12 Best Summer Cocktails

10 May 2013

By Samantha Burton, Senior Event Operations Manager, Merlin Events

What makes a good cocktail? 

There’s a question! Whilst it’s all about personal taste there are some clear front runners in the best cocktail stakes. Everybody loves a cocktail and they really can add that extra ‘something’ to your event, whether that’s taking your theme one step further, representing your brand or simply just tasting really good – you can rarely go wrong with a cocktail!

Here at Merlin Events, we continually recommend the best party cocktails when clients are planning events at our London party venues. So here are a few we recommend:

Crowd Pleasers 

A ‘proper’ Mojito (I’m talking fresh ingredients – not the pre mix stuff!) is very hard to beat – classic or fruit flavoured it’s always a winner and definitely a crowd pleaser, the same goes for a Daiquiri really; classically simple and taste wise very hard to beat. But if rum’s not your thing don’t fret there’s plenty more to choose from!

Gin is really popular at the moment and whilst it can be seen as a depressing drink mix it in a Gin Fizz cocktail and you’ll have smiles all round.

Another amazingly popular cocktail is the classic Cosmopolitan. Every girl (and probably more guys than you think!) wants to feel like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City and you can’t get much closer to feeling like the woman herself than sipping a perfectly mixed Cosmo from a sexy martini glass amongst A-listers in Party at Madame Tussauds London.

Themes

If you want your cocktail choice to do a bit more work than just tasting and looking good then get it working with the theme of your event. No matter what your theme there will always be a cocktail to fully immerse your guests.

Shaken or Stirred? You can’t get more James Bond than a dashing man, suavely dressed in a tuxedo casually sipping from a classic, olive dressed Martini. But if plain isn’t your thing the great thing about a martini is you can easily flavour it up – how about a refreshing Apple Martini with an apple crisp floating on top? Sticking with the Celeb vibe if you’re having an ‘Oscar’ awards theme nothing says red carpet more than a Manhattan served in a sexy, chilled martini glass. Your guests will feel like A-Listers from the word go!

If scaring your guests at the London Dungeon is more your thing perhaps offering them a quick shot of a mysterious green, not so classic Absinthe cocktail is more suitable to settle their nerves before the dungeon experience commences?

If a beach party at the SEA LIFE London Aquarium is your theme what better way to transport your guests to sunnier climes than with a totally tropical Rum Punch. The sweetness of dark rum swirled with the warming kick of bitters will have your guests limbo-ing the night away in no time! Maybe you just want to remind your guests to be wary of their surroundings – nothing will do this better at the Aquarium than serving them a refreshing Shark Bite whilst interacting with our divers in the stunning shark tank.

Brand Boosters

The perhaps not so classic but heavily coloured cocktails- Blue Lagoon, Grasshopper and Tequila Sunrise are just some examples of how coloured cocktails can sell your brand or product.

Now I know it’s big ask but get tasting and let us know what your favourite party cocktail is!!