Spring is well underway, which means Miamians are rapidly preparing for the unrelenting heat and humidity of our most tropical season. The good news is, while you’re sizzling outside, Miami’s best bars and restaurants are here to cool you down with the season’s most refreshing and brightest cocktails. Here are the top six beverages to revive you during the simmering annual heat wave.
1. Fraise Sauvage at Employees Only
Employees Only has welcomed spring with a light, airy cocktail bearing a name that makes you feel like you're roaming the French countryside while sipping champagne and running through fields of wildflowers. The Fraise Sauvage ($16) starts with Fords Gin and is shaken with wild strawberries (hence the name) and Tahitian vanilla, then topped with EO Prosecco di Conegliano Brut.
2. Lady Lindy at Pawn Broker
With a blushing pink hue filling a vintage-style champagne glass, Lady Lindy ($14) fans out like your summer beach umbrella. Grab your floppy hat and shades, bask in the sun of The Langford hotel’s rooftop bar, and sip on the tequila-based mixture of Vida mezcal, lavender syrup and bitters, lemon, Luxardo, and Crème Yvette.
3. Walk Down Alameda at the Broken Shaker
With a backyard pool and patio bar, the Broken Shaker already has the appeal of a neighborhood pool party, so grab your float in the shape of a swan, doughnut, or pizza. The bar's Walk Down Alameda ($12) is springtime in a glass. The drink is made with New Amsterdam vodka, dry vermouth, pear brandy, and citrus. Garnishes of yellow squash and pink peppercorn add a zingy touch.
4. Hemingway at Living Room at the W South Beach
Take a quick trip to the Keys via this cocktail. The Hemingway ($16) is made with aged rum, Agricola blanc, fresh lime and grapefruit juices, house-made simple syrup, maraschino liqueur, and bitters. After a few sips, you might begin to feel like the literary field's beloved boozer and reach the point of, as Papa himself put it, "not drunk in any positive sense but just enough to be careless."
5. Blueberry Hibiscus Rye Mule at Commonwealth Miami
With bubbles, fresh citrus, and the snap of fresh ginger, a mule is as light and airy as this blooming season. Commonwealth Miami eschews the ginger beer and opts for springtime florals with the blueberry hibiscus rye mule ($15). Knob Creek Kentucky rye is shaken with fresh lime, blueberries, hibiscus, and ginger and topped with fragrant edible flowers.
6. Garden Pimm's Cup at Charcoal Garden Bar + Grill at the Wynwood Yard
What was historically marketed as a health tonic is now the base for one of the Brits' most beloved spiced concoctions. Served at this unique Wynwood eatery made entirely of shipping containers, Charcoal Garden Bar + Grill's garden Pimm's cup ($14) honors the age-old libation with Pimm's #4 Rutte gin, fresh lemon, soda, cucumber, mint, basil, and toasted celery seeds, making for a light yet robust refreshment.