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Summer’s drink needs are a bit all over the place. Sometimes you want a tropical getaway in a glass. Sometimes you crave a lively cocktail that has no alcohol. Sometimes you scream for a classic; other times you want creativity. This collection has it all.

BA’s Best Piña Colada

(Image credit: Alex Lau)

The extravagance of a good piña colada is central to its draw. That frozen intermingling of sweet coconut cream, fresh pineapple, light rum and lime juice is transporting. This recipe includes an optional float of dark rum to finish the drink. Optional, in this instance, is best interpreted as vital.

Breakfast Martini

(Image credit: Tim Nusog)

The only element of the Breakfast Martini that speaks to the first meal of the day is the drink’s orange marmalade. Could you drink this merging of gin, orange liqueur, lemon juice and marmalade in the AM? Certainly. That said, you could also drink it whenever you like.

Caribbean Ember

(Image credit: Kat Kimball)

A tropical cocktail that ran into an old fashioned wall when it was looking the other way. The collision is lithe with dark rum, pineapple juice and ginger beer; heavy with rye whiskey and Angostura bitters. The Caribbean Ember is the drink for when you know you want the best of two worlds.

Cucumber Basil Margarita

(Image credit: Heather Willensky)

Two summer-produce icons, basil and cucumber, take a holiday weekend together in this margarita variation. Elderflower liqueur (remember her?) inserts a gentle floral touch, and blanco tequila provides the fiery base.

Dirty Spritz

(Image credit: Marcus McDonald)

For all the verve and lightness of a spritz but without a touch of alcohol, this Dirty Spritz recruits tonic, olive brine and a non-alcoholic aperitivo. It’s salty, lush and effervescent. Just what summer demands.

Garibaldi Granita

(Image credit: Lizzie Munro)

Three ingredients — orange juice, Campari and vodka — are thrown together, then frozen. After a day in the freezer, you scrape the icy results with a fork and get yourself a fluffy, boozy granita. Snow cones are for amateurs, right?

Gin Gimlet

(Image credit: Food & Wine)

Yes, technically, a gimlet can be made with both gin and vodka. Still, there is a special glamour to one made with gin, the spirit’s wily botanicals encircling the lime juice and simple syrup.

Yazoo Street Scandal

(Image credit: Lizzie Munro)

Bourbon, two syrups (hibiscus and ginger), lemon juice, cold black tea: A cocktail that is breezy and powerful. It will lift you up, even as it takes you down. Serving a crowd? Multiply the recipe’s proportions, and batch that Scandal.