Drinks News

10 simple summer cocktails

Keep your cool with a selection of drinks from the country’s finest bar talent that are as easy to make as they are to down.

By Pat Nourse
The making of cocktails at many of the country's top bars has become almost as complicated as the cooking done in restaurant kitchens. An increasing emphasis on fine and unusual ingredients and rarefied techniques now separate the bartending wheat from the postmix gun-toting chaff. But when the mercury's shooting out of the top of the thermometer and eggs are frying in the shade of an Australian summer, there are times when you just want a drink, and bugger the mixology. And so it is in that spirit that we've asked a hand-picked selection of the bartenders who have impressed us most around the country to leave the bells and whistles on the shelf and give us some ideas for drinks better served around the pool or barbie than the bar. The results, we hope you'll agree, are worth raising a glass to.