Gin Cocktails

By Food & Wine
Updated April 13, 2018
Credit: Dylan + Jeni
It’s time to break out the gin! These delicious and refreshing gin cocktails are made for summer and feature light and fresh ingredients like citrus, jasmine and cranberry. From gimlets to martinis to mojitos, these crisp gin drinks are perfect for your summer party or sipping pool-side.
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ABCDEF

Credit: © David Malosh
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Jeff Bell of PDT in New York City combines six flavor-bomb spirits in this dry, complex cocktail. Each letter in the name stands for an ingredient: B for Beefeater gin, D for Dolin dry vermouth, E for Encanto pisco -- and so on.

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Lavender Gin Cocktail

Credit: Julian Broad
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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 round the whole thing out. This is definitely the new drink of summer.

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Chinatown Sling

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This drink is based on the Singapore sling, created at Singapore's renowned Raffles Hotel in 1915.

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The Tally Man

Credit: © David Malosh
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Indianapolis bartender Ryan Puckett loves to serve this cocktail after dinner "to cleanse the palate and satisfy the sweet tooth." He makes the drink with intensely fragrant Opihr Oriental Spice gin. If that's not available, swap in another aromatic gin, such as Monkey 47, which is also higher proof.

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Gin-and-Honey Spritzer

Credit: Eva Kolenko
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This simple, spirtzy cocktail is exactly what you want on a hot summer day. Make the honey syrup in advance, and this drink becomes a quick cocktail to throw together for guests.

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The Rabbit Gin Sour

Credit: © JOHN KERNICK
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This tangy, refreshing cocktail gets a frothy finish from shaken egg whites.

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Gin Genie

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Named after the David Bowie song "The Jean Genie," this cocktail mixes gin, lemon, mint and sloe gin—a bittersweet liqueur made of gin and sloe berries.

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English Harvest

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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Mixologist Ryan Fitzgerald felt inspired to create this spicy fall cocktail after eating apples with peanut butter—a combination he loves but that wouldn't quite work in a drink. His solution was to mix almond syrup (available at most coffee shops) with apple juice and fiery apple brandy.

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Jasmine Gin Fizz

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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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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Alejandro

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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According to Angus Winchester, "Creamy drinks have had a rough time in the world of modern mixology," so he decided to create one out of sheer "bloody-mindedness" (British lingo for cantankerousness).

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Felicitation Punch

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

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James Bond Martini

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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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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Pink Floyd

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The gin-based liquor Pimm's is mixed with Cointreau, lime and cranberry in this delicious drink.

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Lychee Gimlet

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Lychee nectar balances the tartness of fresh lime juice in the Asian-Peruvian restaurant Circolo's take on the gimlet.

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Colonial Heirloom

Credit: © David Malosh
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Houston bartender Bobby Heugel riffs on Bombay Government Punch, a recipe from the early colonial era of India. He adds Earl Grey Tea and kaffir lime leaves to his oleo-saccharum -- a mix of citrus oil and sugar that many bartenders consider an indespensable ingredients in punches.

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New Milano

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Mixologist Ryan Fitzgerald based this recipe on the Negroni, replacing the Campari with artichoke-flavored Cynar and the sweet vermouth with fruity Dimmi. He also adds salt. "A few bartenders are playing with salt in cocktails," he says. "It helps enhance flavors while counteracting the bitterness in some spirits."

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Rosemary Salty Dog

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

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Garden Elixir

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Cilantro adds fresh, herbal flavor to this gin cocktail. For even more of a cilantro kick, lightly muddle the leaves in the shaker before adding the ice and gin.

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Martini

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This recipe is adapted from the version in George Kappeler's 1895 Modern American Drinks. It was originally made with Old Tom gin, a sweetened gin unlike the London dry gin in the present-day martini.

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California Collins

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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Mixologist 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

Credit: © Quentin Bacon
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Classicist bartenders have resurrected the centuries-old ritual of the 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

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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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Limoncello Collins

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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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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The Seville

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Sherry, Lillet Blanc and orange bitters pair well with piney gin in this glamorous cocktail.

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Parsley Gin Julep

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Bartender Alan Walter remembers the genesis of this refreshing drink: "It was summer. I had already used up the restaurant's supply of fruit and was looking for a new ingredient. Half an hour later the chef, Ian Schnoebelen, asked, 'Hey, what did you do with the parsley?'"

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Ginger Rogers

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According to Ryan Fitzgerald, this drink—created by mixologists Kathy Flick and Marcovaldo Dionysos—is based on the Favorite Cocktail in Jacques Straub's 1914 book Drinks. The updated recipe amps up the Favorite's ginger flavor with an intense syrup infused with fresh ginger and black peppercorns.

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Rosemary Gin Fizz

Credit: © Maura McEvoy
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Chartreuse Gin Daisy

Credit: © Lucas Allen
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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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Tangerine Collins

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Using tangerine juice in place of lemon juice turns the Tom Collins into a great seasonal cocktail. If tangerines aren't available, you can substitute tangelos or clementines.

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Sparkling Mojito

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
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The mojito may be Cuba's national cocktail. The drink gets its name from the African word mojo, which means "to cast a spell." Making mojitos in a pitcher doesn't work—it's impossible to distribute the lime and mint evenly, plus the club soda tends to turn flat. Instead, muddle a large batch of mint, limes and sugar, then pour the mixture into glasses and top with ice, rum and club soda.

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Negroni and Tonic

Credit: Peter Frank Edwards
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This twist on a gin and tonic gets a bitter kick from Campari and grapefruit peel.

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The Bumble

Credit: Savanna Sturkie
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Bartender Sam Johnson is playful (and literal) with this cocktail, using the Spanish term “manzanilla,” meaning chamomile, with manzanilla sherry. He brews the tea and creates a concentrated syrup, then adds the syrup to the shaker with sherry, gin, and an egg white for a refreshing, frothy cocktail.

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Negroni and Tonic

Credit: Peter Frank Edwards
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This twist on a gin and tonic gets a bitter kick from Campari and grapefruit peel.

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Seasonal Pimm’s Cup