3 Best Cocktail Recipes For A Valentine’s Day Date With Your BFF

Beverages that are as fun, fruity and full of flavour as your besties.

Cocktail recipes for Valentine's Day date night Galentine's Margarita recipe

Shake things up this Valentine’s Day and swap romance and red roses for a date with your BFF. Whether or not you’re loved up or gleefully single, celebrating Galentine’s Day is a nice way to recognise the importance of close friendships. Shower your ladies with love and attention, gift them something sweet and sentimental to show your appreciation, and invite them over to bond over a beverage (or three). Here are our favourite cocktails recipes to whip up for a girls’ night.

Basking Tommy’s Margarita
Who doesn’t love to share a cheeky marg with their bestie? This recipe is a beautiful combination of sweet and sour with crisp apples and herbal notes.

Ingredients:
- 45ml Feels Botanical BASK
- 30ml Lime juice
- 15ml Simple Syrup Co. Agave Syrup

Method
1. Salt the rim of your favourite chilled margarita glass
2. Add all ingredients to an ice-filled cocktail shaker
3. Shake vigorously to mix and chill
4. Strain into glass

Classic Pimm's and Lemonade Jug
A true taste of summer, this fruity punch with fresh mint leaves, cucumber, orange and strawberries is perfect for long lunches with the girls.

Ingredients:
- Enough ice to fill the jug
- 200ml Pimm's No. 1
- 600ml Carbonated lemonade, chilled
- 1 Sprig mint leaves
- 1 Small cucumber, sliced
- 1 Medium orange, sliced
- 1/2 Punnet strawberries, hulled and quartered

Method:
1. Mix the Pimm's with the chilled lemonade in the jug of ice. For a single serving, go with one part Pimm's per three parts lemonade.
2. Lightly smack the mint in your hand to release the scent and oils, and add it to the Pimms along with the cucumber slices, orange slices, and strawberry quarters. The rule of thumb is to add two slices of cucumber to one of orange and one of strawberry, but add as much or as little as you'd like to achieve your desired fruity flavour.
3. Stir with a long-handled spoon and serve in tall glasses with ice.

Spicy Patrón Paloma
For a cocktail with a little extra kick, the Patrón Paloma is the perfect concoction to spice things up. The drink has long been a favourite cocktail in its native Mexico – consider it a long, fruity margarita and pretend you and your mates are on the white sandy beaches of Tulum with each sip.

Ingredients:
For the Jalapeño Simple Syrup:
- 1 Jalapeño, thinly sliced, seeds reserved
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cold water

For the Spicy Paloma Cocktail:
- 30ml Lime juice
- 60ml Jalapeño syrup (or to taste)
- 120ml Patrón Reposado
- 180ml Grapefruit juice
- 100ml Soda water

To garnish:
- Kosher salt and chilli flakes for rimming the glasses, optional
- Grapefruit slices fresh or dried, optional
- Jalapeño slices optional

Method:
1. Prepare the Jalapeño Simple Syrup. Add the jalapeño pepper slices and seeds to a small pot with the brown sugar. Add the cold water to the pot and stir everything together.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat while stirring to dissolve the brown sugar. Once the mixture comes to a boil, turn the stove off.
3. Allow the peppers to infuse into the simple syrup for 15 minutes.
4. After the peppers have infused their flavour and heat into the simple syrup, strain them and the seeds away before discarding them.
5. Allow the simple syrup to cool completely, then transfer it to a jar with a tight-fitting lid or a squeeze bottle with a cap. This way, you can store it in the fridge for up to 10 days. If you're making your cocktails right away feel free to leave it at room temperature.
6. To make the Spicy Paloma Cocktail, rim two glasses with half a jalapeño followed by salt and chilli mix.
7. Fill glasses with ice and a slice of grapefruit.
8. Gently mix together the lime juice, jalapeño simple syrup, grapefruit juice and soda water.
9. Divide the Patrón Reposado between the glasses.
10. Pour the spicy grapefruit base over your ice-filled glasses until 2/3 full.
11. Garnish with slices of fresh jalapeño and enjoy!