Six cocktails for summer good times

Cynar and wine

Cynar is an artichoke amaro – unfashionably brown but incredibly delicious. It can be made into an ugly spritz, or you can embrace its hue and make this little number. My aperitivo of 2026.

Makes 1

A twist of lemon
30ml Cynar
Dry white wine (preferably Italian, such as pecorino or garganega), chilled
A skewered olive, to garnish

Sweep the rim of a chilled nick and nora glass with the lemon, then drop it into the glass. Add the Cynar, top with the wine, add an ice cube and stir. Add the skewered olive and serve.

Sunshine spritz

Nothing says summer like a spritz made with Suze, a luminous yellow bitter made with gentian root. Italians would make this with prosecco, but given the French roots of this drink, I like to make it with crémant.

Makes 1

60ml Suze
90ml dry sparkling wine, chilled
1 wedge each of orange and lemon

Half fill a large stemmed wine glass with ice, then add the Suze, followed by the sparkling wine. Stir briefly, so as not to lose too much of that eponymous spritz, and serve with the citrus slices.

Black velvet

Luxurious, soft and bracing, this cocktail shouldn’t work but really does. If you’re like me and can’t quite bring yourself to use champagne for a mashup, crémant works brilliantly.

Makes 1

90ml stout (eg Guinness), chilled
90ml dry sparkling wine (I used a crémant), chilled

Tilt a champagne flute and slowly add the stout. Place the flute on a level surface to allow the stout to settle before topping up with sparkling wine. Serve.

Tinto de verano

So much easier to make – and less boozy or sweet – than sangria, this refreshing “summer red wine” is ideal for hot afternoons in the sun. You can even assemble it at a picnic.

Makes 1

150ml fruity red wine

Half fill a tumbler with ice, and add the red wine followed by the lemonade/flavoured soda. Give it a quick, perfunctory stir before garnishing with the citrus slices and mint leaves. Serve.

Adonis

True to its name, this is a dreamboy of a drink. He’s everywhere on cocktail menus right now; here’s how to bring him home.

Makes 1

45ml dry white sherry (fino or manzanilla), chilled
45ml sweet vermouth (I used Cocchi vermouth di Torino), chilled
A few dashes of Angostura bitters
A twist of orange

In a cocktail shaker, put the sherry, vermouth, bitters and a couple of cubes of ice. Stir for 30 seconds, to combine and get the whole lot really cold, then strain into a chilled nick & nora glass, fresh from the freezer. Garnish with the orange twist, and serve.

Cheat’s frosé

If you buy bags of frozen strawberries, this is particularly easy – prepare a batch of the slush ahead so you can make individual frosés as and when you like. I recommend pre-chilling the rosé with a frozen wine sleeve in the fridge.

Makes 1

Dry rosé, very chilled
Fresh strawberries, to garnish

For the strawberry “slush” (makes enough for 6-8)
300g frozen strawberries
Juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp maple syrup or caster sugar

Put the frozen strawberries, lemon juice and syrup in a blender or Nutribullet and blitz until you have a puree. Return it to the freezer until you are ready to make the drink.

To a coupe glass, add one tablespoon of the strawberry slush, breaking it up a little once in the glass. Top with the very cold wine and garnish with a small (or halved) strawberry, cutting into its flesh halfway to sit it over the rim of your glass. Serve.