21 Classic Summer Cocktails to Beat the Heat

Originally served in the 1860s at Gaspare Campari’s bar in Milan, Italy, the Americano combines Campari and sweet vermouth in equal parts with a splash of sparkling water. Fun fact about this drink: It’s the first cocktail James Bond orders in 1953’s “Casino Royale” (the book) proving that 007 didn’t only sip martinis, shaken, not stirred.

Another import from Italy, the Aperol Spritz is a light and refreshing cocktail made with Aperol, an orange-flavored apéritif, and the increasingly popular Italian sparkling wine called Prosecco. Add club soda and an orange slice to complete this fizzy beverage.

The main ingredient in the Caiparinha, Brazil’s most popular cocktail, is cachaça, considered the country’s national spirit. Similar to rum, cachaça is distilled from sugar cane juice, not molasses as most rums are. A spritz of fresh lime juice and sugar make the drink both tangy and sweet.

The Daiquiri gets its name from a beach and an iron mine near Santiago, Cuba, where a mining engineer was said to have invented the frosty mixture during the Spanish-American War. U.S. Congressman William A. Chanier purchased the mine in 1902 and brought the rum-and-sugar-based cocktail to the U.S. that same year.

Only dark rum — preferably locally made Goslings — will do for a Dark and Stormy, the national drink of Bermuda. But the drink is lightened up a bit with lime juice and ginger beer all poured over ice.