There’s no need to relegate frozen drinks to just one season, but a frosty beverage does hit different in the summer. When temperatures touch the triple digits, walking into a bar and simply seeing a churning frozen machine perched on the counter can feel just as refreshing as taking a sip.

Even if you decide to host at home instead of going out, it doesn’t mean you have to give up your frozen Piña Coladas or icy Miami Vices. Most frozen cocktails come together easily in a blender and are simple to batch for a crowd, making them the perfect party drink.

So we tapped bartenders from across the country to find out which frozen drinks they make when they’re off the clock. From quintessential picks to cocktails like Espresso Martinis and Garibaldis turned frosty, here’s how nine top bartenders make frozen drinks at home for summertime soirées and beyond.

Izler Thomas

Bar manager and head mixologist, Tiya, San Francisco

For me, this is the perfect at-home frozen cocktail because it feels familiar and nostalgic. It has everything I love about an Espresso Martini: the rich coffee flavor and gentle kick but with the creamy texture of a frozen café drink. Imagine sitting outside on a bright sunny afternoon with an ice-cold coffee in your hand, except it’s actually a cocktail. That’s exactly the experience I wanted to create.

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Ingredients

  • 1½ ounces vodka
  • 1½ ounces fresh espresso (or 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in a splash of hot water)
  • 2 generous scoops pistachio ice cream
  • Ice

Directions

  1. Add the vodka, espresso, pistachio ice cream, and a handful of ice to a blender.
  2. Blend until thick, smooth, and frozen with a milkshake-like consistency.
  3. Taste and adjust with a little more ice if you’d like it thicker.
  4. Pour into a coffee mug or chilled coupe and enjoy immediately.

Ana Jovic

Beverage director, Lucky Cheetah, Portland, Maine

My favorite frozen drink to make at home is basically the Negroni’s fun, approachable cousin. It’s the easiest “impressive” drink in my back pocket — only two ingredients, no fancy equipment, and the bitter-sweet Campari against the sweet OJ just works in frozen form. Also it’s basically neon orange, so it’s an instant mood on a hot day.

Ingredients

  • 4 to 5 ounces fresh orange juice
  • 1 ½ ounces Campari
  • 1 ½ cups ice
  • Garnish: orange wheel or twist

Directions

  1. Combine Campari, orange juice, and ice in a blender.
  2. Blend until smooth and slushy, about 20 to 30 seconds.
  3. Pour into a wine glass or large rocks glass.
  4. Garnish with an orange wheel or twist.

Mariena Mercer Boarini

Master mixologist, Wynn Resorts North America, Las Vegas

If I’m making a frozen cocktail at home, I almost always reach for a frozen Hugo Spritz. It feels like summer in a glass — bright, floral, and incredibly refreshing — but it’s also one of the easiest frozen cocktails to make. Because it relies on just three ingredients, there’s very little prep, and the elderflower and mint create an elegant flavor profile that tastes far more complex than the recipe suggests. It’s the kind of drink I make when friends stop by unexpectedly or when we’re spending an afternoon outside. I also really adore frozen carbonated elements for a pop of surprise and delight.

Ingredients

  • 3 ounces Prosecco
  • 1 ½ ounces St-Germain elderflower liqueur
  • 1 ounce soda water
  • 1 ½ cups pebble or crushed ice
  • Garnish: mint

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a blender with ice. Blend until smooth.
  2. Pour into a wine glass and garnish with fresh mint.

Justin Ware

Beverage director, Johnny’s Gold Brick, Starduster, and Winnie’s, Houston

I don’t make a lot of frozen drinks at home, but if I’m busting out the Vitamix I want to get textures that can only be achieved in a blender rather than the frozen machines at work. The greatest example of this is the El Floridita Daiquiri. Invented in Havana in the early 20th century, I think it’s the first-known blender drink and still the best. My favorite version is the recipe given to me by my buddy, former co-worker, and current Portland, Maine, bar owner (shoutout Cuties), Garrett Lenderman. The key to this version is to use granulated sugar and do not overblend; you want a crunchy, slightly gritty slushie texture that you can’t get in a frozen machine.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces white rum (Probitas or Plantation 3 Stars)
  • 1 ¼ ounces fresh lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ¼ ounce Luxardo Maraschino
  • 12 ounces crushed ice
  • Garnish: Maraschino cherry and lime wheel

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a Vitamix or other high-powered blender.
  2. Blend on high for 7 to 10 seconds, until you stop hearing individual pieces of ice crack and consistency is that of a thick slurpee. It should require a spoon or some jiggling of the blender if done properly.
  3. Pour into a coupe glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and lime wheel.

Kevin Beary

Beverage director, Gus’ Sip & Dip, Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club, and Three Dots and a Dash, Chicago

I am a stan for a Hemingway Daiquiri. But to make this well, it requires more work than your average home cook may be interested in. I can try to simplify it, but I promise it’s worth the extra work.

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces Real McCoy 3 Barbados Rum
  • 5 ounces grapefruit juice
  • 2 ounces grapefruit super oleo saccharum (or other grapefruit syrup)
  • 1 ounce Maraschino liqueur
  • Full sized ice cubes to fill blender
  • Garnish: grapefruit zest

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a blender and fill with full-size ice cubes (not crushed ice) to the 48-ounce line on your blender canister.
  2. Blend on high until smooth. If you nailed the ice-to-cocktail ratio this should be nice and thick and stack in the glass as you pour it.
  3. Pour into a fizz or deep coupe glass. Use a microplane to grate some fresh grapefruit zest over the top.

Jacob Coombs

Owner and head bartender, The Marquis Lounge, Portland, Maine

I love this Cachaça limonada because it reminds me of mixing lime into coconuts on the beach bar I worked at in St. Croix. A beautiful blend using the crushability and bitterness of a Brazilian lemonade, the simplicity of a Caipirinha, and the grassiness of Wray and Nephew with a touch of bison grass.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups Brazilian lemonade
  • 1 ounce Cachaça
  • ½ ounce Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
  • ½ ounce Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka
  • ¾ ounce pure cane syrup
  • Ice to preference

Directions

  1. Make Brazilian lemonade by blending three cups of water with three frozen limes cut into quarters.
  2. Add all additional ingredients to the blender with ice. Blend until smooth.
  3. Pour into a highball glass.

Ahu Hettema

Owner, Istanbul Hawaii, Honolulu

My favorite frozen drink to make at home is a frozen limonana with dates and cardamom. It is bright, cooling, and familiar, but the date syrup adds depth while the cardamom gives it a distinctly Turkish warmth.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces gin or vodka
  • 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
  • ¾ ounce date syrup
  • 2 green cardamom pods, seeds removed and lightly crushed
  • 1½ cups ice
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • Garnish: mint leaves

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Pour into a highball glass. Garnish with fresh mint.

Adam Griggs

Bar director, Amasa, New York City

I love making big batches of frozen Margaritas at home, and I developed this recipe so that I can make a big batch of drinks quickly and get a round out to everyone at the party without sacrificing quality. To achieve this, I build my batch in a blender, adding just enough ice to chill the drink and add the appropriate amount of dilution without turning it into a slushie. I like to start with a pretty standard Margarita ratio but depending on what spirits I have on hand, I often split the base between mezcal and tequila.

Ingredients

  • 2 parts tequila or mezcal (or half and half)
  • 1 part triple sec
  • 1 part lime juice
  • ½ part ice
  • ¼ part agave syrup
  • Garnish: lime wheel

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients including ice in a blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Pour into salt-rimmed glasses over fresh ice.
  3. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Alexis Soler

Food and beverage partner, Eleven11, Old Glory, and Poolside at Drift Hotel, Nashville

Watermelon is one of my favorite frozen cocktail ingredients. It’s fresh, the color is striking, and its high water content makes for a smooth blend. This cocktail is easy to make at home and comes together in just a few minutes, which is exactly what I want from a frozen drink on a hot day.

Ingredients

  • 3 ounces watermelon juice
  • 1 ½ ounces simple syrup
  • 1 ¾ ounces St. George Green Chile Vodka
  • Ice to preference

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a blender with ice.
  2. Pour into a large rocks glass. Serve with a fresh squeeze of lime.