Top 10 cocktail recipes for August 2025

Shakers and bar spoons at the ready, here are 10 of the best cocktail recipes to make from home this month.

A spritz named after Renais co-founder Emma Watson landed in our 10 cocktail recipes for August

The forecast for August says it should be hot (not to jinx it) – and that means it’s prime time for refreshing summer cocktails. And right on cue, this month’s roundup of recipes is here to help, whether you’re a novice behind the bar or not.

Itching for more cocktail-making inspiration? Check out our recipes from June and July.

If you have a cocktail recipe that would fit in next month’s roundup, get in touch at info@thespiritsbusiness.com.

This summer twist on an Old Fashioned isn’t too fussed about tradition, it just wants to chill by the pool all day.

Ingredients:

60ml Sagamore Spirit Small Batch Rye Whiskey
22ml Blood orange juice
15ml Elderflower syrup
1 dash Orange-blossom water
Garnish: Basil leaf and cucumber ribbon

Method: Add ice to a mixing glass and stir in ingredients. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with basil leaf and cucumber ribbon.

Desi Daru’s South Asian-inspired Spritz calls for a sundowner, and will make your backyard feel a little more like the beach in Goa.

Ingredients:

25ml Desi Daru Alphonso Mango vodka
25ml Sauvignon Blanc
100ml London Essence Co Peach & Jasmine Soda
Curry leaf

Method: Pour Desi Daru Alphonso Mango vodka and the other ingredients into a wine glass. Fill your glass to the top with ice cubes. Add a few curry leaves and give the drink a quick stir.

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The Breakfast Ball is often associated with golf as a precursor to a perfect day out on the course.

Ingredients:

50ml Elijah Craig Bourbon
10ml Honey
Grapefruit soda
Grapefruit wedge

Method: Stir your Elijah Craig Bourbon and honey in a Highball glass until dissolved. Add ice, top with grapefruit soda, and stir again. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge and serve.

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Barbados is never too far away when you have this simple recipe from Mount Gay to hand.

Ingredients:

60ml XO
1 Coconut water ice cube

Method: Place the coconut water ice cube into an Old Fashioned glass. Add XO and serve.

recipe

This cocktail from Tatratea has a vintage European summer aesthetic, plus a subtle sweetness to taste.

Ingredients:

40ml Taratea 52% Original
20ml Almond syrup
100ml Apple juice
100ml Soda water
Lemon juice
Ice

Method: Fill a tall glass with ice and add Tatratea 52%, almond syrup, and apple juice. Squeeze in a dash of fresh lemon juice, top with soda water, and stir gently.

It’s as easy as giving the ingredients a good stir and hey presto, you’ve got yourself a top-tier Highball.

Ingredients:

50ml Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie
10ml Crème De Peche and Fino Sherry blend
Soda water
Lemon twist

Method: Fill a Highball glass with cubed ice. Pour in The Classic Laddie and Crème de Peche/Fino Sherry blend, top with soda water, stir and garnish with a lemon twist.

Mauritian rum brand Beach House’s Spicetache cocktail is a real flavour bomb – nutty, sweet, and spiced.

Ingredients:

40ml Beach House White Spiced
20ml Joseph Cartron triple sec
25ml Pistachio orgeat
25ml Lime juice
25ml Cloudy apple juice

Method: Mix all ingredients in a shaker, strain and serve in a tumbler glass. Garnish with green pistachio powder.

Throwing a tiki party and looking for a way to sneak a Margarita onto the cocktail lineup? This pineapple-flavoured variation will do the job.

Ingredients:

50ml Hacien Pineapple Tequila Blanco
20ml Agave syrup
20ml Lime juice

Method: Add all ingredients to a Boston shaker and shake well with ice. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a dehydrated pineapple slice.

This spruced-up Spritz from Renais oozes with French vineyard vibes.

Ingredients:

30ml Renais Gin
10ml Domaine Watson Chablis
20ml Elderflower syrup
20ml Fresh lemon juice
2 dashes Suze Gentian Liqueur
80ml Soda water

Method: Fill a large wine glass to the brim with large chunks of clear, good-quality ice. Add all ingredients and give a gentle stir with a long spoon to incorporate the ingredients but not to kill the bubbles.

Rewrite the Margarita playbook and take a chance on whisky rather than Tequila via this recipe from The Glenlivet.

Ingredients:

2 Parts The Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve
1 Part lime juice
0.75 Parts Italicus
0.5 Parts Agave Syrup

Method: Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Pour and top with fresh ice.

If batching, stir ingredients and pour in bottle, then refrigerate for 48 hours or freeze for up to a month.