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Every weekend should be a three-day weekend.
These sparkling cocktails are ideal for sipping on a warm summer day. Grab your favorite flavored sparkling water — like La Croix or Spindrift — and get creative. Some of my favorite combinations are tangerine sparkling water with gin and Aperol; lime water with tequila, Cointreau, and fresh lime juice; and pear water with Lillet Blanc and sliced stone fruit.
Just wrap a wet paper towel or dish towel around each beer or wine bottle and stick them in the freezer for about 10 minutes. When you take them out, they'll be freezing cold.
We can thank TikTok for this adorable Corona Sunrise drink, which is made right in the bottle. First, grab a bottle of Corona beer (or similar, such as Modelo or even Bud Light Lime) and drink several sips. Then add back in a shot of tequila, a bit of orange juice and grenadine for sweetness, and fresh lime juice for acidity. Give it a good shake and enjoy straight from the bottle. You can follow this recipe from Sugar and Soul.
Mix together wine, simple syrup, and orange liqueur. Add the liquid to ice pop molds and drop a bunch of chopped fruit into each. You can use any type of wine and play around with different liquids, from peach schnapps or flavored vodka to fruit juice, depending on how boozy you want your pops to taste. Let the molds sit in the freezer overnight, and the next day, you've got adorable sangria ice pops.
All you need is wine, unflavored powdered gelatin, fruit juice (or liqueur), and your favorite fruit. Simmer some wine (I'd go for rosé or white wine here) and add it to the gelatin. Then add even more wine and the fruit juice of your choice and pour it over chopped fruit in small plastic cups. Refrigerate the jello cups overnight.
Freeze lemonade into ice cube trays until solid. Once frozen, place the lemonade ice cubes in a blender with frozen raspberries and vodka. Blend it all up, adding more ice or lemonade if necessary to reach your desired consistency. Be careful, though: This stuff is so tasty, you could probably add an entire handle of vodka and still not really notice it.
Let's be honest: There will be moments this summer where you're going to want a portable cocktail. That's where this homemade, adult Capri Sun comes into the picture. Just whip up your favorite cocktail, pour it into plastic baggies (or these reusable drink pouches), and bring it anywhere. You can make them in five minutes. I can recommend this recipe for three-ingredient kiwi-strawberry-vodka cocktails, but you can get creative.
If you're in a pinch for simple syrup or another sweetener, know that drink flavoring packets or mixers (like Crystal Light or Mio) can pull double duty when added to things like cranberry vodka sodas or spiked lemonades.
Grab your favorite hard seltzer — like White Claw or Truly — a cup of fruit, a handful of ice, and any other alcohol or mixers you want to add. Blend it all up and serve. I would actually recommend using frozen fruit instead of fresh because it makes the slushy a better consistency, and adding a bit of your favorite spirit to take things up a notch without drastically changing the flavor.
You'll need orange-flavored gummy bears, gin, and Campari (you could add red vermouth, but the gummy bears already add plenty of sweetness). In a large bowl or baking dish, soak the gummies in equal parts gin and Campari for at least six hours until plump and firm. Don't let them sit for so long that they get mushy. You can refrigerate them, but I find that boozy gummy bears taste best when left at room temperature.
If you want a fancy cocktail but don't want to go through the motions of making simple syrup, look no further than the jar of jam in the back of your fridge. Both sweet and fruity, any jam can replace any fancy juices and expensive sweeteners.
Have some fun with it and play around with different concoctions. I've made jam cocktails with gin + triple berry jam + lime, tequila + raspberry jam + lime, and vodka + peach jam + lemon. I personally like topping mine with a bit of club soda at the end.
Pour a generous amount of Tajín chile lime seasonining on a small plate. Grab a glass and dunk the rim into a bowl of water. Then place the rim of the glass onto the plate of Tajín seasoning and dab it until evenly coated. Pour your margarita into the glass and rejoice. Or, if you're feeling extra lazy, just opt for this.
I've seen this hack with Skittles, but the issue is that Skittles dissolve and the vodka needs to be filtered. Instead, try infusing your vodka with Jolly Ranchers. Unwrap the Jolly Ranchers and sort them by color, then add the candy to pitchers of vodka. Shake or stir the pitchers to evenly distribute the candy and let them sit overnight. In the morning, you have a fun and vibrant party drink (and not to mention, your cheap vodka won't taste so terrible anymore).
Using a small spoon, ice cream scooper, or melon baller if you happen to have one, scoop little balls out of watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, or a combination of all three. Cover the melon in a mixture of vodka or tequila and some fruit juice for a little sugar. Add some fresh basil and mint if you're feeling fancy (or don't), and let them soak, covered, in the fridge for a few hours. These taste delicious on their own or added to a cocktail for double the booze.
Hangover "cures" are a dime a dozen — we've highlighted many that readers swear by, as well as tried several of our own. Everyone has a different way of troubleshooting the morning after, but the important thing is that you think (and hopefully prep!) ahead.
Personally, I've tried everything — Pedialyte, Liquid I.V. hangover patches, etc. — and my favorite, most effective thing so far is Biolyte, a hydrating electrolyte drink. What works for you? Tell me in the comments!