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There is something quietly brilliant about having a juicer on your worktop in summer. Fresh fruit is cheap, the days are long and the gap between "I fancy something cold" and having it is surprisingly small. You do not need a cocktail shaker, a bar cart or a degree in mixology. Just good produce, a few minutes and a machine that does the hard work.
These six drinks cover both sides of the garden party. Three are alcohol-free, three have a little something extra. All of them use juice you make yourself, which makes a bigger difference than you might expect.
Why Fresh Juice Makes a Better Cocktail
Shop-bought juice is fine at breakfast. In a cocktail or mocktail, it flatters to deceive. The flavour is thinner, the colour is duller and it tastes like it came from a carton. Because it did.
Cold-pressed juice is a different thing entirely. The slow masticating process extracts more from the fruit without heating it, so you get brighter flavour, richer colour and more nutrients in the glass. Run a watermelon through a cold press juicer and it tastes properly, intensely of watermelon. That is the base ingredient that makes these drinks worth making.
A couple of other bits of kit will help. Good ice matters more than people think. Thin, watery cubes melt fast and water everything down. A set of silicone ice cube trays gives you bigger, slower-melting cubes that keep things cold without ruining the drink. And if you are slicing garnishes like lime wedges, cucumber rounds or pineapple chunks, a 7-in-1 vegetable chopper takes the tedium out of prep. Worth having on the counter before you start.
Cocktails with a Kick: Three Recipes That Use Fresh Juice
1. Watermelon Vodka Spritz
Vodka is an honest base spirit. It stays out of the way and lets the other flavours do their thing. Here that means the watermelon gets to shine, which is exactly what you want on a warm afternoon.
What you need (serves 2):
- 300ml fresh watermelon juice
- 60ml good-quality vodka
- Juice of 1 lime
- Sparkling water to top
- Ice
- Fresh mint and watermelon wedges to garnish
How to make it:
Combine the watermelon juice, vodka and lime juice in a jug and stir. Fill two glasses with ice, pour to about three-quarters full and top with sparkling water. Garnish with mint and a wedge of watermelon. Serve straight away.
Practical tip: Do not skip the lime. Without it the drink tips into sweet and flat. That acidic edge is what keeps it lively.
2.Fresh Pineapple and Rum Punch
Rum and pineapple is a reliable pairing and nobody is apologising for it. The difference here is the freshly pressed juice. It is sharper, more tart and considerably more interesting than anything from a carton.
What you need (serves 4):
- 400g fresh pineapple, skin removed
- 100ml white rum
- 50ml dark rum
- Juice of 2 limes
- A generous splash of grenadine (optional)
- Ice
- Pineapple chunks and lime slices to garnish
How to make it:
Juice the pineapple to get around 350ml. Combine with both rums, the lime juice and grenadine in a large jug. Have a taste and add more lime if it needs sharpening. Pour over ice and garnish with pineapple and lime. Scales up easily if you are making a batch.
Practical tip: Make the juice that morning, keep it in the fridge and assemble the drinks when guests arrive. The juice holds well for a day.
3. Cucumber and Elderflower Gin Collins
This is the most elegant of the six. Gin and elderflower is a classic British summer combination and fresh cucumber juice makes it feel genuinely special. It tastes like it cost more effort than it did.
What you need (serves 2):
- 1 medium cucumber, roughly chopped
- 60ml London Dry gin
- 30ml elderflower cordial
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Soda water to top
- Ice
- Thin cucumber rounds and lemon slices to garnish
How to make it:
Juice the cucumber through your cold press juicer to get around 180ml. Combine with the gin, elderflower cordial and lemon juice in a tall jug or cocktail shaker with ice. Stir well and strain into ice-filled glasses. Top with soda water and garnish with cucumber and lemon.
Practical tip: Taste before you add the full amount of elderflower cordial, especially if yours is on the sweet side. It can go cloying quickly and there is no fixing it once it is in.
Mocktail Recipes: Three Non-Alcoholic Drinks Worth Making
4. Watermelon and Mint Cooler
This is almost unfairly easy. Watermelon juice is naturally sweet and a beautiful shade of pink when it is cold. A squeeze of lime and some fresh mint and you have something that looks like it came from a proper beach bar.
What you need (serves 2):
- 400g seedless watermelon, roughly chopped
- Juice of 1 lime
- A small handful of fresh mint leaves
- Sparkling water to top
- Ice
How to make it:
Run the watermelon through your cold press juicer to get roughly 300ml of juice. Stir in the lime juice. Fill two glasses with ice, add a few torn mint leaves to each and pour the juice over. Top with sparkling water and finish with a mint sprig.
Practical tip: The juice keeps for two days in the fridge. Add the sparkling water just before serving or it goes flat.
5. Cucumber, Apple and Ginger Refresh
For anyone who finds fruit-heavy drinks a bit much, this one sits in different territory. The cucumber keeps it cool, the apple adds a clean sweetness and the ginger brings just enough warmth to stop it being boring. It is also very good for you, which frankly feels like cheating.
What you need (serves 2):
- 1 large cucumber, roughly chopped
- 2 green apples, cored and quartered
- A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled
- Ice
- A few slices of cucumber to garnish
How to make it:
Feed everything through the juicer. The slow masticating action is particularly good with ginger, getting more juice out of it than a fast-spinning machine would. You should end up with around 350ml. Taste it and adjust. Add more apple for sweetness or more ginger for heat, then serve over ice.
Practical tip: Drink this within a few hours. Green juices oxidise faster than fruit-only ones and this one is best made fresh.
6. Pineapple, Carrot and Turmeric Sunshine
If drink five is cool and green, this one is the opposite. Warm in colour, slightly tropical, with the kind of golden look that photographs well if you care about that sort of thing (and honestly, who does not a little). The turmeric is subtle, but it adds an edge that makes the whole thing taste more interesting.
What you need (serves 2):
- 200g fresh pineapple, skin removed and roughly chopped
- 3 medium carrots, scrubbed
- A small piece of fresh turmeric root (or a pinch of ground turmeric)
- Juice of half a lemon
- Ice
How to make it:
Juice the pineapple, carrots and turmeric together. The carrot gives this real body and the slow press gets considerably more out of it than a fast blade would. Stir in the lemon juice and serve over ice.
Practical tip: Turmeric stains badly. Do this over the sink.
Tips for Juicing Cocktails and Mocktails at Home
Fresh is better. Cold-pressed juice keeps for 48 to 72 hours but the flavour is noticeably better on the day you make it.
Do not throw away the pulp. Carrot and apple pulp goes well in cakes or overnight oats. Cucumber pulp works in a face mask if you are that way inclined. Nothing needs to go in the bin.
Batch it sensibly. If you are making these for a group, juice everything the morning before, keep it chilled and let people build their own drinks. Trying to juice to order with a kitchen full of people is a recipe for chaos.
Taste everything before you serve it. Fruit changes a lot with the season. A July pineapple is nothing like an April one. Trust what is in the glass more than the measurements on the page.
For everything you need alongside these recipes, the Keplin kitchen accessories range covers prep tools, serving kit and more.
