Main content starts here, tab to start navigating

Great Recipes for Labor Day (or any day) Cocktails

Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen Summer Cocktails

@parisandalatte and @timelessoptimist stopped by to try our cocktails


Looking for the perfect drinks for hanging out on your patio this Labor Day? We asked Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen Bar Manager Jon Coklyat to share some of his favorite recipes for late summer cocktails. The theme? Refreshing, light and great to make in batches. 


a cup of coffee sitting on top of a wooden table

Courtesy of Cristina Medina @timelessoptimist

Blood Red Summer

This light, refreshing and spice-driven cocktail is a boozy take on an aqua fresca. 

1.25 oz Hibiscus and spice infused blanco tequila

3/4 oz Aperol (yum)

3/4 oz honey syrup

3/4 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed

Splash fresh orange juice

To make honey syrup: Use 2 parts honey to 1 part water. Boil together until consistent. We smoke our honey in house, but you could replicate by adding a splash of mezcal into the cocktail.

To make hibiscus and spice infused blanco tequila: Pour your favorite blanco tequila into a large mason jar with some dried hibiscus flowers, cinnamon, clove, allspice and black pepper. Let rest for a couple of days. Each day you should shake the contents and taste. (You're looking for a balance between the tartness and spice. It should take 3-5 days.)

Shake all ingredients together with ice and strain over new ice into a vessel of your choice.



a glass of orange juice on a table

Courtesy of Cristina Medina @timelessoptimist

Rum-Sherry Painkiller 

A low ABV take on a powerhouse rum cocktail. If you prefer a drier style of sherry, reach for the bottle tucked deep into the corner of your liquor cabinet.

1 oz Plantation dark rum (Coruba or Meyers also work well.)

1 oz Lustau fino sherry 

3/4 oz Coco Lopez

1/4 oz simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water)

1/2 oz orange juice, freshly squeezed

Splash fresh lime

Shake all ingredients together with an orange wheel and strain over ice into a vessel of your choice.


a vase filled with flowers sitting on top of a wooden table

Courtesy of LWP Public Relations @lwp_pr

Machine Gun Mariachi

An amped up tepache, a partially fermented Mexican drink made typically with pineapple, water and brown sugar. Uruapan Charanda Blanco is a spirit similar to rum made exclusively in the Mexican state of Michoacán. You should be able to find the beautiful blue bottle in any specialty liquor store.

1 oz Uruapan Charanda Blanco

1/2 oz Vago Espadin mezcal (May be easier to find Sombra or Del Maguey Vida.)

1/2 oz agave

1/2 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed

Splash of apple cider vinegar

Fresh mango, 4 chunks

Slice of jalapeño

Add a splash of apple cider vinegar to your tin along with mango and a slice of jalapeno. (Deseeded if you can’t take the heat.) Muddle the jalapeño and mango in the apple cider vinegar. Add all the ingredients and shake with ice. Strain well to avoid chunks of jalapeno or mango in your straw. (Unless you're pro-pulp in your orange juice, then maybe consider leaving it in). Strain over ice into a vessel of your choice.

Cheers!