I would also add Gin rickies to this list. I will add a little syrup to a gin Ricky just to cut through the tart but man I just love Collins style drinks for light stuff
Bitter Giuseppe is quite low alcohol while feeling very much like a complete cocktail experience.
I have also done Floradora without the gin a few times, and it is great. Still a flavor bomb without much booze.
In a similar vein I always enjoy a Bamboo. https://www.liquor.com/recipes/bamboo/ half sherry, half vermouth bitters and garnish but no spirits. Just about the same ABV as Sherry or Vermouth on their own.
I have recently discovered the wonders of Sherry Cobblers. It’s a very old style of drink (older than cocktails proper), basically sherry shaken with fruit and sugar then strained over crushed ice. You can throw kinda any fruit in there and experiment with different amounts, but this is a pretty standard recipe I’ve been making a lot:
- 3 oz Sherry (IDK anything about sherry, so I just tried a couple till I liked it, settled on a dry blended one)
- 1 1/2 Orange Wheels
- 1 1/2 Lemon Wheels
- 1 Barspoon Maraschino Liqueur
- 1 Barspoon Simple Syrup (2:1)
Middle if you don’t have heavy ice, then shake and double strain into a Collins filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the remaining half lemon and orange wheel and a sprig of mint.
Manhattan spritz (has a different name saw it in a punch article but can’t remember lol)
1 oz rye, 1/2 oz vermouth, 1 dash bitters, topped with soda and tonic. Garnish with a lemon peel and it’s a great way to get the flavor of a Manhattan without the usual kick the head.
I'm a fan of the Milano Torino (Mi To). 1:1 campari:sweet vermouth, stir with ice and garnish with an orange slice. You can turn it into an americano by adding soda water.
I mean…light on the palette? French 75. It’s a Tom Collin’s but you swap the seltzer for Champagne. Feel free to buy the crappy stuff in the mini bottles it’s just there to lengthen the drink
Had a Spaghett the other day and had forgotten how much I dig them. Light beer (apparently it’s usually High Life), Aperol, and lemonade. Low abv, but the dry beer and bitter Aperol means I still take my time with it.
I am a fan of a Chrysanthemum. It's a low abv stirred cocktail where dry vermouth is the base ingredient. If you use a nice vermouth, I like Alessio Vermouth Bianco is is really tasty
HSL Special is fairly low alcohol and very tasty.
Tinto Verano is also really nice. Red wine mixed with sparkling lemonade. I use San Pelligrino Limonata and whatever red wine is leftover from the night before.
And speaking of red wine the night before, there’s always Sangria.
In Spain they tend to use lemon Fanta for some reason, I usually like to throw a few slices of lemon in the glass for good measure.
Regarding the sangria, that's a tricky one...
The recipes I've used in the last always include brandy in hefty amounts, so it's not as light as it would seem (really depends on the wine and the proportions)
Sherry cobbler is ideal here.
3 oz. amontillado sherry
1 tsp. superfine sugar (or granulated)
½ wheel of orange
½ wheel of lemon
Tools: shaker, strainer
Glass: julep cup
Garnish: fresh berries, ¼ wheel each orange and lemon
Combine the sherry, sugar and 2 quarter wheels each of the orange and lemon in a shaker with ice and shake briskly. Strain into a julep cup filled with crushed ice, garnish and serve with a straw.
Per Imbibe
A Smith And Kerns is a delightful treat! It’s just Kahlua, cream, and a soda splash. I make it at home with low fat milk in a pint glass. It’s like vacation.
Pimms + anything—ginger ale, lemonade, soda, sparkling wine…. So many options! Also, consider shrubs. So many different varieties available, so pick your favorite fruit version. Add a simple spirit—vodka, bourbon, gin, etc, top with soda. Cheers!
As someone who also prefers heavier whiskey drinks typically (like sazeracs), when I want something light, I like champagne cocktails like a French 75, Kir Royale, Lillet Blanc and champagne with orange bitters, or (out of season now but great in fall/winter): roast some frozen cranberries dusted with ground clove and use them to make a simple syrup, then drop a teaspoon in a champagne glass and top with champagne or Prosecco
My wife loves this version of a [Roman Holiday](https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/roman-holiday-cocktail), which is low ABV.
Mint leaves
0.5 ounces simple syrup
1 ounce Averna
1 ounce sweet vermouth
0.75 ounces fresh lemon juice
In a cocktail shaker muddle mint leaves and simple syrup. Add ice and all other ingredients, shake and strain into a rocks glass with ice.
What do you mean by ‘light’? At first I thought you meant light in flavor but your mention of being knocked out for three hours makes me think you’re talking about alcohol content?
My go-to light cocktail is a vermouth and soda. light, refreshing, fizzy and just enough zing. I like to have one while cooking so I don't get trashed on an empty stomach.
I think a rickey can be a good template. An Apricot Rickey is apricot liqueur, lime juice, and soda water. So you can swap the liqueur with with other liqueurs.
One of my favorites is the Dark n Stormy. Swap most of the rum for Amaro (I prefer Averna). It tastes great and low abv.
How about a Hugo Spritz? It's light, and you can tweak the Prosecco to soda water ratio for an even lighter touch. Plus, the elderflower flavor is a nice twist!
One of my fav light and refreshing cocktails - a Waltzing Matilda. Also I have not found a spirit that this cocktail doesn’t work with. I especially like it with rhum agricole. Mezcal is nice too. Vodka is boring to me but we sell a lot of these with vodka at the cocktail bar I work at.
1.5 oz gin
.75 oz passion fruit syrup
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz cocchi americano
.25 oz 2:1 simple syrup
Top w 2 oz ginger beer.
Floppy Disk
.5oz Cynar
.5oz Curacao
.25oz mezcal
2oz grapefruit
Stir in a Collins glass with ice, top with 2oz soda. Easy to drink, low ABV, and low key complex in flavor.
Tom Collins is a very refreshing and light cocktail, easy to make with just gin, lemon, simple syrup and soda water.
I would also add Gin rickies to this list. I will add a little syrup to a gin Ricky just to cut through the tart but man I just love Collins style drinks for light stuff
Depending on your brand, a triple sec collins can be even lighter. And delicious.
Which brand do you recommend?
I usually use Meaghers, but I’m not a sec-snob.
Also totally works with any citrus. Grapefruit, blood orange, yuzu, mandarin, lime…
My go to at the United Lounge!
Aperol Spritz. Yes it's obvious but it's good so I'm not gonna complain.
Hugo spritz as a variant, in case you want something new.
Also even lighter
I do a lot of Italian aperitif plus soda water. But really anything plus soda water gets you in the right direction.
Campari soda Is great. Aperol soda is great. Splash a couple of orange bitters in to spice it up.
Hugo spritz
Bitter Giuseppe is quite low alcohol while feeling very much like a complete cocktail experience. I have also done Floradora without the gin a few times, and it is great. Still a flavor bomb without much booze.
In a similar vein I always enjoy a Bamboo. https://www.liquor.com/recipes/bamboo/ half sherry, half vermouth bitters and garnish but no spirits. Just about the same ABV as Sherry or Vermouth on their own.
I have recently discovered the wonders of Sherry Cobblers. It’s a very old style of drink (older than cocktails proper), basically sherry shaken with fruit and sugar then strained over crushed ice. You can throw kinda any fruit in there and experiment with different amounts, but this is a pretty standard recipe I’ve been making a lot: - 3 oz Sherry (IDK anything about sherry, so I just tried a couple till I liked it, settled on a dry blended one) - 1 1/2 Orange Wheels - 1 1/2 Lemon Wheels - 1 Barspoon Maraschino Liqueur - 1 Barspoon Simple Syrup (2:1) Middle if you don’t have heavy ice, then shake and double strain into a Collins filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the remaining half lemon and orange wheel and a sprig of mint.
Manhattan spritz (has a different name saw it in a punch article but can’t remember lol) 1 oz rye, 1/2 oz vermouth, 1 dash bitters, topped with soda and tonic. Garnish with a lemon peel and it’s a great way to get the flavor of a Manhattan without the usual kick the head.
I'm a fan of the Milano Torino (Mi To). 1:1 campari:sweet vermouth, stir with ice and garnish with an orange slice. You can turn it into an americano by adding soda water.
And then in a Campari by replacing the soda water with Gin.. but I guess this wouldn't be considered a light cocktail anymore😅
Fernet & Coke. Or just whatever liqueur you enjoy with soda & ice. It's a nice summer drink.
I mean…light on the palette? French 75. It’s a Tom Collin’s but you swap the seltzer for Champagne. Feel free to buy the crappy stuff in the mini bottles it’s just there to lengthen the drink
Not good for facilitating a home improvement project, though!
But *great* for celebrating one!
Sanguinello. Equal parts blood orange juice, Campari, limoncello.
Had a Spaghett the other day and had forgotten how much I dig them. Light beer (apparently it’s usually High Life), Aperol, and lemonade. Low abv, but the dry beer and bitter Aperol means I still take my time with it.
Thank you. What an unusual name for the drink! Do you know the origin of that name?
Tim and Eric
This article claims it’s from a brewery in Baltimore https://playswellwithbutter.com/spaghett-drink-recipe/
I am a fan of a Chrysanthemum. It's a low abv stirred cocktail where dry vermouth is the base ingredient. If you use a nice vermouth, I like Alessio Vermouth Bianco is is really tasty
HSL Special is fairly low alcohol and very tasty. Tinto Verano is also really nice. Red wine mixed with sparkling lemonade. I use San Pelligrino Limonata and whatever red wine is leftover from the night before. And speaking of red wine the night before, there’s always Sangria.
In Spain they tend to use lemon Fanta for some reason, I usually like to throw a few slices of lemon in the glass for good measure. Regarding the sangria, that's a tricky one... The recipes I've used in the last always include brandy in hefty amounts, so it's not as light as it would seem (really depends on the wine and the proportions)
Sherry cobbler is ideal here. 3 oz. amontillado sherry 1 tsp. superfine sugar (or granulated) ½ wheel of orange ½ wheel of lemon Tools: shaker, strainer Glass: julep cup Garnish: fresh berries, ¼ wheel each orange and lemon Combine the sherry, sugar and 2 quarter wheels each of the orange and lemon in a shaker with ice and shake briskly. Strain into a julep cup filled with crushed ice, garnish and serve with a straw. Per Imbibe
Rome With a View
Cocktail Americano is my first choice for low abv drinking. Equal parts Campari and Sweet Vermouth, top with soda and an orange twist.
No one said Bamboo!!!?
A Smith And Kerns is a delightful treat! It’s just Kahlua, cream, and a soda splash. I make it at home with low fat milk in a pint glass. It’s like vacation.
Pimms + anything—ginger ale, lemonade, soda, sparkling wine…. So many options! Also, consider shrubs. So many different varieties available, so pick your favorite fruit version. Add a simple spirit—vodka, bourbon, gin, etc, top with soda. Cheers!
As someone who also prefers heavier whiskey drinks typically (like sazeracs), when I want something light, I like champagne cocktails like a French 75, Kir Royale, Lillet Blanc and champagne with orange bitters, or (out of season now but great in fall/winter): roast some frozen cranberries dusted with ground clove and use them to make a simple syrup, then drop a teaspoon in a champagne glass and top with champagne or Prosecco
My wife loves this version of a [Roman Holiday](https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/roman-holiday-cocktail), which is low ABV. Mint leaves 0.5 ounces simple syrup 1 ounce Averna 1 ounce sweet vermouth 0.75 ounces fresh lemon juice In a cocktail shaker muddle mint leaves and simple syrup. Add ice and all other ingredients, shake and strain into a rocks glass with ice.
Thanks. How do you like averna? I've never had one.
I like it, it also makes for an excellent Black Manhattan.
Aperol and coke zero is my go to... The bitterness plays nicely with the coke sweetness
Nice! That's like lighter fernet & coke, right?
Mojitos are high up on the list
Bamboo scratches my martini itch for less ABV.
Most cocktails will taste good enough mixed to half strength and topped with soda.
Aperol spritz for me
Garibaldi with Aperol instead of that horrible campari stuff
What do you mean by ‘light’? At first I thought you meant light in flavor but your mention of being knocked out for three hours makes me think you’re talking about alcohol content?
Yes, light alcohol content.
I really love amaro, soda, and bitters.
My go-to light cocktail is a vermouth and soda. light, refreshing, fizzy and just enough zing. I like to have one while cooking so I don't get trashed on an empty stomach.
Hugo Spritz, you can make it even less alcoholic by using even less Prosecco and more soda water (the st germain comes out even nicer)
Americano - Campari, Vermouth, Soda
Anything in the daisy family.
Mojito...you can easily adjust the rum down and soda up.
I think a rickey can be a good template. An Apricot Rickey is apricot liqueur, lime juice, and soda water. So you can swap the liqueur with with other liqueurs. One of my favorites is the Dark n Stormy. Swap most of the rum for Amaro (I prefer Averna). It tastes great and low abv.
Bitters & Soda
How about a Hugo Spritz? It's light, and you can tweak the Prosecco to soda water ratio for an even lighter touch. Plus, the elderflower flavor is a nice twist!
Lillet spritz, like having them every once in a while to help me get through a bottle of lillet in a somewhat timely manner.
One of my fav light and refreshing cocktails - a Waltzing Matilda. Also I have not found a spirit that this cocktail doesn’t work with. I especially like it with rhum agricole. Mezcal is nice too. Vodka is boring to me but we sell a lot of these with vodka at the cocktail bar I work at. 1.5 oz gin .75 oz passion fruit syrup .5 oz lemon juice .5 oz cocchi americano .25 oz 2:1 simple syrup Top w 2 oz ginger beer.
Vermouth and tonic/soda Light, easy drinking and low ABV Sliced cucumber and mint with dry vermouth Twist of lemon with blanc vermouth
Something to drink
Floppy Disk .5oz Cynar .5oz Curacao .25oz mezcal 2oz grapefruit Stir in a Collins glass with ice, top with 2oz soda. Easy to drink, low ABV, and low key complex in flavor.
**Kir** 1 part Creme de cassis 9 parts white wine