This weekend, you may be staycationing in the greener parts of the city or maybe you’re cutting loose and heading back home to family and friends. Either way, you’re going to do it with a cocktail in hand. To capture either end of your Memorial Day Weekend options, we’ve collected cocktail recipes that are spicy and sweet, naughty and nice.
First up, it’s your low-cal options designed by Viceroy Santa Monica in Santa Monica, Calif.:
The Refresher (227 calories)
Don’t be fooled, the balance of lemon, lime, agave and cucumber takes away the pepper’s bite, but leaves a long citrus cooldown.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz. Absolut Citron
1/2 oz elderflower liqueur
1/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz. agave nectar
3 slices cucumber
2 slices jalapeno
Instructions:
Pour Absolut Citron, elderflower liqueur, lime juice, lemon juice & agave nectar into mixing glass. Muddle in cucumber and jalapeno. Vigorously shake over ice. Strain into rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a cucumber wheel and slice of jalapeno.
A Passionate Summer (194 calories)
Combine the passion fruit garnish with your first sip of the cocktail to get the full effect of sweet and sour.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. peach liqueur
1/2 oz. passion fruit puree
3 oz. orange juice
Instructions:
Pour vodka, peach liqueur, passion fruit puree & orange juice into mixing glass. Vigorously shake over ice. Strain into martini glass. Garnish with a passion fruit half.
But if you’re more interested in holiday indulgence, try these sippable treats from Ariana Restaurant in SoHo:
Strawberry Fennel
Ingredients:
Handful of strawberries
1 oz. of Galliano
1 oz. Combier
4 slices fresh fennel
1½ oz. vodka
½ oz. lime juice
½ oz. agave nectar
Splash of champagne
Instructions:
Cut 2-3 strawberries in half and flambe them in Combier and Galliano liqueur (1 oz. Galliano , 1 oz. Combier). Let the strawberries cool off. Take a shaker and muddle 2-3 small slices of fresh fennel. Add around two of the strawberries and muddle a second gently. Then add 1½ oz. vodka, ½ oz. of lime juice and ½ oz. of agave nectar — shake it with ice. Pour in a rock glass with any remaining fruit and top with a splash of champagne. Garnish with a strawberry and slice of fennel.
The Petite
Ingredients:
8 green grapes
1 1/2 oz. of vodka
1 oz. of elderflower liqueur
3/4 oz. of lime juice
1/4 oz. of agave nectar
1/4 oz. club soda
1/4 oz. hibiscus elixir
Instructions:
Muddle four grapes in a shaker, add the rest of ingredients except for the hibiscus elixir and soda. Shake with ice, pour in a rock glass and the remaining grapes. Add one dash of hibiscus elixir in the top of the cocktail and one splash of soda topped with one green grape as a garnish.