Here are three summer cocktail recipes that are easy and great for a party. Many of them are inexpensive and all of them are delicious.

A mojito is a minty rum drink made with lime, mint, and simple syrup.

Start with four leaves of fresh mint in the bottom of a glass. With a pestle (or the handle of a butter knife if you are one of the millions of people who do not own a pestle), bruise the mint until it is aromatic. Add 2 ounces of simple syrup, one ounce of rum, and a squeeze of lime.

A mint julep is the bourbon equivalent to a mojito. I call it a man-jito. It is made with bourbon, simple syrup, and mint.

Following the same recipe as you did for the mojito, replace the rum with bourbon and leave out the lime juice.

For parties, I make a a batch of minted simple syrup so that my guests can make mojtio or mint juleps easily.

A Bicicleta is a cool fresh drink for summer.

Take any chilled white wine (Pinot Grigio is great) and add a splash of Campari liqueur. Add a slice of navel orange for garnish.

This combination of crisp and sweet is like summer fruit. The cocktail makes a great alternative to sangria.

Two of the these cocktails call for simple syrup. Simple syrup is merely a mixture of water and sugar at a one-to-one ratio.

Simply bring 1 cup of water near boiling. Add 1 cup of sugar. Stir, cover, and remove from the heat.

If you would like to add mint to this mixture, bruise 10-15 leaves of fresh mint and add to the mixture as it cools.