It’s set to be a massive summer for the UK’s on-trade, with key sporting occasions throughout paired with (hopefully) sunny days to be enjoyed in our favourite pubs and bars.
We’ve pulled together an array of delicious summer cocktails to help inspire your bar menus this Summer 2024. From creative wine cocktails to classics featuring favourite spirits brands, read on to check out our top picks.
Does wine go in cocktails? Yes!
According to PROOF Insight, 46% of premium venues listed a cocktail containing still wine in 2023, compared to just 27% in the previous year.
As customer venture out into the on-trade, they are seeking memorable experiences and want something they can’t easily get at home. Feed their desire for experimentation by introducing some delicious wine-based cocktails into your summer menu.
Bottega Gold
With its eye-catching bottle design, Bottega Gold is perfect for those all-important Instagram pictures. Prosecco is a go-to for brunch occasions, being easy-to-serve and an enjoyable sip with breakfast dishes.
How about serving a Bottega Bellini? The famous Bellini cocktail was invented at Harry's Bar in Venice in 1934. It’s perfect for those special brunch occasions – just add peach puree to your Bottega Gold!
For those seeking an elevated spritz experience, we suggest a Bottega Spritz!
To make:
50 ml Bottega Limoncino
75 ml Bottega Gold Prosecco DOC
25 ml soda water
Ice cubes
Half a slice of lemon
Sprig of mint
Fill a large, long-stemmed wine glass with ice cubes. Pour in Bottega Gold Prosecco DOC, Bottega Limoncino, soda water and stir well. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint.
Wild Life Botanicals
As consumers are becoming more health conscious, we’re seeing people drinking less alcohol – 1 in 3 customers are now moderating their alcohol intake. However, this doesn’t always mean cutting out the booze completely, but rather moderating their intake by swapping some of their normally alcoholic drinks for non-alcohol alternatives, like mocktails.
Top Tip: Draw attention to your non-alcoholic sips by highlighting them on your menu, sharing them on social media, and getting your staff to recommend tasty alcohol-free drinks.
With its uplifting elixir of vitamins, minerals and botanicals, Wild Life Botanicals is a unique English bubby that is ultra-low in alcohol yet ultra-high in flavour.
How about adding a Cornish Spritz to your summer menu?
To make:
50 ml Night or Rose Vermouth
2 dashes of orange bitters
20 ml soda water
Wild Life Botanicals Nude
Fill a large wine glass with ice. Add Night or Rose Vermouth to the glass, along with orange bitters. Add Wild Life Botanicals Nude, then top with soda water. Stir and garnish with a slice of orange for a hint of citrus.
Top tip: Wine-based cocktails and spritzes are a great way to engage with the younger crowds during summer, with a quarter of 18–34-year-olds describing them as appealing.
Hampton Water Rosé
Always popular amongst wine drinkers, but even more so in the summer, a rosé is the perfect sipper for any occasion. Research has found that this pink drink attracts consumers of all profiles, with women, younger people and city dwellers more likely than average to choose rosé over other wines.
Rock legend, Jon Bon Jovi, and his son Jesse have teamed up with winemaker, Gérard Bertrand, to create the fresh and easy-to-drink Hampton Water Rosé.
Perfect for customers to enjoy with friends in the summer sun, this rosé also works well in a range of cocktails. For the ultimate refresher, serve a Hampton Water Frosé!
To make:
4 cups frozen strawberries
1 bottle Hampton Water Rosé
60 ml vodka
15 ml simple syrup
Add frozen strawberries, rosé, vodka, simple syrup and ice to blender. Blend until it reaches slushie consistency. Serve in coupe glass and garnish with strawberry.
Top Tip: For those seeking a bolder flavour, swap your vodka for a tequila.
Gérard Bertrand Orange Gold
Orange wine is an increasingly popular choice among wine drinkers looking for a new taste adventure. Made from white grapes fermented with their skins, orange wine offers a unique flavour profile that combines the tannic intensity of red wine with the refreshing crispness of white wine, offering a captivating sensory experience.
Adding orange wine cocktails to your list is a great way to introduce customers to this unique style of wine. The Gérard Bertrand Orange Gold Negroni is a twist on the classic cocktail, made by blending complex, bitter flavours with a balanced combination of gin, dry vermouth and, of course, Orange Gold.
To make:
30 ml Gérard Bertrand Orange Gold
30 ml Dry vermouth
30 ml gin
In a glass, pour the Orange Gold, dry vermouth and gin, then stir to mix. Add a few ice cubes, a few drops of green olive juice and an olive.
Jam Shed Shiraz
Summer is a season of fun! With longer days and warmer nights, it’s no wonder that big crowds head out to their favourite pubs and bars to bask in the sunshine. Help make your bartenders’ jobs a little easier by bringing in some serves that can be made in bulk or ahead of time to make service as smooth as possible.
Sangria is guaranteed to make it feel like summer, no matter the weather, so why not try out Jam Shed’s Jamgria? This slightly sweeter version of Spain’s iconic Sangria is a fun twist on the classic that’s sure to delight your customers.
To make:
500 ml Jam Shed Shiraz
50 ml Disaronno
50 ml Brandy
300 ml Orangeade
1 orange
1 green apple
1 peach
5 strawberries
Mix the sliced fresh fruit with all ingredients (except the orangeade) and gently muddle the fruits to release their flavours. Add ice until the jug looks 2/3s full; while adding the orangeade continue to gently mix to incorporate all the ingredients together.
Top Tip: Cocktails are a treat! Remind customers that special occasions don’t need to be rare – encourage them to celebrate the smaller moments.
Check out more of our top cocktail picks
In 2023, premium spirits increased their share of sales to 27.4%, with super premium spirits rising to an 8.3% share, according to CGA. As the premiumisation trend continues to soar, help encourage trade-ups to elevate your customers’ drinking experience by spotlighting your premium spirits through staff recommendations, menu nods, or specially created cocktails.
St-Germain Hugo Spritz
To make:
40 ml St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
60 ml dry sparkling wine
60 ml soda water
Mint leaves
Wedge of lime
Add liquid ingredients to a high ball glass, fill with cubed ice and garnish with mint leaves and a lime wedge.
CÎROC Sparkle
To make:
50 ml Ciroc Blue Dot vodka
15 ml elderflower cordial
Champagne or prosecco
3 frozen grapes
Lightly shake Ciroc Blue Dot and elderflower cordial together. Fine strain into your glass and top with your choice of sparkling wine, pouring over the back of a spoon or down the length of a bar spoon. Garnish with 3 frozen grapes.
Tanqueray Tiny Ten
To make:
35 ml Tanqueray Ten
15 ml grapefruit syrup
10 ml fresh grapefruit juice
50 ml sparkling wine
Grapefruit slice
Add grapefruit syrup, Tanqueray Ten, and fresh grapefruit juice to a shaker with ice and stir. Strain into a coupette glass. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with grapefruit.
Casamigos Tommy’s Margarita
To make:
50 ml Casamigos Blanco
10 ml agave syrup
25 ml fresh lime juice
Add Casamigos Blanco, agave syrup and lime juice to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and pour over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Find the drinks used in these serves and more on Matthew Clark Live. Register or login to your online account to order!
About the author
Mary McCarron
Mary looks after the majority of Matthew Clark's digital marketing comms. After a couple of years working in tech, she found her way back to the hospitality industry and can now be found talking all things cocktails, spirits, beer, softs and more across our website, social media, and other digital channels.
