Nothing can beat a perfect cooler on a hot summer day. The ultimate coolers are not just cool drinks but a delicious cocktail. Cool cocktails are not complicated to make and can be easily made by you at home. To help you, here are three simple and popular cocktails that you can make for yourself or your friends on a hot summer day.

1. Bourbon Rickey
Joe Rickey, a Democratic lobbyist, living in Washington D.C., asked Shoemaker’s bartender, George A. Williamson, to create a Bourbon Rickey in the late 1880s. After a decade, this cocktail became very popular but with gin instead of the original bourbon. The Rickey cocktail falls under the highball category of cocktails as it is made using soda, lime, liquor, and ice. This recipe appeared in the Daly’s Bartender’ s Encyclopedia as early as 1903. This cocktail has also been mentioned in Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 classic The Great Gatsby.  You require the following ingredients to make this cocktail.

• Bourbon – 11/2 ounces
• Lime – 1/2
• Sparkling water – to top
• Ice cubes – as necessary

Fill a highball glass with ice cubes and squeeze half a lime in the glass and drop it in. Add the bourbon slowly on the ice and fill the glass with sparkling water. Stir the mixture well and serve.

2. Sea Breeze
This gin based cocktail promises the experience of a cool sea breeze in a glass. The cocktail first appeared in the late 1920s and slowly evolved to the Sea Breeze that is popularly consumed today. This cocktail follows the classic principle of balancing strong alcohol with sweet and sour fruit juice. This cocktail recipe can be found in Harry Craddock’s “The Savoy Cocktail Book” and was originally part of “The Inside Story of the Sea.” You require the following ingredients to make this cocktail.

• Dry Gin – 1 ounce
• Apricot brandy – 1 ounce
• Lemon – juice from half a lemon
• Grenadine – 2 dashes
• Soda – to top
• Mint sprig – 1 to garnish
• Ice cubes – as necessary

Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Then pour dry gin, apricot brandy, lemon juice, and grenadine into the glass. Top the glass with soda water and stir well. Garnish with an elegant mint sprig.

3. Dark’n Stormy
This dark rum-based cocktail is designed to refresh with a bite of ginger. Originally made in the Caribbean in 1806, this cocktail has been patented by Gosling. This means that only Gosling’s Black Seal rum can be used to make a Dark’n Stormy.  You need the following ingredients to make this cocktail.

• Dark rum – 2 ounces
• Fresh lime juice – 1/2 ounce
• Ginger beer – to top
• Lime wedge – 1 for garnishing
• Ice cubes – as necessary

Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Pour the dark rum and lime juice. Top the glass with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.