17 Lime Cocktails to Squeeze Into Your Drinks Rotation
If you have limes on hand, a refreshing drink is just a few steps away. This list of lime cocktails might serve to remind you of a classic drink you haven’t sipped in a while—or introduce you to a tart and fresh concoction you’ve never tried before. These easy cocktails keep the ingredient lists short, highlighting the brightness of lime and your favorite bottle, whether that’s gin, rum, mezcal, or vodka. You’ll find slushy frozen drinks for hot weather along with shaken lime juice cocktails that are sure to become year-round favorites. Grab that citrus and scroll down to get the recipes.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich1/17Classic Daiquiri
This is one of those simple, elegant lime cocktails that requires very little to make something truly great. Fresh lime juice, rum, and simple syrup come together beautifully when shaken with ice.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh2/17Gimlet Cocktail
The secret to a better gimlet? Using homemade lime cordial brings a freshness the pre-bottled stuff could never dream of.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich4/17Gin Rickey
If refreshment is what you’re after, this simple, tart drink should be on your summer bucket list. There’s no sugar to cut the tangy flavor of the lime—just herbaceous gin and fizzy water. (Want to forgo the gin? Make a lime rickey instead.)
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Drew Aichele7/17Last Word
This is one of our all-time favorite equal-parts drinks. It's like a tart, boozy, herbal limeade, served up in a cocktail glass.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne8/17Frozen Margarita
On a really hot day, nothing hits like a frozen cocktail. This simple version from Gourmet is quite dry—if you like your drinks a little fruitier or sweeter, increase the sugar or orange liqueur (Grand Marnier or Cointreau, or another triple sec, all work) to taste.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton9/17Frozen Moscow Mule
This chilly spin on the Moscow mule bumps up the ginger for extra spicy flavor. Chilling the cocktail mixture in advance will help you drink stay slushy for longer.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Kate Schmidt10/17Salty Paloma Soda Can Cocktail
Lots of lime juice cocktails require a cocktail shaker, but this spin on the paloma is made right in the seltzer can.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Haubert, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman12/17Siesta
This tequila and Campari drink is a bartender favorite—and it's a simple concoction that's easy to make at home.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton13/17Rosie Ranch Water
The signature drink of Texas is even better with spicy salt on the rim.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Stevie Stewart14/17Avocado Margarita
This creamy margarita gets rich, tangy flavor from a quick homemade avocado and lime cordial, which tastes a bit like Key lime pie. (The cordial is also quite tasty mixed with seltzer for a non-alcoholic drink.)
Photo by Lizzie Munro15/17Naked and Famous
Aperol and yellow Chartreuse add complex flavor to this mezcal-based spin on the Last Word.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Drew Aichele17/17Player Piano
In the right doses, elderflower liqueur can be lovely in lime juice cocktails, like this combo of rhum agricole, elderflower liqueur, Aperol, and lime. Not sure about the best way to store citrus so you always have it around for happy hour? We have advice.
