Summer is a great time for relaxing with a cocktail. Making it with coffee can be a perfect touch for a refreshing and invigorating experience. These are three perfect summer coffee cocktails that you can make even if you’re not an experienced bartender. They’re simple but enjoyable, and they’re even better when you use the highest-quality coffee. 

If you tend to have trouble with acid reflux when you drink coffee, be sure you make them with a low acid coffee, such as Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee.

Coffee Martini

What’s better than a regular martini? What about a coffee martini? It gives a different flavor to this classic drink and you can have it before or after your meal. The super cool part about this recipe is the coffee rim. It’s like a sugar rim on a pina colada, or a salt rim on a margarita. Here’s how to make the recipe.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of whole coffee beans or ¼ cup of coffee grinds. 
• 4 ounces of regular or decaf brewed coffee, chilled or at room temperature.
• 1 ounces of vodka.
• 1 ounce of Kahlua. 
• 1 cup of ice.

Instructions:

1. If you’re using whole beans, grind them finely. You need about ½ cup of whole beans or ¼ cup of grinds. Mix them with an equal amount of sugar. Then spread the mixture out on a cutting board, a plate, or a sheet of wax paper. 
2. Turn a glass upside down and dip it into some water or - better yet - some coffee to wet it. Then place the rim on the plate with coffee grinds and sugar. Turn it gently to get the mixture to stick to the rim. Then turn the glass right-side up and set it down to dry. Repeat with the other glass.
3. Mix together the coffee, vodka, and Kahula. Place half the ice in each glass. Then pour half the coffee mixture into each glass.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Modifications

• If you want to drink this later in the day, you might want to try it with Decaffeinated Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee so that the caffeine doesn’t keep you up at night.
• You can use other types of liqueur, such as Bailey’s, Tia Maria, or Sheridan’s.
• When you’re making the coffee rim, consider mixing shaved chocolate with the ground coffee to add a chocolate flavor to each sip.
• This is great served over ice cubes made with coffee (it’s always good to use leftover coffee for ice cubes so that you have some available when you want them). 

Long Island Iced Coffee

This recipe is strong. If that’s what you’re looking for, you can’t help but love it. It packs a punch, is easy to make, and can turn a party into something super special.

To make cold brew coffee, you can use coarsely grind coffee beans. Make it ahead of time, since it takes several hours to brew, and you can keep it in the fridge for a few days anyway. 

Prep time: 5 minutes

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce each of Bailey’s Irish cream, Kahula, Vodka, Rum, and Tequila.
• 6 ounces (¾ cup) of cold brew coffee
• 4 cups of ice

Instructions:

1. Mix the liquor, coffee, and 2 cups of ice by shaking them in a cocktail shaker.
2. Put 1 cup of ice in each glass.
3. Pour the coffee mixture evenly into each glass.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Modifications

• As written, this recipe does have a full 2.5 servings of alcohol per serving of the beverage. That’s already more than the daily maximum of one serving of alcohol that is recommended for healthy women, and more than the max of 2 servings per day for men. If you want to cut back, you can omit the vodka and use only Bailey’sor Kahlua. You might want to increase the cold brew coffee to 1 cup (½ cup per serving).
• If you want more of a traditional Long Island cocktail, you can use triple sec instead of Irish cream liqueur. 
• For a sweet touch, consider using ice cubes made of cola instead of water.
• You can always use coffee instead of water or cola for your ice cubes.
• For a nice garnish, you can put strawberries on the rim of the glass before serving the beverage.

Iced Drunken Mocha Cocktail

This is the absolute perfect choice to reward yourself at the end of a long day. When you’ve gotten through work, childcare duties, errands, and other responsibilities, and you need a few minutes of “me” time, this drink can help you make the most of it.

It’s decadent and easy to make, so you won’t be spending too much of your “me” time in the kitchen. It’s sweet and creamy with a bit of a bite. Enjoy!

Prep time: 5 minutes

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of skim milk
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of chocolate syrup
• 3 ounces of strongly brewed coffee, chilled in the refrigerator
• 2 ounces of chocolate liqueur
• Whipped cream or whipped topping
• 1 tablespoon of shaved chocolate or 2 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder (baking cocoa)
• 1 ½ cups of ice

Instructions:

1. Mix the milk and syrup together. Add ¾ cup of ice. Add the chocolate liqueur and brewed coffee and mix.
2. Place the other ¾ cup of ice in a glass. 
3. Pour the coffee mixture over the ice.
4. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
5. Serve and enjoy!

Modifications

• It’s easy to make this dairy-free by using soy milk, almond milk, or another non-dairy milk substitute instead of skim milk, and by choosing coconut-based or another non-dairy whipped topping.
• You can increase the coffee taste by swapping 1 ounce of chocolate liqueur for 1 ounce of coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua.
• This has a lot of alcohol in it. If you want to cut back, you can use just 1 ounce of liqueur.
• You can reduce calories by choosing skim milk or unsweetened almond milk, using light or sugar-free whipped cream, and using sugar-free chocolate syrup.
• You can make it even creamier by adding 2 tablespoons of half and half. 
• This also tastes great with a squeeze of caramel syrup.

These summer coffee cocktails are easy to make and just the thing for a quiet evening with your family or for entertaining on a warm summer’s evening. You can modify them as you like to make sure they suit your tastes. Enjoy!