Summer is in full swing, and there’s no better way to cool down than with a refreshing watermelon cocktail.
From classic margaritas to inventive mojitos, watermelon’s juicy sweetness adds the perfect balance to any drink.
In this listicle, I’ve compiled 20 delicious watermelon cocktail recipes that will have you sipping in the sun all season long. These recipes are sure to impress your guests and leave your taste buds wanting more.
So, grab your cocktail shaker and get ready to be the ultimate summer host with these mouth-watering watermelon cocktails.
1. Easy Watermelon Cocktail
If you invite friends over or want to make your family dinner night more interesting, a watermelon cocktail is the way to go.
The tasty drink mixes well with beef or chicken hamburger, or you can just enjoy it with a good steak!
Already salivating, right? Then here’s the recipe:
- Fresh Watermelon
- Mint leaves
- Lime juice
- Honey
- Vodka
- Club Soda
Preparation
Blend three cups of watermelon flesh (not the rind) without the seeds until liquid. Strain out the pulp and add honey or your preferred sweetener to taste. Pour the liquid into cocktail glasses and add watermelon and ice cubes. Add a little club soda and garnish with additional slices of lime.
2. Refreshing Watermelon Cocktail
A glass of chilled water, a bar of chocolate, and a tub of banana milkshake are all genuinely refreshing, but who will help me spread the word about watermelon cocktails?
Whether you just had a bad day with your spouse or are relaxing by the poolside, a watermelon cocktail will be your perfect companion to either cheer you up or complement your leisure time for better relaxation effects.
But what are the ingredients? Let me assure you, you will love them.
- Fresh Seedless Watermelon
- Pineapple juice
- White Grape Juice
- Powdered Sugar/Honey/Agave Nectar
- Vodka
- Garnishes
Preparation:
Make watermelon cubes and blend them until liquid. Strain out the pulp and add sparkling white grape juice and pineapple juice. Then stir in the vodka and add sugar to taste. Serve chilled.
3. Watermelon Ginger Mojito
This cocktail is just perfect for summer and for lazy sipping on your bed.
The ginger in the cocktail will add a refreshing, spicy flavor that will leave you returning for more, no story!
The watermelon-ginger mojito, popularized by Ernest Hemingway, combines the following ingredients :
- Watermelon Juice
- White Rum
- Simple Syrup
- Fresh Mint
- Lime Juice
- Fresh Ginger
- Soda Water
Preparation:
Mash ginger slices, mint leaves, and simple syrup together. Pour the rum and lime juice into the mixture and add the watermelon juice. Finish up with the soda water and garnish with watermelon balls.
4. Watermelon Summer Splash Cocktail
As the name has already given away, the watermelon summer splash cocktail is an excellent beverage for the sunshine days of the year.
On such hot days, a chilled watermelon cocktail is as good as a glass of chilled water, or maybe even better if you factor in the flavor.
Let’s go through the ingredients:
- Tequila
- Moscato wine
- Fresh watermelon juice
- Simple syrup
- Ice (as much as is needed)
Preparation:
Combine the Moscato, tequila, watermelon juice, simple syrup, and ice and stir. Give the mixture five minutes to finish blending, then pour into glasses and serve with more ice, lime slices, and watermelon balls as needed.
5. Easy Watermelon Sangria
This special watermelon sangria cocktail only takes fresh watermelon, lime juice, and orange flavor to cook its magic!
The cocktail is a perfect example of a mixture of different things working together to give one flavor that can be described with many praiseworthy names. You are in for a treat!
For this cocktail, you’ll be needing:
- Watermelon
- Limes
- White wine
- Honey
- Orange-flavored liqueur with cognac: A prime example is Grand Marnier. Cointreau is another good option
- Fresh blueberries: Don’t stress too much if you don’t have them handy. Nevertheless, they can add more color and tartness to your watermelon sangria.
Preparation:
Blend all the watermelon (leave some for serving), lime, honey, and a little wine until you get a uniform liquid
Strain the liquid and add Grand Marnier to the rest of the wine, and mix. Top up with blueberries, lime segments, and more watermelon cubes.
6. Watermelon Vodka Cocktail with Aperol Recipe
The watermelon vodka cocktail with Aperol is a great cocktail to enjoy with friends and family.
This cocktail is quick to prepare, just five minutes, and has a generous dose of calories.
To prepare this must-have cocktail, here’s what you’ll need:
- 1.5 oz Skyy Infusions Watermelon Vodka
- 0.75 oz Aperol
- 0.5 oz lemon juice
- 3 oz Prosecco
- 1 oz Soda Water
Preparation:
Add all the ingredients to a glass, then fill with ice and add the Skyy watermelon vodka, the Prosecco, the Aperol, and the fresh lemon juice, and top with club soda.
7. A Strawberry and Watermelon Daiquiri
You can call this icy goodness summer in a cup, and for a good reason. Let me just tell you that it perfectly complements the weather.
To make a strawberry and watermelon daiquiri, you’d use
- Chopped watermelon
- Chopped strawberries
- White rum
- Sugar syrup
- Lime juice
- Ice
To Prepare:
Blend all the ingredients to smoothness and chill with ice cubes. Then serve immediately.
8. The Antonia
The Antonia watermelon cocktail has quite a story behind it. Cesar Martinez got the idea from his grandma, who loved to salt watermelon before eating it and then he popularized the cocktail after making a complete recipe for it.
See the recipe below:
- Ginger root
- Salt
- Cubes of watermelon
- Mezcal
- Domaine De Canton ginger
- Liqueur
- Agave nectar
- Lime juice
- Pebble or crushed ice
- Cubed watermelon sprinkled with salt for garnishing
Preparation:
Add the watermelon cubes, roots, and salt in a shaker and muddle. Add the rest of the ingredients and shake well. Then strain twice into a glass filled with ice. Garnish with watermelon cubes, and you are done.
9. Watermelon Cucumber Cooler
Watermelon, cucumber, wasabi salt, and syrup make for a delicious cocktail you will want to make over and again.
Okay, it seems I cheated a little when I mentioned some of the ingredients in the introduction. Pardon me, and let’s get into the recipe proper.
- Gin
- Lemon/lime juice
- Cane syrup
- Wasabi salt
- Watermelon juice
Preparation:
Add the cucumber and cane syrup in a shaker and squash it to release its juice into the cane syrup. Then add gin and lemon juice. If you have lime juice instead, it’s okay.
After that, shake for ten seconds and strain into a tall glass. Next comes the watermelon juice. Then stir and garnish with a cucumber slice.
10. 4 Ingredient Watermelon Cocktail
Watermelon cocktails are surprisingly easy to make but just four ingredients? Yeah, that’s right. And you will be getting not just any watermelon cocktail but a special one that will make you forget the heat of a hot summer day (yes, I’m being literal here).
What’s the recipe for this hassle-free watermelon cocktail?
- Watermelon Vodka
- Grand Marnier
- Lime juice
- Watermelon juice
Preparation:
Stuff the first three ingredients into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice. Shake vigorously until the shaker is frosty. Share equally between two cocktail glasses. Garnish with a wedge of watermelon and a slice of lime.
11. Watermelon Mint Julep Jello Shots
If you are familiar with the mint julep, watermelon mint julep jello shots shouldn’t be too strange to you. You are using basically the same ingredients but this time with watermelon.
Is watermelon mint julep jello shots a tasty cocktail? OMG, yes!
Follow along for the recipe:
- Mint leaves
- Water
- Watermelon juice
- Watermelon gelatin (the base)
- Bourbon
- Watermelon pucker
Preparation:
- Shred the mint leaves and pound them to free the oil in them. Then mix everything with 3/2 cups of water and simmer for 10 mins. This is the infusion stage.
- Filter out the mint leaves and boil the mint-infused water.
- Mix the above with gelatin powder in a large mixing bowl and stir until the jello is completely dissolved.
- Add the watermelon juice, bourbon, and watermelon pucker to the bowl. Stir thoroughly to mix and then pour into 2 oz. cups. Make sure they are half-filled at most.
- Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.
12. Frozen Watermelon Daiquiri
Here is another four-ingredient watermelon cocktail to spend your summertime sipping.
This classic cocktail started in Cuba but without the ice. Now shaven ice is added to the mix to make the frozen daiquiri we now love so much!
The ingredients are watermelon, lime juice, simple syrup, and rum.
Chop the watermelon into cubes and freeze in one layer on a baking sheet overnight—or six hours if your excitement is ruling the day.
Mix with lime juice and blend until smooth. And hey, presto, the cocktail is done.
13. Watermelon Gin Fizz Cocktail
Relax this summer with the watermelon gin fizz cocktail that combines watermelon juice with floral gin for a classic cocktail.
All you need is:
- Gin
- Watermelon
- Lemon
- Honey
- Egg white
- Club soda
Preparation:
- Blend watermelon, lemon juice, and honey to a smooth consistency.
- Separate the juice from the pulp with a fine sieve and discard the pulp.
- Add gin and egg white to the watermelon juice from step two, and shake vigorously in a closed cocktail shaker for about 25 mins.
- Add ice and shake again until well-chilled.
14. Watermelon Pina Colada
The Piña Colada is a classic cocktail from Puerto Rico that is famous for its blend of just three ingredients – rum, pineapple, and coconut – that are said to reflect the true flavors of the Caribbean.
The Watermelon Piña Colada brings watermelon to the mix to make an exceptionally great summertime version of the Piña Colada.
I can’t seem to stop talking about this fantastic cocktail! Well, I have to get to the recipe now, shall I?
- Frozen 1-inch chunks of watermelon
- White rum
- Pineapple juice
- And preferably, full-fat coconut milk.
And…that’s all?
Yeah. Now for the instructions:
Blend the frozen watermelon, rum, pineapple juice, and coconut milk until smooth. Pour into cocktail glasses. Any will do, but if you have hurricane glasses or Poco Grande glasses, use them.
15. Watermelon Cocktail
This watermelon cocktail looks simpler in name than almost every other one on this list. Is it that simple to prepare? You guessed right, yes!
You just need watermelon, berries (black, blue, straw, have fun choosing them), fizzy water, and any spirit you like. Best thing about this watermelon cocktail is that it is both a fruit salad and a cocktail at once!
But here is the funniest part (wait for it while I clear my throat), everything is served inside a big hollow watermelon, just as you can see in the picture above. If you are someone’s guest and he decides to entertain you with this cocktail, he’s probably the one with the humor!
Alright, enough chatter. Let’s get to the instructions:
- Slice a thin wafer off of the top and bottom of the watermelon; remove enough for it to sit without rolling. After that, slice the watermelon in half horizontally.
- You are now working with one half. Tear a fine, straight line about two inches deep across ⅓ of the half watermelon.
- With a melon baller or spoon, hollow out the remaining ⅔ of the half you are working with. Also, scoop under the intact ⅓ to create a 2-inch thick shelf.
- Cut a round hole in the shelf as far from the edge as possible. Make the hole big enough to accommodate the mouth and neck of a small alcohol bottle when you invert it over the hole.
- Fill the hollowed-out watermelon with watermelon balls and blackberries. Tuck two mint leaves among the fruit.
Repeat the whole process with the other watermelon half.
You can now finish making your cocktails or place the prepared watermelons on a rimmed sheet pan, drape them with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 6 hours before serving.
To finish the watermelon cocktail:
- Squeeze two lime wedges per watermelon half over the melon balls. Pour a shot of orange liqueur into each watermelon half.
- Open the mini bottle of alcohol and carefully insert it into the opening in the watermelon that you created for it. The alcohol should flow freely into the watermelon.
- Pour enough chilled carbonated mineral water or plain seltzer on top of the berries and watermelon so that the bubbles rise to within ¼-inch of the rim of the watermelon.
- Garnish with another mint leaf or sprig and two more lime wedges.
Repeat this with the other watermelon half.
Serve with a straw and, if desired, a spoon or fork to eat the fruit when you’re done sipping!
16. Watermelon Candy Cocktail
Love a watermelon cocktail that incorporates tequila and sweet plus spicy flavors?
Look no further than the watermelon candy cocktail. The chamoy we are using will add a bit of candy flavor to the cocktail, hence why candy is in the name.
This is the complete list of ingredients:
- Tequila
- Watermelon flavored liqueur
- Fresh lime
- Sparkling water
- Chamoy
- Tajin
- Fresh watermelon
Preparation:
Rim your glass and chamoy and Tajin in two small plates. Dip the glass rim first in the chamoy and then in the Tajin.
Fill the glass with ice and then pour in the tequila and the watermelon liqueur.
Squeeze in fresh lime.
Top off the cocktail with bubbly water and gently stir. Then garnish with a watermelon. That’s it.
17. Watermelon Agua Fresca
Watermelon agua fresca is one of the best mocktails to enjoy on a hot summer day and has a unique sweetness. It is also simple to prepare, and if you are fast, you can make it in five minutes.
Like the watermelon Piña Colada that’s a remix of the original Piña Colada, watermelon agua fresca (agua fresca is Mexican for freshwater) is a remix of the original strawberry agua fresca.
The ingredients are watermelon, sweetener (I prefer honey for its fructose which is far sweeter than refined sugar), water, lime, and mint.
Preparation:
- Blend watermelon with water and sweetener
- Strain into a pitcher. Straining can decrease the nutrient content of the cocktail. If you want to skip this stage, go for seedless watermelon. That way, you wouldn’t have to deal with the seeds.
- Add a cup of water and stir.
- Serve chilled. Squeeze into the mocktail and stir. Then garnish with mint sprigs or lime wheels.
18. Watermelon Tequila Cocktail
This watermelon cocktail is a sweet and nutritious way of staying hydrated in the sunny summer weather. Although, you can enjoy it any time of the year.
The ingredients used in this cocktail ideally enhance the already sweet taste of watermelon and make the cocktail a really lovely substitute to pure watermelon juice (although we love it)
So what are we using for this cocktail? Not many ingredients.
- Cubed watermelon
- Silver tequila
- Lime juice
- Mint leaves
Preparation:
Puree cubed watermelon in a blender and strain it into a glass measuring cup. Fill a glass with mint leaves and muddle gently to release the mint flavor. Add tequila and fill the glass with ice. Then add watermelon juice and stir. Garnish with mint leaves.
19. Watermelon and Basil Martini
Watermelon with basil leaves? Is that even a cocktail at all? Yes, and it’s deliciously summerly.
There seems to be no end to what you can mix with watermelon to give exceptional cocktails.
This cocktail has watermelon juice with basil as its base. The basil is muddled, and top-shelf vodka is added to the mix as a flavor enhancer.
Ingredients:
- Fresh watermelon – chopped
- Large basil leaves
- Vodka
- St. Germain Liqueur
- Small watermelon slice and basil leaf for garnish
Preparation:
Make watermelon juice and infuse it with basil flavor by muddling the basil together with the chopped watermelon. Strain the liquid afterwards.
Mix the watermelon juice, vodka, and St. Germain in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Strain and then garnish with a watermelon slice and basil leaf.
20. Watermelon Gin & Tonics
If you love watermelon and like gin, then the watermelon gin & tonics cocktail is your perfect match for summertime!
The best gin for this cocktail are the ones with floral nuances, as any annoying sweetness that would ruin the cocktail is absent.
The watermelon gin and tonic cocktail is crazily simple to use and uses only four ingredients – watermelon, gin, limes, and tonic water.
Preparation is a breeze. You only need to buy or make your own watermelon juice. Add ice cubes, gin, tonic water, and lime juice, and serve chilled with additional limes.