Summer Cocktails: Get Inspired by Six Bars in Miami, Nashville, New Orleans and Hialeah

It’s summertime, so that means customers at bars and restaurants want to sip and savor innovative and refreshing cocktails that transport them, create an experience, or give them that feeling of being on vacation.

Bar & Restaurant rounded up six summer cocktail concepts from several U.S. bars – including establishments in Miami, Nashville, New Orleans and Hialeah – to offer a little inspiration.

R House Wynwood – Miami, Fla.

This summer at R House Wynwood, customers are ordering the refreshing La Pina Loca ($100), a frozen pina colada served in a whole pineapple with sparklers, flamingo straws, tiki umbrellas and five shots of the customer’s choice.

This cocktail is presented to the table on a bamboo tray, is perfect for sharing, and is only available for those “in the know,” as it’s not mentioned on R House’s menu.

To learn more about the bar, visit RhouseWynwood.com.

La Pina Loca Recipe

Ingredients:
-3 oz Light Rum
-3 oz Coconut Rum
-3 oz Pineapple Juice
-3 oz Organic Cream of Coconut
-¾ oz Fresh Lime Juice
-Ice

Garnish:
-1 whole pineapple
-Flamingo straws
-Tiki umbrellas
-Dehydrated citrus

-Sparklers

Method:
-Remove the pulp of a whole pineapple and reserve it to later make the fresh pineapple juice.
-Put all the ingredients in the blender until you obtain a perfect frozé and fill the pineapple.
-Add the garnishes and 2 sparklers.
-Present it in a wooden bamboo tray with 5 shots

(Photo of the La Pina Loca featured above)

The Pool Club, Virgin Hotels – Nashville, Tenn.

Pampered, inspired, energized, soaking up that Southern sun… The Pool Club is an oasis in Music City, consisting of select cabanas and loungers. Customers enjoy a lush landscape, stunning pool, killer view of Nashville’s historic Music Row and surrounding areas, and plenty of ways to sip and savor the day away with refreshing food and drink options.

The bar’s festive Kokomo Colada features white rum, coconut puree, pineapple juice and lime juice, blended together and served in a hollowed coconut.

To learn more about the bar, visit VirginHotels.com/nashville/dine-and-drink/rooftop.

Kokomo Colada Recipe

Ingredients:
-2 oz Pineapple Juice
-2 oz Coconut Puree
-2 oz White Rum
-¾ oz Lime Juice
-2 cups Ice

Method:
-Combine all ingredients into a blender
-Blend until the texture is smooth-Pour into a hollowed coconut
-Garnish with a lime wheel

The Pool Club Virgin Hotels Nashville - KOKOMO COLADA
The Pool Club's Kokomo Colada (Photo: Courtesy of The Pool Club, Virgin Hotels )

Mister Mao – New Orleans, La.

Mister Mao is a tropical roadhouse – a quirky, eclectic and “unapologetically inauthentic,” serving up locally sourced, global flavors through refined small plates. The bar suggests come-as-you-are and with an open mind.

The bar's Billion Dollar Betsy features dark and overproof rum, allspice pina and orgeat tres leches.

Billion Dollar Betsy Recipe

Ingredients:
-1 oz pineapple juice
-1 oz orgeat
-1 oz coconut cream
-1.5 oz Jamaican dark rum
-0.5 oz allspice dram

Method:
Shake and strain into a highball glass over ice. Top with a splash of cherry liqueur, a cinnamon stick, and a party umbrella.

Mister Mao New Orleans - Billion Dollar Betsy
Mister Mao's Billion Dollar Betsy (Photo: Courtesy of Mister Mao / By: Paprika Studios)

Hot Tin – New Orleans, La.

High atop the Pontchartrain Hotel, Hot Tin is a convivial rooftop bar known for its craft cocktails and chic atmosphere. The 1940s artist-inspired space hosts both inside and outside areas to revel with first come, first served entry. Once a penthouse, today the space has been converted into an intimate rooftop bar where champagne and bright cocktails complement the 270-degree view of Downtown New Orleans and the Mississippi River.

Modeled after a 1940s artist’s loft, the interior space is both airy and eclectic, a place where you can lounge on couches or explore the  wall of curios and knick-knacks that bring moments past into the present. Glass accordion doors open onto the balcony, showcasing the incomparable view of Downtown, while a second, more secluded terrace offers a bird’s-eye view of Saint Charles Avenue.

The bar’s "Jazz in Jalisco" cocktail sees New Orleans and Jalisco come together with the combination of El Buho Mezcal, Peychaud’s aperitivo and Big Easy orange kombucha.

To learn more about the var, visit Hottinbar.com

Jazz in Jalisco Recipe

Ingredients:
-1.5 oz El Buho Mezcal
-.5 oz Peychaud's Aperitivo
-.25 oz Campari-3 oz kombucha

Method:
Pour mezcal, peychaud's and campari into a cocktail shaker and shake. Pour contents over ice into a wine glass and top with kombucha.

 Hot Tin New Orleans - Jazz in Jalisco
 Hot Tin's Jazz in Jalisco (Photo: Courtesy of Hot Tin New Orleans)

La Cocina Coctelería – Hialeah, Fla.

Launched in 2019 and connected to the Kush Hialeah restaurant (formerly Stephen’s Deli), La Cocina Cocteleria is a cocktail bar in Hialeah that pays homage to its host city with a dazzling décor. And just in time for summer, the cocktail bar launched their brand new cocktail program that gives plenty of reasons to sip, savor and social media the new drinks.

For bourbon lovers and Latin music enthusiasts, the Ay Que Feo cocktail is presented with a photo of Colombian artist Maluma and prepared with Old Forester Bourbon, Aperol, passionfruit and pineapple. This refreshing fruity cocktail is perfect for beating the heat this summer.

To learn more about the bar, visit KushHospitality.com/locations/la-cocina.

Ay Que Feo Recipe

Ingredients:
-1 ½ oz Bourbon
-½ oz Aperol
-¼ oz Passionfruit
-1oz Pineapple Juice
-½ oz Lime Juice

Method:
-Combine all ingredients together, shake well, strain, and serve over fresh ice.

La Cocina Cocteleria - Ay Que Feo
La Cocina Cocteleria's Ay Que Feo (Photo: Courtesy of La Cocina Cocteleria)

Commons Club, Virgin Hotels – New Orleans, La.

The Bar at Commons Club serves creative cocktails in a beautifully designed setting. Thoughtfully crafted drinks, wine and beer are enjoyed alongside tempting bar bites and a rotating lineup of live entertainment.

The bar is located at the Virgin Hotel in New Orleans, and its Dole Whip Up! is inspired by the daiquiri and is made with pineapple-infused Bacardi Silver, Bacardi 8yr, Lillet and lime.

Commons Club “spirits guide” Christy Bradley, says, “I love classic daiquiris and a lot of people make them incorrectly, so when I was playing around with the recipe for a cocktail inspired by the daiquiri, I thought it would taste good with pineapple, give it a little bit of acid and a little bit of flair because it’s no fun to keep re-creating people’s inventions. I made pineapple shrub and threw it in with the lime juice and the rum, but I was like no… it still needs something else. So, we added house-made-infused pineapple rum. To finish, we added the .2 Lillet Blanc to round it out, with sweet-ladled cream to top. The finished product? A cocktail that was really good, and pretty too!”

Dole Whip Up! Recipe

Ingredients:
-1.5 oz house-infused pineapple Rhum Barbancourt
-.75 oz pineapple shrub
-1 oz. lime juice
-.25 oz pineapple juice
-.25 Lillet Blanc
-1 oz. sweetened hand-whipped cream

Method:
-Build in a shaker all ingredients except cream. Shake vigorously, double strain in chilled coupe glass.
-Gently layer cream on top so that it floats.
-Garnish with dehydrated lime wheel.

Commons Club - Virgin Hotels New Orleans - Dole Whip Up
The Dole Whip Up! at Commons Club (Photo: Courtesy of Commons Club - Virgin Hotels New Orleans)

RELATED: To learn about cocktail and spirits trends for 2002, read this report at Bar & Restaurant.

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