The Definitive Summer Bar

How to restock your bar with refreshing spirits that make a stunner of a patio cocktail.

Summertime . . . and the drinking is easy. Time to restock your bar with refreshing spirits that make a stunner of a patio cocktail. Yep—we've got that part covered, too. Go ahead, pick your poison. (All available at Surdyk's.)

We chose Don Cesar Pisco Puro for its sweet perfume reminiscent of grappa and citrus. It's commonly used in the Chilcano, a smooth and tart refresher.

  • Combine 2 ounces pisco and .5 ounce fresh lime juice in a glass. Add ice and fill with ginger ale. Optional: Top with grated ginger.

Celebration Aquavit is distilled with dill, caraway, coriander, juniper, and a little citrus before it's aged. This one does well as a substitute for gin.

  • Stir 2 ounces aquavit and 3 dashes bitters in a cocktail glass. Optional: Add a splash of soda.

For a beverage packed with so many ingredients (rhubarb, carrots, beets, coriander, lemon, vanilla, cardamom), Art in the Age Rhubarb Tea is a light and lyrical sipper. Mixed in a traditional gimlet, it's simply summer.

  • Pour 1.5 ounces rhubarb tea, 2.25 ounces gin, and .75 ounce simple syrup in a mixing glass over ice. Shake and pour into a cocktail glass. Squeeze a lime wedge on top.

We are psyched to find this yuzu juice, which makes your drinking life that much easier. It's a simple fit to switch up your bellini routine.

  • Pour 2 ounces yuzu juice into a champagne glass. Top slowly with 4 ounces champagne.

A traditional French triple sec, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao has been thrice distilled with spices, bitters, and orange peels blended with brandy and cognac. It will elevate your margaritas to new heights.

  • Shake 2 ounces tequila, .75 ounce curaçao, .75 ounce fresh lime juice, and .25 ounce simple syrup with ice. Strain into a rocks glass.

Skinos Mastiha Spirit has been around since 600 BC, so it's about time you tried it. It's great on the rocks—or with this version of a whiskey sour.

  • Shake 1.75 ounces Skinos, .75 ounce lemon juice, .25 ounce simple syrup and an egg white very well, with ice. Strain into a glass. Garnish with an orange peel.