8 show-stopping rosé cocktails to sip on this summer

Why just drink a glass of rosé when you can throw back rosé cocktails all summer long? Toronto's bars and restaurants share their fave sippers. 

When the sun is shining, there's nothing like enjoying a glass of rosé wine. Whether you're sipping it in your own backyard, enjoying a glass on one of Toronto's best patios or being transported to the tropics on a sun-soaked rooftop, the pink drink is guaranteed to boost your mood. But what about upping the ante and making a rosé cocktail? 

We're not just talking frosés or wine coolers (although, those sound pretty delicious TBH) — we're talking about rosé cocktails that add layers of complexity to your drink. Wine, like rosé, can add sweetness and make the profile more delicate if you're mixing with higher proof spirits. Or it can add an effervescent fizz in the case of sparkling rosé cocktails. 

Mixed with gin, topping tequila or frozen into an ice cube: Rosé cocktails are a fabulous addition to your roster. We've tapped some of Toronto's best bars for some summer sipping inspiration, so you can get creative and make happy hour pretty in pink. 

Mademoiselle Raw Bar & Grill's Lickety-Spritz

Makes 1

Preparation time 5 minutes

Rosé cocktails | Mademoiselle Raw Bar & Grill's Lickety-Spritz

Ingredients

  • 1 oz elderflower liqueur
  • 4 oz  Fiol Prosecco Rosé
  • 2 oz soda water
  • Mint, to garnish
  • Dehydrated lime wheel, to garnish

Method

  1. Add all ingredients to a mixing glass and stir.
  2. Strain into a glass over crushed ice.
  3. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a dehydrated lime wheel. 

Clockwork's Meet me At the Clock

Rosé cocktails | Clockwork's Meet Me at the Clock

Makes 1

Preparation time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 oz Hendricks Gin
  • ½ oz lemon juice
  • ½ oz simple syrup
  • 1½ oz Veuve Clicquot Champagne
  • 5 dashes peychaud bitters
  • 1 frosé ice ball

Method

  1. Add all ingredients except champagne and frosé ice ball to a shaker tin with ice and shake.
  2. Add a frosé ice ball to a large, chilled coupe glass.
  3. Strain the cocktail over the ice ball and top with 1½ oz of champagne.

The Rabbit Hole's Blushing Bunny

Makes 1

Preparation time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 oz Dillon’s Maison Selby Berry Bliss Liqueur
  • 1 oz apple juice
  • 2 oz Cave Spring Rosé
  • ½ oz honey ginger syrup
  • ½ oz lemon juice
  • 4 fresh raspberries
  • Lemon slice, to garnish

Method

  1. Add all liquid ingredients and three of the raspberries to a cocktail shaker with ice.
  2. Shake and dirty pour into a wine glass.
  3. Garnish with a fresh raspberry and a slice of lemon.

Gia's Aperol Spritz 3.0

Makes 1

Preparation time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 oz Aperol infused with Fragola Fabbri
  • ½ oz Lillet
  • 3 dashes rhubarb bitters
  • ½ oz lemon juice
  • Sparkling rosé or rosé, to top
  • Dehydrated strawberry dust, to garnish

Method

  1. Add all ingredients except rosé to a shaker tin with ice and shake.
  2. Strain into a glass over fresh ice.
  3. Top with rosé or sparkling rosé and garnish with dehydrated strawberry dust.

Sunnys Chinese's Sichuan Spritz

Rosé cocktails | Sunny's Chinese's Sichuan Sprits

Makes 1

Preparation time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 oz Reid’s Spiced Gin infused with Sichuan peppercorns
  • ½ oz watermelon syrup 
  • ½ oz lime
  • Sparkling rosé, to top
  • Lime wheels, to garnish

Method

  1. Add all ingredients except sparkling rosé to a shaker tin with ice. Shake.
  2. Strain into a glass over fresh ice.
  3. Top with sparkling rosé.
  4. Garnish with lime wheels.

The Senator Restaurant's Letters from the Farm

Makes 1

Preparation time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 oz tequila
  • 1 oz honey hibiscus syrup
  • 1 ½ oz fresh grapefruit juice
  • ½ oz fresh lemon juice
  • Rosé, to top
  • Pinch of salt, to garnish
  • Lemon zest, to garnish
  • Fresh mint, to garnish

Honey Hibiscus Syrup

  • Honey (preferably wild flower honey)
  • Hibiscus tea

Method

Honey Hibiscus Syrup

  1. Combine equal parts honey with hot hibiscus tea.
  2. Stir until the honey has fully dissolved.

Letters from the Farm

  1. Add all ingredients to a shaker tin with ice. Shake.
  2. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. 
  3. Garnish with a pinch of salt, lemon zest and a sprig of fresh mint. 

d|bar's Rhubarb Basil Gin Spritz

Rosé cocktails | d|bar's Rhubarb Basil Gin Spritz

Makes 1

Preparation time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 pieces of soaked rhubarb
  • 1 bunch basil
  • ½ oz lemon juice
  • ½ oz rhubarb syrup
  • 1 oz Botanist Gin
  • 4 oz Moët & Chandon Impérial Rosé Champagne

Method

  1. Add all ingredients, except the rosé champagne, to a mixing glass and muddle.
  2. Pour into a wine glass over ice.
  3. Top with the rosé champagne.

Hong Shing's Rosé Royale

Rosé cocktails | Hong Shing's Rosé Royale

Makes 1

Preparation time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 oz rosé wine
  • ¾ oz Dillon's Rose Gin
  • ½ oz gin
  • ½ oz simple syrup
  • ¼ oz fresh lime juice

Method

  1. Add all ingredients to a shaker tin with ice. Shake.
  2. Fine strain with a Hawthorne strainer into a coupe glass.
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