Cocktails are a perfect way to unwind after a long day or to celebrate a special occasion. If you’re looking for a Summer cocktail, a Holiday cocktail or simply a refreshing drink with a fruity twist, then you’re in luck. From classic cocktails to new twists on old favourites, there’s something for everyone. In this article, we’ll introduce (or re-introduce) you to 25 of the best cocktail recipes Canadians love with fruit juice and present to you our rising star at the very end (and yes, tomatoes are fruits!).
1. Bloody Caesar
The Caesar, also known as the Bloody Caesar, is considered Canada’s national cocktail. Walter Chell was charged with mixing a cocktail to mark the opening of the Calgary’s Inn’s new Italian restaurant and invented the Caesar in Calgary, Alberta, in 1969. Canadians drink more than 400 million Caesars annually which is why we placed this fan favourite classic cocktail at the top of our list.
Ingredients:
- Vodka
- Tomato juice
- Clam juice
- Worcestershire sauce
- Tabasco
2. Piña Colada
The Piña Colada cocktail is said to have been created in the 1950s in Puerto Rico by a bartender named Ramon Marrero. The drink’s name means “strained pineapple” in Spanish and is made with rum, pineapple juice, and coconut cream.
Ingredients:
- Rum
- Pineapple juice
- Cream of coconut
- Lime juice
3. Sex on the Beach
The most visited cocktail on Oasis.ca, the Sex on the Beach was invented in the 1987 by Ted Pizio, a bartender in Florida, who took the challenge to sell the most peach schnapps. He named the cocktail after 2 reasons he believed drove tourists to visit Florida for Spring Break.
Ingredients:
- Vodka
- Peach schnapps
- Chambord
- Orange juice
- Cranberry juice
4. Daiquiri
the location it was created in – the town of Daiquiri, Cuba, and was supposedly invented in 1898 by an American mining engineer named Jennings Cox.
Ingredients:
- Spiced rum
- Pineapple juice
- Lime juice
See our Strawberry (replaceable by your favourite berry) Daiquiri recipe
5. Sangria
Sangria has its roots in ancient Roman times, when wine was added to poor quality water to kill off the bacteria. Soon, people began to add herbs and spices to disguise the taste of the wine, which usually wasn’t very good back then. Thanks to its appearance at the Spanish pavilion of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Sangria is now associated to Spain.
Though the word Sangria is derived from the Spanish word for blood, here are our three favorite Sangrias… one for each wine colour.
Red Wine Sangria
White Wine Sangria
Ingredients:
- White wine
- Apple juice
- Brandy
- Sparkling water or club soda
- Cinnamon
- Honey
Rosé Wine Sangria
Ingredients:
- Rosé wine
- Triple sec
- Grapefruit juice
- Club soda
- Mixed fruits
6. Mimosa
A fan favourite for brunches and special occasions, the Mimosa is believed to have been created by a bartender in 1925 at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. The original name was “Champagne Orange” and is now named after the yellow-flowered mimosa plant Acacia dealbata due to the colour of the blend.
Ingredients:
- Sparkling wine
- Orange juice
7. Dave Matthews
Wes Ward created the Dave Matthews cocktail in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He owns the Capitol Complex there and was quoted saying that he made this cocktail on a slow night in 1998 while listening to Dave Matthews – hence the name.
Ingredients:
- Rum
- Amaretto
- Pineapple juice
- Cranberry juice
- Lime juice
8. Tequila Sunrise
In the 1930s, Gene Sulit mixed tequila, soda water, lime juice, and liqueur to create the first Tequila Sunrise. The latest version of the cocktail contains tequila, orange juice, and grenadine, and was created by Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice in the early 1970s in San Francisco. In 1972, to kick off the Rolling Stones’ 1972 tour in America, Mick Jagger ordered one of the cocktails, liked it, and he and his entourage started drinking them… making it the most popular drink of the early ‘70s.
Ingredients:
- Tequila
- Orange juice
- Grenadine
9. Mai Tai
The Mai Tai was introduced in Hawaii in 1953 when Victor J. Bergeron created a cocktail menu for the Matson Company’s Royal Hawaiian Hotel and Moana Hotel. The Mai Tai quickly became so popular early on that it supposedly depleted world rum supplies in the late ’50s.
Ingredients:
- Rum
- Pineapple juice
- Orange juice
- Grenadine
10. Blue Hawaiian
The Blue Hawaiian was invented in 1957 by Harry Yee, head bartender of the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki, Hawaii when a sales representative of Dutch distiller Bols asked him to create a cocktail that featured their Curaçao liqueur’s distinctive blue colour.
Ingredients:
- Rum
- Blue Curaçao
- Pineapple juice
- Cream of coconut
11. Bahama Mama
The origin of this cocktail is somewhat murky; some believe that the Bahama Mama is named after Dottie Lee Anderson, a Caribbean dancer and performer in the 1930s who also went by the stage name “Bahama Mama.” Other theories suggest that this cocktail became popular during the Prohibition Era when the Bahamas were used as a rum smuggling base. In either case, we can all agree that this is the perfect classic cocktail on a hot summer day.
Ingredients:
- Rum
- Pineapple juice
- Orange juice
- Lime juice
- Grenadine
12. Singapore Sling
The Singapore Sling cocktail was developed in 1915 by Ngiam Tong, a bartender at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore and was initially called the Gin Sling. The name change first occurred in the early 1930s.
Ingredients:
- Gin
- Cherry brandy
- Benedictine
- Campari
- Pineapple juice
- Lime juice
13. Georgia Gin
The state of Georgia, USA, is known for its oranges and this cocktail is a fan favourite on Oasis.ca. Its background is murky, but its taste won’t leave you indifferent.
Ingredients:
- Gin
- Peach schnapps
- Orange juice
14. Mojito
Initially, the Mojito was a medicinal drink to limit disease in Cuba. A local rum was mixed with mint, lime, and sugar cane syrup to defend against illnesses. Today, it is Cuba’s most popular cocktail.
Ingredients:
- Rum
- Juice
- Mint leaves
Choose between our Blueberry Mojito, or Pineapple Mojito
15. The Siesta
The perfect bittersweet cocktail for any occasion. Created by Katie Stipe in 2006 as a variation from the Hemingway Daiquiri, this modern luxurious cocktail blends the warmth of tequila with the bitterness of Campari.
Ingredients:
- Tequila
- Campari
- Grapefruit Juice
- Lime juice
- Simple syrup
16. Bellini
The Bellini is a classic Italian cocktail invented in 1948 by Giuseppe Cipriani in Venice, Italy. He named the drink the Bellini because its unique pink colour reminded him of the toga of a saint in a painting by 15th century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini.
Ingredients:
- Peach juice
- Prosecco
17. Screwdriver
The Screwdriver cocktail was made popular by American oil workers decades ago in the Persian Gulf, who would secretly dose their orange juice with vodka. They mixed the drink with a screwdriver when a spoon was not available.
Ingredients:
- Vodka
- Orange juice
18. Bloody Mary
The French bartender Fernand Petiot invented the Bloody Mary in 1921, well before any of the later claims. He was working at the New York Bar in Paris at the time and the cocktail is said to have been created on the spur of the moment and was originally called ’Bucket of Blood’. In a 1939 publication, the Cuban restaurant and cocktail bar El Floridita had the ’Mary Rose’ cocktail list the main ingredients of a modern Bloody Mary and is the earliest publication depicting the name Mary.
Ingredients:
- Vodka
- Tomato juice
- Pickle juice
- Lemon juice
- Worcestershire sauce
- Tabasco sauce
19. French 75
The French 75 cocktail got its name after the French 75-millimeter light field gun used during World War I. During the war, the gun itself was a major symbol of hope in the battles against the enemy. The combination was said to have such a kick that it felt like being shelled with the powerful French 75-mm field gun.
Ingredients:
- Gin
- Simple syrup
- Orange juice
- Lemon juice
- Champagne or Prosecco
20. Hurricane
The Hurricane cocktail as we know it was created by the Pat O’Brien’s chain of bars and restaurants, and particularly their original New Orleans location as a “last resort solution.”
In the 1940s, O’Brien needed to create a new drink to help him get rid of all the less popular rum that local distributors forced him to buy in order to acquire a few cases of more popular alcohols such as scotch and whiskey. He poured the blend into unused kerosene lanterns and gave it away to sailors. The drink caught on, and it has been a mainstay in the French Quarter ever since.
Ingredients:
- Rum
- Orange juice
- Pineapple juice
- Amaretto
- Lemon juice
- Grenadine
21. Whisky Sour
The first written recipe for a Whiskey Sour appeared in 1862, when it was included in Jerry Thomas’ The Bartender’s Guide. However, it’s very likely that this drink appeared many decades prior, as one of the popular drinks on board naval ships. With long months spent at sea, sailors ran a major risk of malnutrition, and the threat of developing scurvy as a result seemed imminent, thus the citrus in this blend to help them combat this.
Ingredients:
- Whisky or bourbon
- Lemon juice
- Orange juice
- Simple syrup
22. Zombie
The Zombie cocktail was created in 1934 by Donn Beach at his Hollywood Don the Beachcomber restaurant. Legend has it that he originally made the blend to help a hung-over customer that looked “like a zombie” get through a business meeting. It was made popular on the East Coast at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
Ingredients:
- Superior rum
- Black rum
- Triple sec
- Orange juice
- Lime juice
- Simple syrup
- Grenadine
23. Sea Breeze
Traditionally made with vodka, the Sea Breeze cocktail was first created in the 1920s, and gained popularity during the Prohibition Era. The drink was initially made with gin, but vodka replaced it as the main ingredient after World War II.
Ingredients:
- Vodka
- Grapefruit juice
- Cranberry juice
24. Gin Basil Smash
Joerg Meyer, the founder of one of the most famous craft cocktail dens in Germany, Le Lion in Hamburg, created the Gin Basil Smash. Every year the bar sells over 22,000 of this herbaceous modern classic and goes through more than 3,100 bottles of gin.
Ingredients:
- Gin
- Pineapple juice
- Lime juice
- Club soda
- Basil
25. Ruby Red Margarita
There are many accounts regarding the origin of the Margarita cocktail: from the daisy flower which translates to margarita in Spanish to it being named after singer Peggy Margaret Lee. What we can all agree on is that this delicious refreshing cocktail is a must-have on a nice summer day.
Ingredients:
- Canadian whisky
- Citrus liqueur
- Grapefruit juice
No listing of the Top 25 most popular classic cocktails in Canada is complete without our rising star. And what a rising star it is: presenting the Orange Empress. Don’t be fooled by its appearance: It’s really as good as it is delightful to look at. Enjoy!
The Orange Empress
Ingredients:
- Empress 1908 Gin
- Orange juice
- Lemon juice
- Club soda
- Vanilla-infused simple syrup
Discover all the great tasting juices from Oasis that make out all these classic cocktails.