Recipes for watermelon cocktails you can easily make at home

This Friday is National Watermelon Day. 

You can celebrate the summer fruit, and the start of the weekend, by mixing watermelon with alcohol to create refreshing, pink cocktails.

Below are three easy-to-follow recipes. One only requires four ingredients!

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Recipe for Watermelon Cucumber Cooler:

1½ oz. vodka
1 oz. lime juice
2-3 slices of cucumber
4 oz. watermelon juice

Muddle the slices of cucumber in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Add vodka, watermelon juice and lime juice. Shake and strain into glass. To finish, garnish with cucumber and watermelon slices.

Want someone else to do all the work? The Art in the Age tasting room in Old City will serve the cocktail for $8 on Friday. The bar will use New Liberty Distillery’s Powerhorn Vodka for the summery drink.

Recipe for Fresh Watermelon Martini:

1.5 oz. vodka
2 slices of cucumber
2 fresh watermelon cubes
.25 oz. simple syrup
.50 oz. fresh sour mix

Combine the watermelon cubes, cucumber slices and simple syrup in a glass and muddle well. Add vodka and fresh sour mix. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. To finish, garnish with frozen watermelon cubes or a fresh cucumber slice.

The recipe is courtesy of Bonefish Grill, which currently serves the summertime martini at its restaurants.

To make the drink extra special, the chain suggests making your own cucumber vodka by slicing a cucumber, placing it in your favorite plain vodka and letting it infuse for 24 to 48 hours.

You can also turn this drink into a margarita by substituting tequila for vodka and increasing the sour mix to 1.5 ounces. To serve, shake and strain over ice into a glass with a salt rim.

Recipe for Rosy-Faced Lovebird:

Muddle the juices, syrup, watermelon and jalapeños thoroughly. Then, add the rum, Campari and ice. Shake and double strain into a beer glass. Add fresh ice and serve.

This thirst-quencher was created by Bluebird Distilling’s beverage director and bar manager Matthew Giarratano. It will be available Friday only at the distillery in Phoenixville, Pa. The price will be $12.

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