Food: 7 do-it-yourself fruit cocktails to beat the summer heat

Mixologists help you whip up lipsmacking concoctions with seasonal fruits to cool off as the mercury rises

The Contender

What you need: 50 ml vodka, 10 ml Poire (pear liqueur), 10 to 12 mint leaves, 5 chunks of pear, 60 ml barmix (a blend of equal parts of lime juice, sugar syrup, water and a dash of angostura bitters), nutmeg.
How to make it: Muddle pear fruit in a mixing glass, then tap the mint in your hand and drop the leaves in the mixing glass. Add the rest of the ingredients (except nutmeg), ice and shake for 10 seconds. Double strain in a pre-chilled martini glass. Grate nutmeg on it and serve.
— Eluther Gomes, head bartender, The Daily Bar and Kitchen

Fresh Fruit Red Wine Sangria
What you need: 60 ml watermelon juice, 60 ml muskmelon juice, 220 ml red wine, 45 ml brandy, 45 ml Triple sec (orange liquor), fresh fruits like kiwi, watermelon, peach and apple.
How to make it: Pour the juices and liquor into a mixing glass and stir well. Slit open a musk melon and pour the mix into it. Chop the fresh fruits and add them to the drink. Garnish with skewers of freshly sliced apples.
— Vicky Rizwani, head bartender, The Bar Stock Exchange

Tart Berry Cooler
What you need: 60 ml vodka, 20 ml kokum syrup, 20 ml lime juice, 6 curry leaves, 90 ml fresh cranberry juice, 60 ml soda, 3 slices of lime.
How to make it: Use the bottom of a glass to tap the curry leaves. Add them to the mix of lime juice, fresh cranberry juice, kokum syrup, vodka and soda. Drop in the lime slices.
— Anand Kumar, bar manager, 145

Mango Mojito
What you need: 4 lime wedges, 8 to 10 mint leaves, 20 ml sugar syrup, 60 ml Bacardi white rum, 1 fresh mango, soda.
How to make it: Add a peeled fresh mango, lime wedges and mint leaves in a glass. Muddle or crush them well together. Add ice, sugar syrup and the rum. Shake for a few seconds and pour it in a glass. Top the drink with soda and a small slice of mango.
— Dhiresh Poojary, bar manager, Jamjar Diner

Watermelon Ball
What  you need: 45 ml vodka, 15 ml watermelon liquor, 60 ml water-melon juice.
How to make it: Pour the juice in a glass, add the liquor along with vodka and stir it well. Serve chilled with ice.
— Bhagirath Saw, corporate bar manager, Light House Cafe

IQ
What you need: 60 ml vodka, 10 ml Passion Fruit puree, 60 ml fresh watermelon juice, 90 ml cranberry juice, 10 ml lime juice
How to make it: In a cocktail shaker, add the puree, juices and vodka. Add ice and shake it. Taste to adjust it and serve with crushed ice.
— Sandeep Sharma, Hoppipola

Got'em By The Balls Sangria
What you need: 75 ml red wine, 10 ml Triple Sec, 10 ml dark rum, 30 ml fresh orange juice, 2 scoops orange sorbet, 15 gms frozen orange, 5 ice cubes
How to make it: Mix fresh orange juice, triple sec and fresh orange to make orange sorbet. In a cocktail shaker, mix red wine, dark rum and orange juice and then, strain it. In a cocktail glass, assemble two scoops of orange sorbet, add frozen, chopped oranges and then, add the strained mix.
— Debasish Saha, assistant restaurant and bar manager, Out Of The Blue

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