Peach Smash

If you like a peachy drink with a kick, this one’s for you. From Striped Spatula, the Bourbon Peach Smash combines the flavors of peach, mint, ginger, and bourbon to create a warm but fresh happy hour cocktail.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/2 to 1 ounce brown sugar simple syrup (or regular simple syrup)
• 1/2 large peach, diced
• 3-4 large mint leaves
• 2 ounces Ghostwood bourbon
• Splash of ginger beer or seltzer water
• Ice
• Fresh mint and peach slices for garnish

To make:

• Gently muddle peach, mint leaves, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker
• Add bourbon and ice
• Give it a good shake and strain over ice
• Top with ginger beer or seltzer water
• Garnish with fresh mint and a slice of peach

We recommend using Ghostwood Bourbon with this cocktail. Their dark amber blended bourbon whiskey comes from Montana and captures the wonderful depth of flavor of bourbon barrels. The best part? You can have Ghostwood Bourbon shipped directly to Texas! Combining this rich bourbon with light peach and mint is sure to make your mouth sing.  

Western Son Prickly Pear Mule

Cacti are sharp, but the prickly pear is nothing but sweet! This simple recipe is a great one to throw together as a quick happy hour drink. The Prickly Pear Mule has three simple ingredients:

• 1 part Western Son Prickly Pear Vodka
• 2 parts Western Son Ginger Beer
• Squeeze of lime

That’s it! Just add them together and give a quick stir.

Western Son is a Texas distillery in Pilot Point, just an hour north of Fort Worth. They make a large variety of craft, flavored vodkas, like grapefruit, watermelon, and cucumber. With each bottle they sell, they donate a portion of their earnings to the Peter Burks Unsung Hero Fund, which sends care packages to deployed military troops. So this summer, enjoy a nice mule and help support a local business doing right for our military.

Frozen Banana Daiquiri with Rum from Acre Distilling Co.

We’re bringing out the big guns now. This Frozen Banana Daiquiri from The Spruce Eats is like a frozen paradise. WIth rum, triple sec, and banana, it’s both fruity and light. The Spruce Eats recommends a light rum, but we prefer something with a little more flavor.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 cup ice
• 1 medium banana, sliced
• 1 1/2 ounces light rum (or Hell’s Half Acre Aged Rum)
• 1/2 ounce triple sec
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

To make, blend up all the ingredients and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Try switching out some of the light rum for Hell’s Half Acre Aged Rum from Acre Distilling Co. (This rum is no joke at 108 proof.) Plus, Acre Distilling Co. is from right here in Fort Worth, so you’ll be helping out a local business while you enjoy sipping this tropical drink by the pool.

Watermelon Basil Gin Cocktail with Blackland Gin

There may be no fruit more synonymous with summer than watermelon. You might as well put those melons to good use by making them into a perfect cocktail. Introducing the Watermelon Basil Gin Cocktail from A Spicy Perspective. This cocktail has simple ingredients, and you don’t even have to blend the watermelon — a quick muddle will do the trick.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 ounces Blackland gin
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1/2-1 ounce simple syrup
• 2 watermelon chunks
• 2 chopped basil leaves
• Pinch of salt

To make:

• Cut watermelon into 1 ½-inch chunks
• Muddle the watermelon, basil, and salt in a cocktail shaker
• Add gin, lime juice, and simple syrup
• Fill your shaker with ice, and give it a good shake
• Pour into a glass and garnish with watermelon and basil

We recommend using Blackland Gin for this cocktail. This complex and subtle gin is from Blackland Distillery right here in Fort Worth! It’s great to support local distilleries, so give Blackland a try for your next cocktail.

Sun, Sips, and Summer

Summer is here and we couldn’t be more excited. We hope you enjoy these cocktails and will share your favorites with us as well! And, if you’re looking for an outdoor furniture set to enjoy these cocktails on, visit Brumbaugh’s and shop our collection today.