Stir up your summer with some #coole new cocktail creations guaranteed to give you summertime vibes – courtesy of Irish cream liqueur Coole Swan.

The essential summer cocktail spirit suitable for a variety of different recipes, Coole Swan contains just three ingredients: whiskey, chocolate and cream. And now Coole Swan has partnered with two leading mixologists, TV’s Andy Clarke and Rewfus Broad from The 43 Club and Swygge, to create some inspirational drinks for your perfect summer – and in time for World Cocktail Day (13^th May 2023).

This summer’s key cocktail trends, according to Rewfus Brode, are all about drinks made using fresher, lighter ingredients with clean natural flavours…with a top-quality spirit to build on.

“Umami and savoury flavours are popular right now, with herbs and spices like basil, rosemary and chilli making a regular appearance in this summer’s cocktails. Syrupy, sugar-laden creations are definitely a thing of the past. It’s all about clean natural flavours,” says Rewfus.

In anticipation of summer, Coole Swan has worked with mixologists Rewfus and Andy to create some summer serves that are easy to make at home and perfect for bringing on those summer vibes:

The Rhubarb Coole by Andy Clarke

The subtlety of rhubarb mixed with the ginger notes creates an elegantly summery cocktail that’s simply delicious.

Ingredients (for two)

100ml Coole Swan
50ml rhubarb vodka/rhubarb gin
30ml ginger syrup
A handful of ice cubes
To garnish: a pinch of ground ginger/rhubarb curls

Method

Put all liquid ingredients in the shaker along with the ice cubes and shake for about 20 seconds until the shaker feels extremely cold to the touch.
Pour the cocktails through a strainer and strain into the glasses. Sprinkle a pinch of ground ginger over each drink and balance the rhubarb curls on the edge of the glasses.

Enjoy!

The Coole Lemon Frappe by Rewfus Broad

Light, refreshing, incredibly moreish, with delicate tropical notes of passionfruit and citrus.

Ingredients:

65ml Coole Swan
25ml Luxardo Limoncello
8 drops Foodie Flavours Passionfruit Flavour Drops
75ml soda water
To garnish: lemon twist

Method:

Fill your shaker halfway with cubed ice followed by Coole Swan, Passionfruit Drops and Limoncello. Shake hard to attain the best foam.
Fill your glass with cubed ice. Strain the mix into your glass slowly and simultaneously fill the same glass with soda using your free hand. (An old school technique to get a lovely head on the drink.) Garnish and enjoy!

NB We recommend you use Luxardo as it works perfectly with Coole Swan, other products may impact the quality of the final drink.

The Coole Gin Spritz by Rewfus Broad

A beautifully balanced drink with equal notes of Coole Swan, lavender and gin, edgy and eccentric. This drink Is super light and refreshing, perfect for a summer’s day.

Ingredients:

25ml Coole Swan
15ml gin (we used Silent Pool as lavender is one of the botanicals)
15ml Monin Lavender Syrup
100ml soda water
Dash Dandelion & Burdock Bitters (optional)
Garnish: dehydrated orange moon x2/lavender sprig/fresh basil sprig

Method:

Half fill a wine glass with cubed or crushed ice
Pour in all the ingredients and stir for around 10 seconds making sure all the ingredients are blended together
Top with more cubed or crushed ice, garnish and serve

Coole Swan and Rewfus Brode have come up with these top tips for summer cocktail making:

Cocktail Kit – don’t panic about not having the right cocktail equipment. Simply use what you already have in your house. Your cocktail shaker is a jam jar or Nutribullet with lids; your jigger can be an egg cup, a shot glass or a cooking measurer; your kitchen sieve is perfect to pour and leave the ice behind. The most important thing is to have some fun with it.
Less is more – don’t worry about buying every bottle under the sun to stock up your drinks cabinet. You can make lots of different cocktails with just four quality base spirits. As a starter for ten, choose a Sipsmith gin, Plantation rum, El Jimador tequila and Coole Swan for your Irish cream.
Quality – make sure your base spirit is top quality and the right one for the flavours you have chosen. But don’t mask it with unnecessary ingredients; celebrate its flavour and keep it clean.
Something new – you don’t have to stick to the same classic cocktail recipes you’ve had in the past. Today’s cocktail lover is more inclined to try something new. Milk punches, alcoholic cocktail frappes, White Russians (lighter and less heavy than a Black Russian) and Espresso Martinis are a good place to start and are on trend this summer.
Twist it up – if you love a classic cocktail but want to keep it fresh, twist it up with a different spirit, flavour or garnish. For example, if your favourite tipple is a margarita, try a mezcal (smoky) version, using chilli, basil and different herbs. If a Daquiri is your thing, premiumise it with a measure of rum, a spirit seeing a resurgence right now. Pina Colada your favourite summer cocktail? Modernise a classic with a mix of Coole Swan, coconut rum, pineapple vodka and coconut water for a Coole Colada.
Less of the sweet stuff – instead of relying on spirits and ingredients that are heavy on sugar and artificial flavours, look for more natural and higher quality ways to make your drink. Coole Swan contains Belgian chocolate and Irish whiskey and makes an excellent base spirit. If you want to make your cocktail more savoury, simply add basil and coconut water.
Have fun – cocktails are meant to be fun, not serious highly technical creations that we are too scared to try and make at home. So whatever spirits, mixers and ingredients you have in your collection, keep it simple and have fun experimenting.

Coole Swan is available in Tesco, Supervalu, Centra and a range of independent retailers across Northern Ireland. A full list of stockists is available here. Price from £22.

Customers can discover more information about this perfectly crafted Irish product and the inventive ways to serve it at www.cooleswan.com, or follow on social media for all the latest updates @cooleswan on Facebook and @coole_swan on Instagram.

For adults aged 18+ over. Drink Coole Swan responsibly, visit www.drinkaware.co.uk for more information.

About Coole Swan:

Made in Co Cavan, Ireland, Coole Swan is a much lighter and contemporary take on a classic – and perfect for mixing in spring and summer cocktails both in inventive cocktail serves or simply enjoyed poured over ice.

Coole Swan brings a fresh perspective to the world of cream liqueur and encourages playfulness and creativity, drink by drink…shaking up convention whilst presenting and sharing ‘the unexpected’ with those that try it.

Independently owned and family run Coole Swan was born of a vision to reinvent Irish Cream Liqueur for a modern world. The multi award-winning drink was perfected after 231 attempts to create the perfect balance of its core ingredients: whiskey, Belgian white chocolate and cream, resulting in a distinctively fresh, light, and smooth taste, expertly blended by the passionate and dedicated team at Coole Swan.

Indeed, its use of quality ingredients and modern craft has reimagined and reinvigorated traditional Irish cream liqueur, rejuvenating the drink for a new generation of early adopters.