Simple Valentine's Day Cocktail Recipes

There are so many ways to show your date you care this February 14th. Maybe it’s a fancy dinner out, a thoughtful gift, or a quiet weekend away together. However you decide to celebrate, a seductive cocktail can start the holiday off right. We’ve come up with this list of eight sexy and simple cocktails to woo your beloved this Valentine’s Day (or any day of the year!).

From a smoky take on an Old Fashioned to the suggestively-named Sex on the Beach, there’s a drink for everyone here! Keep reading for our easy and desirable Valentine’s Day cocktails.

Sex on the Beach

Sex on the Beach Recipe

1 ½ oz. vodka

½ oz. peach schnapps

1 ½ oz. fresh orange juice

1 ½ oz. cranberry juice

1. Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously for about 10 seconds.
2. Strain into a waiting highball glass over ice.
3. Garnish with a cocktail umbrella.

This wouldn’t be a Valentine’s Day cocktail list without the naughty Sex on the Beach. Popularized in the ’80s, this drink is a fun call-back cocktail to pair with romantic comedies like Clueless, When Harry Met Sally, and Can’t Buy Me Love. You’ll likely have most of the ingredients in your liquor collection and fridge, making this an easy way to drop some hints on Valentine’s Day.

Tequila Sunrise

Tequila Sunrise Recipe

1 ½ oz. tequila

¾ cup fresh orange juice

¾ oz. grenadine

1 orange slice and a maraschino cherry, to garnish

1. Fill a highball glass with ice and stir in tequila and orange juice.
2. Slowly pour the grenadine into the glass over the back of a spoon, allowing the syrup to settle at the bottom.
3. Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

Now, this one requires just a little finesse to slowly pour the grenadine over the back of a spoon. But the rest of the recipe is so easy it makes up for it. Even if you don’t get the sunrise effect just right, it’s a lovely color, and delicious to boot. This cocktail promises to transport you and your Valentine to a warm beach--drink in hand, and love in the air.

Sbagliato

Sbagliato Recipe

~4 oz. dry Prosecco or other sparkling wine (Cava works well)

1 oz. sweet vermouth

1 oz. Campari

Orange peel garnish

1. Pour sweet vermouth and Campari into an ice-filled glass of choice and stir together.
2. Top with sparkling wine and gently stir.
3. Express the orange peel over the drink, releasing the oils, and then place the peel in the glass.

The Sbagliato was invented by a bartender who was making a Negroni and accidentally grabbed Prosecco instead of gin. This happy accident is for those that believe love is a little bittersweet. The bubbles make it feel celebratory. And the Campari provides a tart grapefruit backbone to keep the drink from being saccharine.

Pink Lady

Pink Lady Recipe

1 ½ oz. London Dry gin

½ oz. applejack

¾ oz. lemon juice

¼ oz. grenadine

1 egg white

Brandied cherry garnish (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients in an empty shaker and dry-shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
2. Add ice and shake again until well-chilled, about 10 seconds.
3. Strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry if desired.

This classic cocktail is flirtatious and feminine, with its millennial-pink hue and the creamy, silky layer on top created by the egg white. Dry-shaking the ingredients together before adding the ice allows the egg white to be fully incorporated into the liquids first. Then, when you strain everything into a glass, you end up with that lovely froth. The Pink Lady isn’t just a pretty face: it’s balanced and thoughtful with slight herbal complexity from the gin.

Oaxaca Old Fashioned

Oaxaca Old Fashioned Recipe

2 oz. mezcal

1 sugar cube or ¼ oz. simple syrup

2-3 dashes Angostura bitters

Orange peel garnish

1. Place the sugar cube into a rocks glass and add 2-3 dashes Angostura bitters to soften it before stirring ice into the glass.
2. Add the mezcal and continue to stir, allowing the ingredients to combine.
3. If using simple syrup instead of a sugar cube, fill a rocks glass with ice, add all ingredients, and stir together well.
4. Express an orange peel over the surface of the drink before wiping the rim with the peel. Drop the peel into the cocktail and serve.

This cocktail is bold and rich in addition to being simple to make. For a smoky riff on a class Old Fashioned, we’re swapping out bourbon for tequila’s provocative brother, mezcal. Like tequila, mezcal is made using the agave plant. But unlike tequila, mezcal can be made in any region of Mexico, can use different kinds of agave, and is aged differently. Check out this useful primer for more details. 

St. Germain Fizz

St. Germain Fizz Recipe

1 oz. chilled St. Germain

4 oz. chilled dry Cava or other sparkling wine

A raspberry, orange peel, or strawberry to garnish

1. Add St. Germain and sparkling wine to a coupe or champagne flute.
2. Garnish with fruit of choice.

It doesn’t get easier than two ingredients! Floral and sweet, St. Germain is elevated and balanced by the dry sparkling wine. Elegant in either a coupe or a flute, garnish with whatever fruit your date likes best.

Hot Cherry Pie Cocktail

Hot Cherry Pie Cocktail Recipe

2 ½ oz. cherry juice

1 oz. amaretto

1 ½ oz. vanilla vodka

Whipped cream and maraschino cherry garnish

1. Gently heat the cherry juice on the stovetop until warm.
2. Pour the hot cherry juice into a heat-safe glass or mug. Stir in the vodka and amaretto.
3. Top with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.

Impress your significant other with this deceptively easy Valentine’s Day cocktail. Warm each other up with the Hot Cherry Pie cocktail, complete with playful whipped cream and hot-from-the-oven flavors.

Pomegranate Martini

Pomegranate Martini Recipe

2 oz. pomegranate juice

1 ½ oz. vodka

½ oz. orange liqueur

Orange peel garnish

1. Add all ingredients to an ice-filled shaker.
2. Shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds.
3. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with an orange peel.

A symbol of passion, the pomegranate is believed to be an aphrodisiac. Even if that’s just a myth, why not use this beautiful red fruit on the most romantic day of the year? The pomegranate martini is easy, tasty, and quick, leaving you and your Valentine with more time to enjoy each other.

Which of these easy cocktails will you be making for Valentine’s Day?