Punch’s most popular cocktail recipes of August are waving goodbye to summer. The list mixes tropical flavors with deeper, bitter notes, and it leans hard on stirred classics served over ice. But the month is not over. There is still time for a frozen Margarita.
The roundup includes five drinks, each with a distinct personality. One is a White Russian that has nothing to do with The Big Lebowski. Another is a dirty Martini built around grilled olives. There is a banana-forward highball, a post-dinner stirred number, and a spoonable frozen Margarita topped with salty whipped cream. Together, they bridge the gap between the last hot days and the first crisp ones.
The White Russian, Rebuilt
At Tavern Next Door, Conor Johns has taken the White Russian and turned it into something closer to an Old-Fashioned. The drink carries a soda-fountain twist, inspired by Johns’ mother and her love of summertime malted milkshakes.
The build is precise. Johns layers a half-ounce each of mezcal, Demerara rum, Braulio amaro, vanilla liqueur and coffee liqueur, then adds a few dashes of Angostura bitters. The equal parts are the point.
“The lower equal-parts measure allows each ingredient to shine through in their own way,” Johns says.
The drink finishes with a carefully layered whip over the surface. It is a White Russian in name, but the execution is far from the Dude-soaked Lebowski version most drinkers know.
A Martini That Tastes Smoky
The Grilled Martini comes from Varsity Club, where owners Caleb and Levi Roye keep the presentation simple. It is served on the rocks, no fuss. The flavor is anything but simple.
The gin is infused with Turkish grilled olives. The brine in the mix is hickory-smoked. A skewer of grilled olives finishes the drink. The result leans into savory and smoky territory, a long way from a clean, bright Martini.
At home, the recipe is forgiving. If you do not own a cocktail smoker, regular brine works. The grilled olives still carry enough smokiness to carry the drink.
The Banana Highball
The Cynanagans Highball is the work of Kitty Bernardo, a New York–based bartender. The drink is built for flexibility: a house party, a night out at a tropical bar, anywhere else banana fans gather.
Bernardo developed the recipe from a pairing suggested by a bartender friend, Chris Elford. The unlikely duo is 99 Bananas and Cynar. The banana liqueur, named for its 99 proof, is a dorm-room fixture. Alone, it is wildly strong and powerfully sweet.
Balanced with an equal measure of Cynar, the liqueur turns tame and dessert-like. The highball is a study in contrast: aggressive on its own, gentle in combination.
A Stirred Drink for After Dinner
The Away Colors comes from Zack Gelnaw-Rubin, who created it at the now-closed Lion Lion in New York. It is a simple stirred cocktail, built for after-dinner drinking.
The name comes from soccer, referring to playing away from a team’s home ground. The ingredients follow the theme. Añejo rum and banana liqueur come from different continents and meridians, meeting in the glass.
The drink joins a growing group of bitter, stirred and tropical cocktails popping up on menus lately. It is part of a wider shift where tropical ingredients and bitter elements are finding common ground.
The Frozen Margarita With Whipped Cream
The Margarita & Cream comes from Schmuck, a bar in New York’s East Village. It is a spoonable frozen strawberry and rhubarb Margarita, topped with a hefty dollop of salty whipped cream.
Part snack, part park drink, it is designed for warm weather. The serve changes seasonally. Right now, Schmuck is featuring a mango and cilantro version. If you want the strawberry and rhubarb version, you have to make it at home.
The drink is a seasonal closer. Nothing screams summer more than a frozen Margarita and an ice cream treat in one glass.
What the Five Drinks Share
The August list is a transitional document. The source frames all five drinks as bridges between seasons, marrying tropical flavors with bitter, deeper tones.
The cocktails share a few threads. Two drinks use equal-parts builds: the White Russian and the Cynanagans Highball. Several lean on bitter liqueurs like Cynar and Braulio amaro. The Grilled Martini is served on the rocks.
The recipes also show a willingness to play with expectations. A White Russian becomes an Old-Fashioned. A Martini gets grilled olives and smoked brine. A banana liqueur gets tamed by an amaro. The frozen Margarita gets a dairy topping.
The Builds, Compared
The five drinks differ in what they ask of a home bartender. The source describes each drink’s key elements, and the differences are clear.
- Cynanagans Highball — 99 Bananas balanced with an equal measure of Cynar.
- Away Colors — a simple stirred cocktail with añejo rum and banana liqueur.
- Grilled Martini — gin infused with Turkish grilled olives, hickory-smoked brine, grilled olive skewer.
- Margarita & Cream — frozen strawberry and rhubarb Margarita with salty whipped cream.
- Tavern Next Door’s White Russian — mezcal, Demerara rum, Braulio amaro, vanilla and coffee liqueurs, plus Angostura bitters and a layered whip.
The builds tell a story. The Cynanagans Highball and the Away Colors rely on a single bold pairing. The Grilled Martini and the Margarita & Cream add layers of preparation. The White Russian carries the most ingredients, with five measured spirits and liqueurs plus a few dashes of bitters.
| Cocktail | Key Ingredients | Build |
|---|---|---|
| Tavern Next Door’s White Russian | Mezcal, Demerara rum, Braulio amaro, vanilla and coffee liqueurs, Angostura bitters | Layered, whipped top |
| Grilled Martini | Gin infused with Turkish grilled olives, hickory-smoked olive brine | On the rocks |
| Cynanagans Highball | 99 Bananas, Cynar | Equal parts |
| Away Colors | Añejo rum, banana liqueur | Stirred |
| Margarita & Cream | Frozen strawberry and rhubarb Margarita, salty whipped cream | Frozen, spoonable |
Where Each Drink Fits
The source describes all five drinks as transitional, marrying tropical flavors with bitter, deeper tones. None of them belongs strictly to one season.
The White Russian at Tavern Next Door is inspired by summertime malted milkshakes, but its structure is an Old-Fashioned variation. It carries both summer and fall in one glass.
The Grilled Martini leans into savory and smoky notes. The grilled olives and smoked brine define its character.
The Cynanagans Highball is built for warm-weather settings: a house party, a night out at a tropical bar. The banana liqueur and Cynar pairing is dessert-like.
The Away Colors is designed for after-dinner drinking. Its ingredients span continents, but the drink itself is a simple stirred cocktail. It fits a slow evening.
The Margarita & Cream is the most tied to its season. The strawberry and rhubarb version is the August version. At Schmuck right now, the featured flavor is mango and cilantro. If you want the version Punch readers chose, you have to make it at home.
The takeaway from the August list is that the cocktail calendar is not fixed. You can drink a frozen Margarita in the last weeks of summer and a stirred, bitter drink in the same week. The drinks themselves are comfortable with the overlap.
The August list is a small map of where cocktails are heading. Bitter and tropical are not opposites anymore. Stirred and frozen can share a menu. The best drinks of the month are the ones that refuse to pick a side.
The frozen Margarita is still on the table. But the stirred drinks are waiting, and they will be there when the season turns. The question is which one you make first.
Source: punchdrink.com
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