Raspberry Limoncello Cocktail

This vibrant summer cocktail mixes fresh raspberry juice with limoncello and vodka to make a sweet-tart drink that's perfect for warm weather sipping. Serve it straight up as a raspberry limoncello martini, or pour it over ice along with club soda for a drink that's sparkling and light. Best of all, you'll only need 5 ingredients and a few minutes to make it happen!

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There's a time and place to gravitate towards a bold, heavy cocktail, and then there's the warm days that call for lighter, brighter drinks - something like a crisp mojito, a tangy margarita, a refreshing cucumber mule, or a creamy coconut cocktail. This raspberry limoncello cocktail falls in the latter camp. It's strong yet vibrantly fruity, and with a combination of juicy raspberry and citrusy lemon flavors, it's the perfect mixed drink for summer.

Jump to:

• Making the perfect summer cocktail
• Ingredients you'll need
• Making this cocktail, step-by-step
• Variations on this drink
• Cocktail-making FAQ
• More summer cocktail recipes
• Have you made this recipe?
• 💬 Comments and Reviews

Making the perfect summer cocktail

There's a few key factors that go into a great warm-weather drink, and this simple vodka cocktail has them all:

• Fresh, seasonal ingredients: Raspberries are available for most of us year-round, but they're at their peak in the summer months. Their tangy-sweet flavor adds a striking color and flavor to this cocktail, along with a fruity playfulness to match the summer mood.
• Light, easy flavors. It's only natural to crave simple meals in the summer, with flavors that don't feel overly rich or heavy. The same concept applies to drinks, and the combination of vodka, raspberries, and citrusy limoncello in this cocktail keep it slightly sweet and easy to sip on - a bit like a boozy raspberry lemonade.
• Ice! There's a time and a place for drinks served neat, but summer begs for a well-chilled cocktail. This little raspberry limoncello number can be shaken with ice and served straight up as a martini, or poured on the rocks. Either way, you can be sure it'll do the job of keeping you cool.

Ingredients you'll need

You'll only need 5 ingredients (plus ice!) to nail this simple raspberry limoncello cocktail recipe. Let's talk about them:

• Raspberries - You'll need just a little less than one 6 oz. container to yield enough fresh raspberry juice for this mixed drink. You can use any extra as garnish - either for this drink or a raspberry champagne float!
• Limoncello - You should be able to find some variation of this classic Italian lemon liqueur in most liquor aisles. That being said, authentic limoncello is produced from the zest of Sfusato or Sorrento lemons along the Amalfi coast in Southern Italy. And I will say - the best limoncello I've personally ever tasted was homemade in Sorrento; one sip would instantly transport you to a sunny Italian lemon orchard. Moral of the story: splurge on the best stuff you can find for this limoncello cocktail.
• Vodka - A basic unflavored vodka will work here, but it goes without saying that anything in a plastic bottle should be off-limits. A raspberry or lemon flavored vodka could potentially be swapped in if that's what you happen to have on hand.
• Simple Syrup - Buy it or make it.
• Club Soda - You can also use sparkling water or seltzer if we're being technical here. As long as there's no flavor added, it'll do. If you have a Sodastream (which I highly recommend), you can even make your own. Or, try swapping in a lemon-flavored variety of sparkling water, like Spindrift. If you intend to drink this as a martini, you can skip the club soda entirely.
• Optional Extra: Lemon - If you prefer your cocktails on the less-sweet side, you can add a bit of freshly-squeezed lemon juice. Naturally, it'll amplify the limoncello a bit more too.

Making this cocktail, step-by-step

Step one - Make the raspberry juice: Throw about 6 ounces of (rinsed!) raspberries into a cup or measuring glass. Use a cocktail muddler to mash them up into a pulpy juice. Then, transfer the muddled raspberries to a piece of cheesecloth - or better yet a nut milk bag - and squeeze as much of the juice as possible back into your glass.

Step two - Combine ingredients: Measure out 2 ounces of raspberry juice and add it to a cocktail shaker along with the limoncello, vodka, simple syrup, and lemon juice (if using). Add ice and shake well.

Step three - Strain and garnish. Strain the mixture into your glass of choice: you can serve this drink straight-up in a martini glass, on the rocks in a lowball glass, or over ice with club soda in a highball glass. If you've picked the latter, pour the club soda on top and give it a quick stir. Garnish with fresh raspberries, a lemon twist, or even a curled strip of candied lemon peel.

Variations on this drink

As mentioned above, you can largely tailor this drink to suit your preferences with a few simple tweaks:

To make a raspberry limoncello martini: Skip the club soda, and serve this drink without ice in a martini glass. It'll be bold and strong, a little tart and a little sweet. I love it this way, with the additional lemon juice mentioned above.

For a basic raspberry limoncello cocktail: Serve this on ice in a lowball or rocks glass, without club soda. This option is your middle-of-the-road, still strong but not too strong kind of mixed drink.

To make this as a "cooler" cocktail: Serve this drink long, in a highball or Collins glass filled with ice and topped with club soda. This is the variation you'll want on a warm summer afternoon - just a little easier to sip on, with a splash of bubbles to make it extra-refreshing.

And finally, for a less sweet variation: Add half an ounce of freshly-squeezed lemon juice to any of the above options to add a little more pucker.

Cocktail-making FAQ

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This is an update version of a recipe that first appeared on Bright-Eyed Baker in 2017. Updates include new images and text, as well as some modifications and variations to the original recipe.