By the Ripsaw Saloon Bar Team | Updated June 29, 2026
Last July, a group of riders rolled off the ATV trails and onto our patio covered in dust. They ordered four Old Fashioneds. Two hours later, they had worked their way through three bourbon smashes, two Palomas, and a tequila lemon drop we had to talk them into. That is what summer drinking in the northwoods looks like. People show up thirsty, and the right cocktail changes the entire evening.
Most seasonal roundups read like they were written by someone who has never stood behind a bar in July. They list the same ten drinks, use the word “refreshing” six times, and call it a day. We are going to do this differently. Every recipe here comes off our actual menu at Ripsaw Saloon, with measurements you can replicate at home and notes on why each one works when the temperature hits 85 and the humidity follows.
Bourbon Summer Drinks: Dark Spirit, Bright Mixers
Bourbon gets typecast as a winter spirit. That is wrong. The sweetness in a good bourbon (especially wheated bourbons like Maker’s Mark or W.L. Weller) pairs with citrus and fruit in ways rye cannot match. The trick is cutting the richness with acid.
The Northwoods Brown Derby
2 oz bourbon (we use Maker’s Mark)
1 oz fresh grapefruit juice
0.5 oz honey syrup (2:1 honey to water)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake hard for 12 seconds. Double strain into a coupe. The grapefruit does the heavy lifting here. It cuts the bourbon’s weight and makes the whole thing taste like a summer afternoon. We started running this last August and it outsold our Old Fashioned on Fridays.
See also: Whiskey and Bourbon Education: Complete Guide
Bourbon Peach Smash
2 oz bourbon
3 peach slices (fresh, not canned)
6 mint leaves
0.75 oz simple syrup
0.5 oz lemon juice
Muddle the peaches and mint gently. Do not pulverize the mint or it turns bitter. Add bourbon, syrup, lemon, and ice. Shake well. Dump into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a mint sprig. Wisconsin peaches show up at the Phillips farmers market in late July. Use those. They are worth the wait.
Whiskey Highballs: The Patio Workhorse
A highball is the most underrated warm-weather format. Two ingredients, served tall, ice doing the work. The Japanese figured this out decades ago. Wisconsin is catching up.
The Ripsaw Whiskey Highball
1.5 oz blended whiskey (we use a Wisconsin pour)
4 oz club soda, cold
Lemon twist
Build in a tall glass over ice. Stir once. That is it. The carbonation lifts the whiskey’s aroma, and the dilution from melting ice keeps it drinkable all afternoon. This is what you drink when you want three rounds, not one.
If you want to get fancy, use ginger beer instead of club soda and add 0.25 oz of lime juice. Now you have a whiskey mule that actually tastes like whiskey, not ginger candy.
See also: The Perfect Wisconsin Old Fashioned: Ripsaw Saloon’s Signature Twist
Tequila Cocktail Recipes: Beyond the Margarita
Tequila is the best warm-weather spirit, and most people in Wisconsin still only order it as a margarita or a shot. There is more. Much more.
Paloma (The One That Should Be More Popular)
2 oz reposado tequila
4 oz grapefruit soda (Squirt or Jarritos)
0.5 oz fresh lime juice
Lime wheel
Rim salt (optional)
Build over ice in a tall glass. Stir gently. The Paloma is the most consumed tequila-based cocktail in Mexico. It outsells the margarita there by a wide margin. In Wisconsin, nobody orders it. We have been pushing it on our patio all summer and the conversion rate is roughly 9 out of 10. People try it once and switch.
Tequila Lemon Drop
1.5 oz reposado tequila
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
Sugar rim
Shake and strain into a martini glass. We broke the vodka rules on this one last year and never looked back. The reposado adds a caramel undertone that vodka simply does not have. It is a better drink.
The Summer Old Fashioned: Wisconsin’s Year-Round King, Adjusted
We are not going to tell you to stop drinking Old Fashioneds in summer. That would get us run out of Price County. But you can adjust the build.
Use the press version: half soda water, half Sprite (or 7-Up). Less muddled fruit, one orange slice and one cherry instead of three. Extra bitters. The result is lighter, less sweet, and still recognizably a Wisconsin Old Fashioned. We go through about 200 of these a week between June and August.
See also: Best Summer Cocktails to Serve on a Wisconsin Patio in 2026
Gin Spritzes and Rum Drinks: The Supporting Cast
Gin and Tonic, Done Right
2 oz London Dry gin
4 oz tonic water
2 cucumber slices
Squeeze of lime
Build over ice. Layer the cucumber slices against the glass before you add ice. The visual is better, and the cucumber flavor infuses faster. Use a decent tonic. Fever-Tree or Q Tonic cost more and taste like it. The standard bar tonic in a plastic bottle ruins good gin.
Dark and Stormy
2 oz dark rum (Gosling’s or Myers’s)
4 oz ginger beer
Lime wedge
Build over ice. Pour the rum slowly so it layers on top. Stir before drinking. This is the drink for people who say they do not like rum. The ginger beer converts them.
What to Skip This Summer
Heavy Manhattans. Anything with heavy cream. Baileys on ice. Hot toddies. Save them for November. If you are serving a group on a 90-degree afternoon, the rule is simple: if it does not have ice, citrus, or carbonation, it is probably the wrong call.
FAQ: Summer Cocktails 2026
What are the best bourbon summer drinks?
Bourbon shines in summer when you pair it with bright, acidic mixers. The Brown Derby (bourbon, grapefruit, honey) and a bourbon peach smash with mint both cut through heat. Avoid heavy, all-spirit builds when it is 85 degrees out.
Can you make a Wisconsin Old Fashioned for summer?
Yes. Switch to the press version (half soda, half Sprite) instead of all-sweet soda, use less muddled fruit, and add extra citrus. The Old Fashioned works year-round in Wisconsin, but the ratio shifts with the temperature.
What tequila cocktails work besides margaritas?
Try a Paloma (tequila, grapefruit soda, lime) or a Tequila Sunrise (tequila, orange juice, grenadine). Both are lighter than a margarita and built for hot weather. A tequila lemon drop swaps vodka for reposado tequila and adds warmth that vodka cannot match.
How long do these summer cocktails keep?
Most of these are build-and-serve. The highball styles last about 20 minutes before the ice dilutes the flavor. Anything with citrus should be consumed within 15 minutes for best taste. Do not batch ahead more than 2 hours.
See also: ATV trails that lead right to Ripsaw Saloon
See also: where to drink outside in Price County this patio season
The Bottom Line
Summer 2026 cocktail culture in the northwoods does not need to chase trends. It needs to match the weather. When the patio is full and the trails have been ridden, the drinks that win are the ones with ice, acid, and carbonation. Bourbon works. Tequila works. Whiskey works. The difference between a good summer cocktail and a great one is not the spirit. It is whether the person behind the bar understood that 88 degrees changes everything about how a drink should taste.
Come find us on the patio. We have ice.
Ripsaw Saloon | borrachos.bar | Prentice, Wisconsin
For more from Wisconsin’s northwoods, check out our sister site Price County Fun – covering local news, trails, and community events.