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The Best Cocktails to Drink During the Solar Eclipse

Sam Slaughter
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Mountain Gay Barbados Rum Eclipse
Every now and then we all get a little bit lonely. Our hands just feel empty without a drink, especially when there’s something as important as a once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse. Luckily, hardworking bartenders and ambassadors across the country have come to the rescue. Whether or not you’re in the direct path of the total solar eclipse, you can still celebrate (and watch, as NASA is live-streaming it). Some of the best cocktails to drink during the solar eclipse are nods to the totality of the eclipse’s path, or the shadow that will be cast or, as with many of the cocktails we write about, they’re just plain fun.

On Monday, you’ll need these cocktails that night. You’ll need them more than ever. I guess what we’re saying is turn around (to your bar), bright eyes, you’ve got drinks to make.

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Moon Shadow

  • 2 oz Mount Gay Eclipse
  • ½ oz Fresh Squeezed Lime
  • ½ oz B12 mixed with Simple Syrup
  • Top with Ginger Beer
Method: Add all ingredients to a Collins glass (or a vessel of your choice!) with ice and stir. Top with ginger beer. Watch it glow. Drink it slow.

Belvedere Seaside Martini

  • 2 oz Belvedere Vodka
  • 1 oz Dry Vermouth
  • 2 dashes Addition Garlic Bitters
  • 1 dash Napa Valley Sea Salt Bitters

Method: Build ingredients in a pint glass, fill with ice and stir for just over 1 minute. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a speared pickled garlic.

Pulp Friction

(Created at Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox, Denver)

  • 1 oz Gin
  • .75 oz Aquavit
  • .5 oz Suze
  • .5 oz Genepy
  • .5 oz Simple syrup (2:1)
  • 1 oz Lime
  • 3 dash Strongwater Floral Bitters

Method: Shake, then double fine strained into a coupe glass. Garnish rim with coconut flakes.

(Photo credit: Megan Heileman)

Dark Side of the Sun

  • Satsuma Rum Liqueur rinse
  • 2 parts Bayou Select Rum
  • ½ part simple syrup
  • Mole Bitters 

Method: Rinse a rocks glass with Satsuma and let it sit. Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice, and stir until cold – roughly 60 stirs. Strain into Satsuma rinsed glass over ice. Optional: garnish with an orange peel.

Elyx Cup

(Created at Irvington, NYC)

  • 2 oz Absolut Elyx vodka
  • .75 oz lime juice
  • .5 oz simple syrup
  • a healthy amount of mint leaves
  • 2 cucumber wheels

Method: Muddle mint and 2 cucumber wheels. Shake. Dump in julep mug and add Prosecco float. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Corona Solar Sipper

  • 12 oz Corona Light
  • 2 oz Casa Noble Crystal Tequila
  • 1 oz Lime Juice
  • .75 oz Organic Agave Nectar
  • Lime Wedge

Method: Combine Casa Noble, lime juice and agave nectar in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a glass, top with Corona Light and garnish with lime wedge.

Friends & Family

(Created by Joaquin Simo, Pouring Ribbons, NYC)

  • 2 oz Martini & Rossi Riserva Ambrato
  • 1 oz Manzanilla Sherry
  • .25 oz Roots Mastiha liqueur
  • 2 dashes Pernod absinthe
  • .25 oz rosemary syrup
  • .25 oz lime juice
  • 2 dashes saline solution

Method: Muddle 3 cucumber slices with salt & sweeteners. Add remaining ingredients & shake. Double strain over fresh ice (3 cubes). Top with Perrier and stir. Garnish with a rosemary sprig skewered through a cucumber slice.

The Centaur

Method: Pour Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. into a wine glass over ice and top with Ginger Ale. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

VIVA Summer Solstice

(Created at Toca Madera, LA)

  • 2 oz of VIVA XXXII Reposado Tequila
  • 1 oz of Citrus Mix (equal parts lemon and lime)
  • .75 oz of Aperol Spiked Agave Syrup (3:1 Agave Nectar to Aperol). (You could also do 1/2 normal Agave Syrup and 1/4 Aperol)
  • Tajin Rim

Method: Place all ingredients into a shaker, add ice, and give a long hard shake. Take a coupe glass and rim with a salt/pepper/tajin mix. Double strain the cocktail (to remover ice chips) in the coupe and garnish will a rolled Grapefruit peel “flower.”

Modelo Refrescante Especial

(Created by Colin Dennis, Chicago)

  • 12 parts Modelo Especial
  • .5 part Mezcal
  • .5 part Chile Liqueur
  • .5 part Fresh-Squeezed Lime Juice
  • .25 part Agave Nectar
  • 3 Cucumber Slices
  • Smoked Salt
  • Cucumber Wheel (for garnish)
  • 2-4 Basil Leaves (for garnish)

Method: Add cucumber slices, basil leaves, mezcal and lime juice to a pint glass. Muddle thoroughly. Rim the entire edge of a separate cocktail glass with a lime wedge and dip half the glass into smoked salt. Fill the glass halfway with ice and pour in chile liqueur and agave nectar. Double strain the contents of the pint glass into the cocktail glass (make sure to press the cucumber and basil against the mesh strainer to remove all liquid). Top with Modelo Especial and garnish with cucumber wheel and basil leaves. Serve the remaining beer with the cocktail.

Total Eclipse

  • 1.5 oz Astral Tequila
  • .5 oz Sombra Mezcal
  • ginger beer
  • angostura bitters
  • lemon wheel
  • brandied cherry

Method: Stir tequila and mezcal together with ice. Top with ginger beer and bitters. Garnish with a lemon wheel and a brandied cherry.

The Black Veil

(Created by Matty Izaguirre, Urban Cowboy Public House, Nashville)

  • 1.25 oz Jägermeister
  • .75 oz Punt e Mes
  • .50 oz Simple Syrup
  • .75 oz Lemon
  • 2 dashes of spiced cherry bitters
  • Pinch of salt
  • Mint

Method: Combine all ingredients into a shaker. Shake with pinch of mint and salt, then garnish with mint.

Back to Black

(Created by Mixologist Gabe Orta)

  • 1 oz Johnnie Walker Black Label
  • .25 oz Johnnie Walker Double Black Label
  • .75 oz Jamaican Syrup*
  • .75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Method:  Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into Old Fashioned glass over fresh ice.

* Jamaican Syrup

Method: Add 1 quart water, 1 quart white sugar, ½ cup peeled ginger, ¼ cup all-spice berries and 4 cloves to a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved and let cool. Strain using a mesh sieve strainer into jar or bottle with sealable lid, store in refrigerator until use.

Charleston Tea Old Fashioned

(Created by Chris Adams, Principal of Ellis Adams Group for 1KEPT, Charleston)

  • 2 oz Earl Grey Infused Hillbilly Bourbon*
  • .25 oz Honey Syrup
  • 3 dashes Angostura Bitters

Method: Combine all ingredients into mixing glass, add ice, stir. Strain over large rock. Garnish with dehydrated clementine wheel and Luxardo cherry.

*Infused bourbon

  • 4 C Halved Cherries
  • 4 C of Halfmoon Clementines
  • .5 C Earl Grey Tea
  • 4 Bottles Hillbilly Bourbon

Method: Combine .5 cup earl grey tea, halved cherries, and Halfmoon clementines into bowl and gently stir. Place small filter at the bottom of middle beaker. Place cherry & clementine mixture in the middle beaker of cold brew. Place coffee filter on top of mixture. Ensure spout is closed. Pour in four bottles of Hillbilly Bourbon to the top container of cold brew and cap. Ensure bottom container is clean, empty, and aligned. Turn spout to left until slow drip of bourbon flows into the middle container – about 1 drop per 5 seconds. Once all liquid has filtered through, it is ready to use.

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