24 Laid-Back Drinks That'll Make You Want To Relax on the Patio All Day

There are so many reasons you might want to go low-alcohol in the summertime — those all-day hangs in the sun feel like they evaporate every ounce of hydration in your body, amplifying the effects of a cocktail — sure, sometimes in a good way, but mostly not. But if enjoying the heat with a drink is your jam (hey, it's ours, too) then you can enjoy all day if you just choose something with less alcohol. Lest that sound like the chaperone has just turned on all the lights, remember that so many things you already love qualify. The Aperol Spritz, perhaps the reigning queen of the summer sipper, as well as coolers, shandies, fruit spritzes... they are all so delicious (and simultaneously genuinely thirst-quenching!) that you'll be happy to sip all day. It doesn't matter if you're at your barbecue for 30 or just hanging out with a crossword and your furry friend curled up next to you on the creaky porch swing (and that lazy summer symphony of the ice cream truck jingle layered over the buzz of someone's lawn mower somewhere that you wish could go on forever...).

If an Aperol spritz looks good to you but tastes too sweet, you might want to try Michael Symon's take. He cuts the Aperol with an equal part Campari for a drink that's less sweet and has more of a bitter complexity. Still refreshing as heck!

The bramble is a classic cocktail, though decades younger than most of the drinks that we deem as classics. It was invented in the 1980s by the English bartender Dick Bradsell, and featured gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and blackberry liqueur. Here, it's updated with blueberry and fresh rosemary, which brings such fabulous aroma while you're sipping.

Ah, the shandy. Doesn't the name even sound like the only thing you need to sip from MD to LD (Memorial Day to Labor Day)? We're not talking about the premade versions that beer companies put out around now (sorry, but nice try, beer companies). We're talking about beer mixed with a real homemade lemonade, for what might be the juiciest drink we can think of.

When you taste what an interesting simple syrup brings to a basic combination of booze plus charged water, you'll agree that maybe we should change its name to "special syrup." Here, it's a syrup infused with strawberries and jalapeño, and you'll be wanting to add it to all your summer drinks. Mixed with tequila and seltzer, it gives margarita vibes but without the danger that you'll be dancing on the tables.

Strawberry lovers, take note, though this isn't some too-sweet strawberry wine. Limes and oranges and fresh rosemary add vibrant and woodsy notes that really blend the strawberry essence nicely with the white wine. Topping off with club soda keeps it light and bubbly.

If you're in '90s mode (aren't we all these days?) you'll love this option. When a certain bottled iced tea company came to the fore during that time, its sleeper hit was the peach iced tea. Here, that beloved summer drink grows up, with the addition of bourbon.

White sangria is a revelation, when probably 90 percent of the time in restaurants, it's assumed that the drink will be red. This version is a little lighter and brighter, and really shows off the summer fruit. The kiwi is truly unexpected but goes so nicely with the strawberry.

When you love that signature sour fruitiness of rhubarb, even the sight of the rhubarb patch fills you with affection, those sturdy stalks and enormous leaves blowing in the breeze as if begging, "Pick me! Pick me!" Here, it brings its main-character energy to a spritz with elderflower liqueur. Feel free to dial up or down the alcohol content with prosecco or sparkling water, respectively.

And if you flirt with the last two options, you might find yourself wondering about a peach sangria! This one starts with a bottle of dry Riesling and fortifies with some orange liqueur. Fresh peaches, which we're so excited about this time of year, truly take to this combination.

Cucumber has long been a discerning garnish of choice for a martini. Here, it brings a similar refinement to vodka mixed with simple syrup, lime juice and sparkling water. Some mint leaves, too, make every sip taste so fresh.

This is the thing you want when you come home from work, or need something to sip with chips and salsa, or move on to dinner, obviously if it's tacos or enchiladas but also if it's just a big grilled steak and some potato salad from the good deli down the street. Part of this is because it's a choose-your-own-adventure in a glass: Nurse this mixture of beer, tomato juice and lime juice, topping off with fresh beer as the evening wears on, or squeezing in some more limes if you want it to go lighter. And part of it is because it's just so good even on its own.

Fresh lemonade transforms a vodka and soda into a much gentler drink. Adding peach slices injects a bellini-like air. The fresh mint or basil layers on another gorgeous summery perfume.

Yes, it is a homemade lemonade, and yes, it does have a bit more going on than your typical lemonade. But this boozy lemonade can still be made in under 5 minutes, so we're sold. Some cranberry juice is a nice touch and gives its a lovely pink hue.

Based on the English low-alcohol gin blended with herbs and spices, Pimm's #1, a Pimm's cup is refreshing, unexpected, and kinda classy, if you're into that sort of thing. It originated with a fruit and herb garnish, but when it hopped across the pond to New Orleans in the 1940s, it gained a signature addition of cucumber. You could drink one without it, but we wouldn't recommend it.

This drink answers the question, why should white wine have all the fun? It's rosé as in the pink wine, not rose, the flower. It's maybe the best way to rosé all day.

Anyone remember rickeys? They're a tart and refreshing combo of lime juice and booze, typically gin or whiskey, and sparkling water (not adding sugar is a signature of the rickey). This one does add a little sweetness in the form of a lemon thyme simple syrup that really complements the white tea and peaches.

Here's the drink that maybe launched a thousand spritzes. It's not your imagination — Aperol Spritzes really were suddenly everywhere about ten years ago, precisely when Campari launched an aggressive spritz campaign in the States. (Clearly money well spent.) And they're very satisfying on a hot day, not just because of their sunset hue. If you like a Negroni or any other Campari-based drink, you'll love this lighter, fruitier take — whether or not you serve it in its customary oversized stemmed glass.

Some years back, when people starting adding watermelon to salads with feta and putting it on the grill, we learned about how adding savory elements to the fruit somehow made it taste even more juicy and refreshing than it already was. That's true here, as the summer fruit combines with basil for an easy sipper. A Fresno chile gives it a little heat. Though here, it's made with a nonalcoholic tequila, feel free to add your favorite traditional one.

Though we couldn't exactly classify this as a "I just threw this together" kind of beverage, sometimes you need a drink you can offer at a party that will leave people gobsmacked. Drinking out of an individual mini watermelon certainly fits the bill! And the drink itself is a light shandy, blending beer with lemonade and watermelon ice cubes. Drink umbrellas were truly invented for occasions like this.

This classic cocktail brings creme de cassis into a glass of Champagne, for a fruity, effervescent sipper. The Kir, a mixture of the currant liqueur and white wine, as well as the Kir Royale, were named for the French priest who popularized them during World War II, as a stand-in for red wine (the Nazis had stolen red wine from the region at the time). Today we love a Kir Royale as a way to summerize a glass of bubbly.

You could do worse for a summer sipper than just a plain old bottle of Lambrusco, the sparkling red wine from northern Italy. Here, it's a reimagining of the Aperol Spritz but with the red bubbly, the orange bitters and Campari bringing it the vibes of a Negroni crossed with a sangria. Though it's carbonated on its own, some sparkling water gives it a refreshing finish.

We love what fresh lemongrass brings to the table in a shandy, its bright and grassy notes a real thirst-quencher mixed with the beer. Some fresh ginger, too, brings a little appealing heat to the mix that will keep you sipping. Lemon adds some zest — pun intended.

Ooh, make some room for a Tom Collins to enter your life—you will not be disappointed. It's gin-based, but it's so gentle, even proclaimed non-gin-fans should try it. You can cheat and use lemonade instead of the combination of simple syrup and lemon juice, but if you make it as written here, from scratch, combining those with the gin and some sparkling water, you may never want to sip anything else for the rest of the summer.