Here’s How To Shake It Up This Season With Our Ultimate Summer Sip Guide

Your status as host with the most is about to be renewed this summer. The ticket? A roster of cocktails and mocktails that you can whip up in a flash, entertain en masse and deliver a hit of those fruity notes that just pair so darn perfectly with balmy nights.

We’ve teamed up with The Real McCoy, your ultimate go-to for fruit-packed flavour, to elevate every occasion this summer. With their juice in hand, you’ll have the beverages you can shake, stir, and sip your way through summer, no matter the plans or the temperature.With a trusty, sleek black bottle of this juice in your fridge, you’ll be set to whip up sips for every summertime situation, responsibly, of course, so the good times stay just that: good.

Sunday Afternoon Social Sips

Cranberry Apple Spritz Mocktail

There’s an art to rounding off your weekend when social plans are in the mix. It all comes down to the centrepiece drink. You want it to be easy to whip up for your crew, easy to sip, yet light enough to keep the Sunday scaries away, and make good on your promise as the designated driver.

This spritz brings all the sparkle without the fizz. Plus, it’s one of the easiest mixes to add, or, importantly, subtract the prosecco.

Ingredients

60ml The Real McCoy Cranberry Fruit Drink
60ml The Real McCoy Pink Lady Apple Fruit Juice
60 ml lemonade
60 ml soda water
Orange slice and rosemary sprig to garnish
Ice

Props

Spritz Glass

Backyard BBQs Turn Accidental Dance Parties

With A Pineapple Chilli Marg

Everyone’s favourite taste of summer, the humble margarita, with a bold remix. Sweet, spicy, it’s the kind of drink that turns your BBQ into an unofficial DJ deck, your petanque area into a certified dance-floor, and your host status into a legend.

Plus, the pineapple base note pairs perfectly with our favourite summer barbecue feeds. Honey soy snags, ‘slaw, hokey pokey ice cream, trust us.

Ingredients

30 ml The Real McCoy Pineapple Fruit Juice
45 ml tequila (or 0% tequila alternative)
30 ml fresh lime juice
15 ml triple sec (or orange liqueur)
½–1 tsp chilli honey (or agave + pinch of chilli flakes)
Ice cubes

For the rim

Sea salt + chilli flakes
Lime wedge

Optional garnish

Fresh pineapple wedge

Props

Short Tumbler

Brunch Just Got a Zesty Upgrade

Paloma-Style Mimosas

Long lunches are, hands down, one of the greatest joys on the planet. Cutting the conversation short to fetch another round of drinks? Less so.

The mimosa you know and love just got a glow-up. Think the zesty tang of grapefruit, a cheeky splash of tequila, and that unmistakable mimosa sparkle. It’s citrusy, a little spicy, and seriously hard to stop at one.

Here’s the move: whip up the spicy grapefruit syrup in advance, chill your prosecco, and you’ve got yourself the ultimate brunch-table flex. The perfect pour for long lunches, sun-drenched catch-ups, or any moment that deserves a little fizz.

Ingredients

60 mL The Real McCoy Grapefruit Fruit Drink
30 mL tequila blanco
15 mL spicy grapefruit syrup (1tsp grapefruit peel + 1tbsp sugar + a touch of habanero)
90 mL chilled Prosecco 

Garnish

Ruby red grapefruit wedge
Chile-lime seasoning (Tajín if you’ve got it)

Props

Champagne flute

Pre-Gig Sundowners With A View

Pomegranate Gin Fizz

Fizzing for your concert (sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves there) doesn't come better than something light, tart and sparkly. Case in point, a Pomegranate Gin Fizz, which strikes a perfect balance between quirky and tried-and-true tastes. This, your crew, your flat’s verandah, and a lively debate about what song’s first on the set list. Bliss.

Plus, it’s so simple, you could fix yourself another drink between calling and jumping in your rideshare.

Ingredients

30ml The Real McCoy Pomegranate Fruit Drink
45ml Gin
15ml fresh lemon juice
15ml simple syrup (or honey syrup)
Soda water/sparkling water to top
Ice cubes

Garnish

Pomegranate seeds and a lemon twist

To find out more on how The Real McCoy juice range doubles as the secret ingredient to holding the title as hostess with the mostess this summer season, visit here.

Editor’s note: this article was produced in partnership with The Real McCoy. Thank you for supporting the partners who make Urban List possible. To read our editorial policy, click here.

*Please drink responsibly. 18+

Images: Urban List.