Chef Hitesh Shanbagh Shares Summer Cocktail Recipes

Summer season calls for mixing unique ingredients to make delicious cocktails at home. By using your favourite spirit, you can make refreshing beverages at home without the help of a seasoned bartender or mixologist. Cocktails are perfect to be served at a gathering of friends or official events. They also ensure that, along with the spirit, enough water reaches your body so you do not feel dehydrated in the hot climate.

Video Credit: Pick Up Limes/ YouTube

To bring you exciting and new cocktail recipes, Slurrp connected with Hitesh Shanbagh, Executive Chet at Neuma. He used gin, rum, and scotch in his recipes to create the most delightful cocktails for summer. Here are three recipes that you can try at home.

Mango Fizz

Chef Hitesh Shanbagh said, “One sip of this liberation, and you will be transported straight to a beach paradise.” In this, gin impeccably blends with lemon juice to create balanced tangy and sweet notes. You can use the gin of your choice.

Ingredients

• 15ml fresh lemon juice
• Botanical water of your choice
• 30 ml gin
• Mango slices
• Lemon wedges
• Ice cubes
• Salt on the rim of the glasses

Method

• In a cocktail shaker, mix lemon juice and gin. Shake nicely so that both ingredients blend well.
• Add ice cubes to the shaker and shake it vigorously for 15-20 minutes.
• Keep glasses ready with ice cubes, mango slices, lemon wedges, and salt on the rim.
• Pour the cocktail inside the glasses and top it with botanical water.
• Serve it to guests with delicious snacks on the side.

Also Read: 8 Late-Night Cooling Drinks To Cope With Summer Heat

Kesar Pista Whiskey Flip

This is a unique blend of ingredients that adds a creamy texture to this scotch-based cocktail. “The egg white adds a luxurious texture, making it a perfect decadent after-dinner drink that is guaranteed to leave you wanting more,” Chef Hitesh Shanbagh added.

Ingredients

• 15 ml pistachio syrup
• 60 ml scotch of your choice
• 10 ml saffron-infused honey water
• 15 ml egg white

Method

• Mix pistachio syrup, scotch, and saffron-infused honey water in a shaker.
• Add egg whites and mix everything vigorously. Dry shaking, without ice, will help to emulsify eggs. 
• Add some ice cubes to the shake and keep shaking until the mixture becomes chilled.
• Strain the cocktail into glasses and garnish it with pistachios to add a crunch.

Lemon Berry Breeze

According to Chef Hitesh Shanbagh, “This cocktail is an explosion of citrusy delight.” If you can get your hands on lemon rum for this beverage, nothing can stop you from crafting a refreshing beverage at home.

Ingredients

• Club soda
• 45 ml lemon rum
• Carbonate the drink of your choice
• 2-3 strawberries
• 2-3 lime leaves

Method

• Muddle lime leaves and strawberries in a cocktail shaker. 
• Add lemon rum or any other rum of your choice to the shaker and mix it well with fruity ingredients.
• Add ice cubes to the mix and shake until the cocktail is cold.
• Add club soda and clear carbonated drink to glasses and pour the cocktail.
• Decorate glasses with lemon wedges and sliced strawberries before serving.