32 Refreshing Gin Cocktails

Tom Collins
Photo: Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter

With fresh ingredients like lavender, honey, hibiscus, and lemon, many gin cocktails seem destined for warm-weather sipping. But these bright, clean drinks needn't be relegated to the confines of a rising mercury. From gimlets to martinis to fizzes, crisp gin cocktails are great really whenever you're seeking something cool and refreshing. Try any of these 32 terrific gin drink recipes and see for yourself.

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Lavender Gin Cocktail

Lavender Gin Cocktail
Julian Broad

This spritzy, floral cocktail from La Granja in Ibiza, Spain, will make anyone a gin drinker. The lavender plays perfectly with a botanical-forward gin and a touch of lime juice and agave rounds the whole thing out.

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Turf Club Cocktail

Turf Club Cocktail
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Unlike a martini, which traditionally leans on dry gin and vermouth, the Turf Club Cocktail is slightly sweet from the addition of maraschino liqueur, an aromatic liqueur distilled from cherries. This recipe from Brooklyn's retro mainstay Gage & Tollner uses fresh orange to balance the juniper-forward gin.

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James Bond Martini

James Bond Martini, Smoky's Club • Madison, WI
© Tina Rupp

For this variation on the Vesper from Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale bar manager "Martini Bob" Perry adds a Wisconsin touch: blue-cheese-stuffed olives.

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Gin-Campari Old-Fashioned

Gin-Campari Old-Fashioned
© Marcus Nilsson

Dave Kwiatkowski of The Sugar House in Detroit creates this variation on an old-fashioned by swapping gin for the whiskey. A splash of Campari adds bitterness and a rosy color.

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Jasmine Gin Fizz

Jasmine Gin Fizz
© Tina Rupp

Master mixologist Ryan Fitzgerald always wanted to incorporate the floral scent of jasmine tea into a cocktail. He chose to add it to the late 19th-century Silver Fizz by using gin infused with jasmine tea.

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Felicitation Punch

Felicitation Punch

© Tina Rupp

In this pleasantly tart punch, cocktail historian David Wondrich mixes Irish whiskey with gin to mimic the taste of a richer, older style of gin.

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Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd
© William Meppem

The gin-based liqueur Pimm's is mixed with Cointreau, lime, and cranberry in this delightful drink from the late, great chef Floyd Cardoz.

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Lychee Gimlet

Lychee Gimlet
© Tina Rupp

Lychee nectar balances the tartness of fresh lime juice in this fantastic take on the gimlet. Garnish it with a fresh lychee if you can.

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Rosemary Salty Dog

Rosemary Salty Dog
© Tina Rupp

Chef Ashley Christensen adds muddled fresh rosemary in her version of the gin and grapefruit juice classic.

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Frozen Martini

freezer martini
Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

There's no ice and no stirring or shaking with the Frozen Martini: With a formula of two parts gin, one part vermouth, and one part water, the ideal dilution is built into the batch. When you take it out of the freezer, the liquid won't be completely frozen but will glide right out of the bottle. Let it sit in the glass on the counter for a minute before sipping. The garnish is up to you.

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California Collins

California Collins
© Tina Rupp

Bartender Ryan Fitzgerald created this drink for the 2009 San Francisco Slow Food Festival using only local ingredients: The gin came from Distillery No. 209, the apples for the juice from a Sonoma orchard, and the lemon verbena from an urban garden run by his cousin. Even the club soda was Bay Area–made, by the bottle-recycling Seltzer Sisters.

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Mother's Ruin Punch

Mother's Ruin Punch
© Quentin Bacon

Classicist bartenders have resurrected the centuries-old ritual of formal punch service. Here, mixologist Philip Ward makes a potent concoction named after the old British slang for gin.

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The Harrier

The Harrier
© Tina Rupp

Mixologist Greg Best named his lavender-scented riff on a Greyhound made with gin instead of vodka after a dog known for its keen sense of smell: the harrier.

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Rosemary Gin Fizz

Rosemary Gin Fizz
© Maura McEvoy

Fragrant rosemary perfumes this bubbly, bright cocktail in two ways. First, a rosemary-infused syrup provides a touch of sweetness, then a fresh sprig garnish awakens the senses as the glass is drawn to your lips.

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Limoncello Collins

Limoncello Collins, Hatfields• Los Angeles
© Tina Rupp

The Collins was most likely named after 19th-century bartender John Collins of London's Limmer's Hotel. The Tom Collins was originally made with Old Tom, a sweet style of gin that's extremely hard to find today.

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Chartreuse Gin Daisy

Chartreuse Gin Daisy
© Lucas Allen

Mixologist Patricia Richards swaps honey-sweetened yellow Chartreuse (a spicy herbal liqueur) for the usual grenadine in her simple Gin Daisy variation.

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Pimm's Cup

Pimm's Cup

This classic boozy cooler originated in Britain as a health drink in the 1800s. It contains Pimm's No. 1, a fruity gin-based spirit.

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Rosy Hibiscus-Gin Lowball

Rosy Hibiscus Gin Lowball
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Kathleen Varner

On the fence when it comes to gin? Try a sip of this gateway cocktail. Also known as sorrel, roselle — the type of hibiscus used in most hibiscus teas — complements the floral notes of gin, resulting in a refreshing, balanced beverage.

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Plum Gin Fizz

Plum Gin Fizz
Photo by Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Sue Mitchell

This fruity gin fizz isn't overly sweet, allowing the flavor of the caramelized plums to shine. A botanical gin works well with the fruit in this cocktail, adding herbaceous and fruity notes. To play up the deep color of the plums, try Empress 1908, a royal purple–hued, botanical-style spirit. For a vegan version, in place of the egg white, substitute 3 tablespoons unsalted or low-sodium aquafaba.

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Sakura Martini

Sakura Martini
Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ali Ramee / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

This elegant, modern take on the saketini was created by Kenta Goto, owner of Manhattan's Bar Goto and Brooklyn's Bar Goto Niban. Goto uses aged genshu sake and gin in the drink, and garnishes it with a salt-pickled sakura, or cherry blossom.

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Gin and Tonic

Gin and Tonic
Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter

The herbaceous, juniper-forward flavor of botanical London Dry Gin is perfectly carried by tonic water's sweetness.

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Sour-Cherry Gin Slings

Sour-Cherry Gin Slings
© John Kernick

This sweet-tart concoction is based on the classic Singapore sling, replacing the traditional cherry brandy with an intensely vibrant homemade sour cherry syrup.

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Lemon and Lavender Gin Fizz

Lemon and Lavender Gin Fizz
Victor Protasio

Leopold’s Summer Gin brings a smooth, floral flavor to this botanical cocktail with notes of cucumber, sage, lemon, and lavender. Be sure to use food-safe rose petals, not ones treated with pesticides or insecticides, for garnish.

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Tom Collins

Tom Collins
Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter

With likeness to a Gin Sling or Gin Fizz, the Tom Collins is a refreshing cocktail made with gin, freshly squeezed lemon juice, a bit of sugar, and carbonated water. It's thirst-quenching and refreshing, with balanced sweet and sour flavors along with an enticing, fizzy finish.

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French 75

French 75
Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter

This luxurious, delicious combination of gin and Champagne can be easily scaled up for a crowd.

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Cucumber-Rose Gin Spritz

Cucumber Rose Gin Spritz
Victor Protasio

A classic combination of gin, lemon, and club soda gets a refreshing twist with cucumber, basil, and black cardamom-infused syrup. Dried rose petals add a subtle floral flavor and act as a beautiful garnish.

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Negroni

Negroni
Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter

Despite the Negroni's endless capacity for shape-shifting, this recipe is for the most classic version of the cocktail — think of it as an ode to its comforting simplicity. Made with vibrant red Campari, sweet vermouth, and gin, the drink is balanced with a combination of earthy, bitter, and botanical flavors.

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Concord Grape Gin Fizz

Concord Grape Gin Fizz
© Jonny Valiant

This vibrant purple cocktail — made with Concord grapes, gin, port, and lemon — is frothy, fruity, and refreshing.

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The Monarch Cocktail

The Monarch
Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis

Pamplemousse liqueur lends mellow citrus flavor that highlights the grapefruit notes in Lillet Rosé in The Monarch cocktail, a martini-style drink from top bartender Shannon Tebay.

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Chandelier Martini

Chandelier Martini
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Stirred exactly 24 times, this classic martini is made extra special with the addition of Chandelier Magic, a citrusy and aromatic homemade blend of bitters. Anise-flavored Herbsaint brings a subtle herbaceousness that pairs perfectly with the slightly sweet Old Tom-style gin. While this recipe calls for three gins, they each bring a unique flavor and combine elegantly in this aromatic martini.

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Butterfly's Breath

Butterfly's Breath
Christopher Testani

The late Julia and Paul Child often entertained friends with cocktails, many of them invented by Paul Child, who delighted in creating custom drinks. A small collection of Paul’s recipes, written on 3-by-5 index cards, was recently discovered in Julia Child’s archives. Among them is this sweet, apricot brandy–laced riff on the gimlet.

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Bee's Knees

Bee's Knees
Abby Hocking

The Bee's Knees combines the bright and lightly sweet flavors of lemon, honey, and gin. This classic cocktail is traditionally served up, but Chef Missy Robbins prefers hers on the rocks.

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