The 8 Best Spring Cocktails of 2026 | Our Favorite Easy Spring Cocktails
By Andrew Tardif
As spring comes into full swing, warmer weather swoops in, and the green buds of a flourishing summer begin to appear, a crucial question enters our mind. One of great existential weight. The question: What am I drinking?
It becomes too warm for a hot toddy, but not quite warm enough for a mojito, although I’ve rarely allowed temperature to dictate my ongoing desire for a mojito.
At Chemist we have a vested interest in finding those cocktails perfect for the season, which is why we want to bring you the best spring cocktails of 2026.
The Lavender Gin Fizz: A Floral Summer Gin Cocktail
In its earliest renditions, this refreshing gin cocktail was simply lemon juice, sugar, and gin shaken and topped with soda water, but the fizz was later made more luxurious with egg yolk or egg white.
Unlike the Tom Collins, which is served over ice and built in a Collins glass, the Gin Fizz is typically shaken to predilute it, and is served without ice.
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz Chemist American Gin
¾ oz lavender simple syrup*
¾ oz lemon juice
Egg white
Instructions:
Place ingredients in a shaker tin and shake without ice to foam the egg white (about 10-15 seconds)
Add ice and shake to chill (another 10 seconds)
Strain into a Collins glass
Top with soda water
Note: Although the original fizz recipe doesn’t call for ice, I like to have ice in the glass. A long cube in a Collins glass also looks good.
* For a lavender simple syrup, simply combine equal parts sugar, water, and heat until sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and add the lavender. Let the lavender steep for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Be aware that lavender is very pungent and strong; you won’t need much and it doesn’t need to steep for too long.
Gimlet: A Classic Gin Cocktail From the High Seas
It’s hard not to mention the Gimlet, I mean, it’s like the quintessential refreshing gin cocktail. It may have been named after a doctor with the British Royal Navy or after a tool that bores into barrels, but who knows for sure? Knowing where it comes from isn’t a prerequisite for making it, or drinking it—thank goodness!
However, it does have its origins in the British Royal Navy where officers would receive rations of gin and lime juice. Lime juice was a suggested addition to gin in order to get the necessary nutrients to prevent scurvy.
Although it is a navy drink, we find it’s more historically accurate to use our Chemist Barrel Rested Gin as opposed to our Navy Gin. This is because gin was transported and stored in barrels at the time. To be fully authentic, you could make a lime cordial, a simple combination of lime juice and sugar, but we find that the fresh lime juice makes it brighter and more appropriate as one of the best spring cocktails.
Ingredients:
2 oz Chemist Barrel Rested Gin
¾ oz lime juice
¾ oz simple syrup
Instructions:
Place ingredients in a shaker tin with ice
Shake ingredients for 10-15 seconds or until thoroughly chilled
Strain into a chilled coupe
Garnish with a lime wheel
The Gin Aperol Spritz: A Simple Take on the Aperol Spritz
I’m not sure if the addition of gin is somewhat sacrilegious to the spritz. I love a good Aperol Spritz, I must admit, but I think the simple addition of gin adds a lovely hint of botanicals, and I believe the use of a Navy Strength Gin, like ours, helps the gin stand out thanks to the higher proof.
Ingredients:
1 oz Chemist Navy Strength Gin
1 oz Aperol
2 oz sparkling brut or prosecco
2 oz sparkling water
Instructions:
Fill a white wine glass with ice
Add in Aperol and gin
Pour in prosecco and sparkling water
Garnish with an orange slice
The Classic Martini
A perfectly chilled martini made the classic way is a great porch sipper during the spring. The vermouth adds a silky texture, and the gin gives a cool botanical backbone. The martini is also one of the quintessential gin cocktails.
The martini was born out of the manhattan cocktail, simply switching out the whiskey for gin. It originally had equal parts gin to vermouth but over time, the vermouth was taken out of the equation until the gin was left all on its lonesome, sometimes paired with olive brine (a Dirty Martini) or even onion brine (Gibson).
This classic recipe for the martini is equal parts our American Gin to vermouth, but the beauty about the martini is that the ratio can change depending on how you want it. You can do 2:1 or 5:1 or whatever, but just remember that getting rid of the vermouth kind of strips it of its title as a Martini.
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz Chemist American Gin
1 ½ oz Cocchi Americano Vermouth
4 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes of absinthe (optional)
Instructions:
Place ingredients in a mixing glass with ice
Stir for 30 seconds or until thoroughly chilled
Strain into a chilled coupe glass
Express lemon oil over top
Garnish with the lemon peel or olive
Gin Rickey: The Easiest Gin Drink to Make
Look, it’s easy and it’s not really a cocktail, probably more of a gin mixed drink, but I think this simple gin cocktail is great for the springtime since it’s light and refreshing. It also serves as a low calorie drink, if you’re trying to get that summer bod going.
The Rickey has some relation to a fella named Rickey, but he is not the creator, only the one who popularized it in the East. The Rickey originally was just a highball, whiskey and soda, but then evolved to have lemon juice and eventually lime juice.
Ingredients:
2 oz Chemist American Gin OR Chemist American Single Malt Whiskey
¾ oz lime juice
Soda water
Instructions:
Place gin or whiskey and lime juice into a shaker tin with ice
Shake for 5 seconds to slightly dilute it
Pour into a Collins glass over ice
Top with club soda
Garnish with a lime wedge
Single Malt Renewal
This take on Jeffrey Morganthaler’s Bourbon Renewal cocktail uses our American Single Malt Whiskey in place of the Bourbon. The use of creme de cassis in this whiskey cocktail adds some sweet and tart flavors and a lovely purple color that you don’t see with many whiskey cocktails.
This serves as a great whiskey cocktail in our list of the best spring cocktails because it has that depth but is still refreshing and light enough for the season.
Ingredients:
2 oz Chemist American Single Malt Whiskey
½ oz Creme de Cassis
½ oz lemon juice
¼ oz simple syrup
2 dashes of Angostura Bitters
Instructions:
Place ingredients into a shaker tin with ice
Shake for 10-15 seconds or until thoroughly chilled
Strain into a rocks glass with ice
Garnish with a lemon wedge
Whiskey Sour
Of the best spring cocktails, the whiskey sour is one of those whiskey cocktails that tows the line between decadent and refreshing. You could have this whiskey cocktail without the egg white, but you would be forfeiting a lot of body and depth. If you are vegan, you can use alternatives like aqua faba instead of egg white.
The whiskey sour has been around for quite a while and you could really use any whiskey for the base, although bourbon has traditionally been used. We love to use our American Single Malt Whiskey in this whiskey cocktail recipe because it has the caramel profile that comes from bourbon but also has a malty finish that comes full circle with the texture of the egg white.
Ingredients:
2 oz Chemist Single Malt Whiskey
¾ oz lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup
Egg white
Instructions:
Place ingredients into a shaker tin with one ice cube
Shake for 10-15 seconds to froth the egg white
Add more ice and shake for another 10 seconds to chill
Strain into a chilled coupe
Drop some Angostura bitters on the foam and use a toothpick to create a cool design
Whiskey Southside
The Southside is one of my favorite gin cocktails out there and has been since I started making them in Chicago. Although seemingly named after the Southside of Chicago, this is misleading.
The Southside is originally from Long Island. Yeah. Not as romantic as it coming from Chicago. No offense, Long Island. There are also tales that this was Al Capone’s favorite cocktail.
As noted, this whiskey cocktail originally has gin, but using a whiskey like our Chemist American Single Malt Whiskey can add some depth with notes of caramel, vanilla, malt, and spice for one of the best spring cocktails for whiskey lovers.
I’ve seen variations in the juice that is used. I learned it with only lime juice, I’ve been to bars where they only used lemon juice, and then I recently learned that a combo of lemon and lime is a popular option too.
Ingredients:
2 oz Chemist American Single Malt Whiskey
½ oz lime juice
½ oz lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup
Handful of mint
Instructions:
Combine whiskey, juice, syrup, and mint into a shaker tin with ice
Shake ingredients for 10-15 seconds or until thoroughly chilled
Double strain into a chilled coupe
Garnish with a mint leaf
Conclusion
Spring brings cool, life-giving rains, bright flowers, and warmer weather, and it also gives us at Chemist Spirits the opportunity to play with all sorts of new drinks in our lab, and we hope we give you some inspiration to concoct something tasty.
Whether you like gin cocktails or whiskey cocktails, our list of the best spring cocktails is sure to have something you will enjoy this spring season, especially with our gin or whiskey.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is Gin Good with Lime Juice?
Yes, gin is great with lime juice and the pairing can be found in many classic gin cocktails from The Last Word to our aforementioned Gimlet. The lime brings out a lot of the citrus and floral notes in gin.
2. What is Gin Made From?
Gin is made from a neutral spirit that is then infused with juniper berries and other herbs, botanicals, and citrus such as angelica root, orris root, coriander, lemon peel, and many others. Gin must have juniper berries as a dominant ingredient and flavor to be considered gin.
3. What Mixes Well With Gin?
Gin can mix well with many things like lime or lemon juice, but it also goes well with soda water, tonic water, or ginger ale.
References:
Distilling, S. &. (n.d.-a). Aperol Spritz | the Oxford companion to spirits & cocktails. Spirits & Distilling. https://www.spiritsanddistilling.com/dictionary/acref-9780199311132-e-237
Distilling, S. &. (n.d.-g). The Southside | the Oxford companion to spirits & cocktails. Spirits & Distilling. https://www.spiritsanddistilling.com/dictionary/acref-9780199311132-e-423
