Adult Cherry Lime Rickey Cocktail

We spend every Memorial Day weekend in Grand Junction, CO which certainly isn’t the hottest place in the world, but it feels like it on some days. Making a batch of these Cherry Lime Rickey Cocktails is my favorite way to keep the heat at bay!

When I thought of these for the first time, we were driving around with the kiddos sleeping in the back of the car and drove by a Sonic, a place I haven’t been to in probably a decade.

One thing I did remember about Sonic is they make huge cherry lime rickeys. I’m not usually one for sweet soda drinks, but it was the most refreshing beverage I’ve had in recent memory.

So I figured I’d make a rickey cocktail version of it, because why not?

This cherry lime rickey cocktail is NOT just buying a Sonic cherry lime rickey and putting vodka in it or whatever. We can do better. It involves muddling. It involves straining.

But most importantly, it’s not SO boozy that it knocks you out. It’s got a little kick to it but mostly it’s a delicious refreshing summer beverage. It’s sort of the perfect yard work cocktail.

Cheers!

• This recipe was updated on July 1, 2019 with new images and descriptions!

Adult Cherry Lime Rickey

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4.67 from 3 votes

Author: Nick Evans

Servings: 1 cocktail

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

Maybe the most refreshing drink in the world done up in cocktail form! This is the “adult” version of a Cherry Lime Rickey. Beat the heat with this one.

Equipment

• 1 Muddler
• 1 Cocktail Shaker

Ingredients 

• 3 cherries, pitted
• ½ lime, juice only
• ½ ounce cherry liquor
• 1 ounce gin
• 6 ounces lemon lime soda
• Fresh cherry, garnish
• Lime, garnish

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Instructions

• Pit three fresh cherries and add them to a shaker glass with lime juice and cherry liquor. Muddle well. Add ice and gin.
• Shake drink vigorously to chill. Strain into tall glass with fresh ice.
• Top drink with lemon lime soda and garnish with limes and cherries. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1Drink | Calories: 193kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.02g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 18mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 32IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Cherry Lime Rickey Cocktail

I wanted to start this recipe with some fresh fruit. Is it totally necessary? No, but it adds a really nice fresh fruit flavor.

Take the pits out of about three cherries and add it, along with the lime juice to a shaker glass with a small hit of cherry liquor. I used a local distillery (Leopold Brothers) that make a maraschino liquor. Pretty delicious with gin.

Muddle this all together to get the flavors going.

Then add some ice and gin. Check out that color!

Shake that together really good to chill it out and then strain it into a fresh tall glass with ice. You could NOT strain it, but you’ll have lots of little cherry bits in it, which tastes fine, but isn’t quite as pretty of a presentation.

Top the drink off with some lemon lime soda of your choice. BOOM.

Garnish with a fresh cherry or a maraschino cherry and a lime wedge.

This “adult” cherry lime rickey cocktail is about as refreshing as it gets. Make one the next time you have to brave the sun.

Here are a few other summer cocktails!

• Watermelon Bourbon Smash
• Habanero Peach Margaritas
• The Michelada
• Pineapple Jalapeno Smash from Fork in the Kitchen