21 Thirst-Quenching Drinks for Labor Day

If you're throwing a Labor Day bash this year, your guests will need a few beverages to cool off with after all those smoky, charred dishes from the grill. Beer and wine are probably necessary—see our picks here for great, affordable summer wines—but a good cocktail or two, like a lemony Diablo-inspired punch, will undoubtedly be a special treat. On a hot day especially, and if you have a small enough group that you can blitz frozen cocktails to order, you can't go wrong with a frosty frozen Negroni. But don't forget that a good host provides nonalcoholic drinks, too! Basics like perfectly tart-and-sweet lemonade and the best iced tea will add variety to your menu and provide a more fun choice than water or soda for non-drinkers. Scroll on for these and more beverage options for your Labor Day party.

Frozen Cocktails

Frozen Gin and Tonic

The only thing better than a cool gin and tonic on a hot day is an icy one. To make this fabulous frozen version, we blend together gin, concentrated tonic syrup, simple syrup, tangy lime juice, and a dash of aromatic orange bitters. The secret to blending this drink (and most of our frozen cocktails) without over-diluting it is to chill all the ingredients in the freezer—the mixture won't freeze, thanks to the alcohol and sugar content, but will drop considerably in temperature—before blitzing them up with ice cubes.

Get the recipe for the Frozen Gin and Tonic »

Frozen Jungle Bird

Any talk of warm-weather cocktails inevitably leads to talk of tiki drinks. The Jungle Bird is one such cocktail, dating back to the '70s and consisting of rum, pineapple, lime, and Campari, for a drink that's fruity with hints of bittersweetness. For our slushy frozen version, you'll use both bold, dark blackstrap rum and funky Navy-strength rum, plus a little maple syrup to underscore the blackstrap's richness.

Get the recipe for the Frozen Jungle Bird »

Frozen Negroni

The slightly bitter Negroni, made with equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, is one of my go-to summer cocktails. But its signature flavors work just as well, and taste even more satisfying, in a frozen drink. We do change the ratios a bit, easing up on the vermouth and Campari and letting a floral, botanical-heavy gin take the lead.

Get the recipe for the Frozen Negroni »

Other Cocktails

Classic Margarita

Who doesn't love a margarita in the summertime? Frozen margaritas are certainly weather-appropriate, but on-the-rocks margaritas tend to be more popular, and they're less work to make in bulk. This super-simple cocktail requires only three ingredients: tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice (four if you count salt for the rims of the glasses). While sour-mix margaritas use a boatload of sugar to cover up the poor quality of the booze, a margarita made with decent tequila needs only the Cointreau as a sweetener.

Get the recipe for the Classic Margarita »

El Diablo con Limón (Tequila Punch With Cassis and Lemon)

This bright, berry- and lemon-infused summer punch is based on the Diablo, a highball made with tequila and crème de cassis. Inspired by a drink served at Portland, Oregon's Clyde Common, we add black tea and seltzer, but streamline the process using a lemon-peel syrup and lemon juice instead of the lemon-and-lime combination the bar favors.

Get the recipe for El Diablo con Limón (Tequila Punch With Cassis and Lemon) »

Fizzy Strawberry Pisco Punch

This effervescent make-ahead cocktail comes from a recipe used at Seattle's Sitka & Spruce. For the base, we stir together pisco (or a pisco-style grape brandy), lemon juice, a complexly flavored strawberry-thyme syrup, and a woodsy aperitif called Bonal. Mix it all up as early as 10 hours in advance, and, when your guests start to arrive, just pour it into glasses and top with dry sparkling wine.

Get the recipe for the Fizzy Strawberry Pisco Punch »

The Upgraded Paloma

Our new-and-improved version of the classic tequila cocktail gets a sophisticated grapefruit flavor from a cordial made by macerating the fruit in sugar. (The cordial takes 24 hours, but can be made several weeks ahead of time.) When it's party time, mix the citrusy syrup with tequila, Campari, and lime juice, then top with seltzer.

Get the recipe for The Upgraded Paloma »

Sergeant Pepper (Pineapple-Gin Cocktail With Cumin)

While the Pineapple Hop offsets sweet pineapple with beer, this cocktail tames the fruit with an herbal, peppery gin (we like Calyx). The syrup, flavored with peppercorns and cumin, adds as much nuance as sweetness. Shaking the pineapple and lime juice with ice gets the drink pleasantly frothy without the addition of egg white.

Get the recipe for the Sergeant Pepper (Pineapple-Gin Cocktail With Cumin) »

Jewel of Oaxaca

For a different sort of "grilled cocktail," we bring grilled mango together with smoky mezcal, allowing the sugar in the fruit to soften the assertiveness of the liquor. A simple syrup made with dried ancho chili peppers highlights the mezcal's smoky quality, for a cocktail that's sweet, smoky, and earthy all at once.

Mezcal Mary With Roasted Jalapeño and Bacon

If your Labor Day party is an all-day affair, starting with a Bloody Mary or two is a great choice. But, instead of a traditional Bloody Mary, why not try a version that echoes all that grilled flavor? Here, we lose the vodka in favor of mezcal and add spice with a roasted-jalapeño purée. A bacon-strip swizzle stick as garnish is...well, it's a little over the top, perhaps, but you won't be concerned about that when you're nibbling on it.

Get the recipe for the Mezcal Mary With Roasted Jalapeño and Bacon »

Nonalcoholic Drinks

Ultra-Flavorful Fresh Lemonade

Yes, you can make lemonade just by mixing lemon juice, water, and sugar—but you can also do much better by incorporating an intense Fresh Lemon Syrup, made of lemon rinds macerated in sugar. Combine the syrup with lemon juice and water, then dilute the powerful concentrate over ice for the most lemony lemonade you've ever had.

Get the recipe for Ultra-Flavorful Fresh Lemonade »

Lychee-Thai Chili Lemonade

Adding a dose of chili heat to your lemonade is a surprising way to make it even more refreshing. Here, we bolster it with fiery Thai red chilies, fragrant fresh lychees, and a pinch of salt. Do be careful with the chilies—just half a pepper provides enough spice for a whole pitcher of lemonade.

Get the recipe for Lychee-Thai Chili Lemonade »

Sparkling Sumac Lemonade

This sparkling lemonade is flavored with a piquant, citrusy spice called sumac—you may be familiar with it from the spice blend za'atar, but it's also totally at home in drinks and desserts. As a bonus, the vibrantly colored powder gives the lemonade a beautiful red hue.

Get the recipe for Sparkling Sumac Lemonade »

Ultra-Flavorful Fresh Limeade

Using a macerated-rind syrup to make a strong lemonade base works just as well with limes, resulting in a somewhat more floral, tropical drink that's better than any bottled version. Though it takes only about three hours for the citrus oils in the lime rinds to dissolve the sugar, you can let them macerate for up to 12 if that's easier on your schedule. But don't let them sit any longer, or the syrup will take on a noticeably bitter edge.

Get the recipe for Ultra-Flavorful Fresh Limeade »

The Best Cold-Brewed Iced Tea

What's the best way to make iced tea? Brewing the tea hot and cooling it down makes intuitive sense, but it often winds up tasting bitter and stale. Brewing iced tea in the sun, an old-school Southern technique, can encourage bacterial growth and, frankly, does nothing to improve the finished drink. No, the best way to make iced tea is also the simplest—just mix together tea and water and let it cold-brew in the fridge for a few hours, for tea with a lovely aroma and minimal astringency.

Get the recipe for The Best Cold-Brewed Iced Tea »

The Best Arnold Palmer

If you're lucky enough to have pitchers of both our lemonade and our iced tea in the fridge already, you can, of course, combine the two for a pretty darn good Arnold Palmer. But if you're starting from scratch, here's how to make an even better version: Start by making the macerated-lemon syrup as you would for lemonade, but leave out the water entirely when making the lemon concentrate. Instead, just mix the syrup and lemon juice straight into the tea.

Get the recipe for The Best Arnold Palmer »

Coffee-Cinnamon Horchata

A good horchata, the Mexican rice- and almond-based drink that's a regular on taqueria menus, is both creamy and light, and nicely but not overwhelmingly sweet. Here, we give the classic a jolt of caffeine by infusing it with dark-roast coffee beans. A cinnamon stick blended into the base mixture turns it warming and spicy.

Frothy Iced Matcha Green Tea

If you're looking for an alternative to iced black tea or iced coffee in the summertime, iced Japanese matcha green tea is a fine choice, and it couldn't be simpler to make: Just mix the powdered tea with water and serve. We tested various ways of mixing and found that the best method of getting it good and foamy is just shaking it in a tightly sealed jar or cocktail shaker.

Get the recipe for Frothy Iced Matcha Green Tea »

Tangy Kumquat-Pear Juice

Bitter and spicy flavors can successfully mimic the flavor of alcohol, making them ideal for nonalcoholic cocktails. The spice in this case comes from fresh ginger; the bitterness from kumquats (peel, seeds, and all). Sweet Anjou pears form the base of the drink.

Get the recipe for Tangy Kumquat-Pear Juice »

Rhubarb-Ginger Cooler

This cool pitcher drink starts with a rhubarb syrup flavored with ginger, orange zest, and allspice. Assembling the drink requires nothing more than combining that syrup with lime juice and ginger beer—a spicy brand, like Bruce Cost, is best. This is delicious on its own as a nonalcoholic beverage; you can also add a shot of rum for a great twist on a Dark 'n Stormy.

Get the recipe for the Rhubarb-Ginger Cooler »

Spicy Honeydew and Coconut Water Agua Fresca

Honeydew doesn't get the love it should—how often have you seen a half-empty bowl of fruit salad littered with honeydew chunks, sad and uneaten? Still, the cool, sweet flavor of fresh melon is lovely when the fruit is in season, and it's even better in this delicate agua fresca, which mixes honeydew juice and coconut water. A simple syrup spiked with chile de árbol adds just the barest heat.