From Tequila to Pre-Mixed Cocktails: 8 Best Drinks to Serve at Your July 4 Party

What better occasion to raise a glass than America’s 250th anniversary?

If you’re inviting friends and family over for a cookout, then you’re probably stocking up on a bottle or two to fill out the back bar, or perhaps a six-pack to throw in the cooler. Maybe you have a favorite brand in mind that you bring back year after year. Or maybe — just maybe — you’re looking for something new. A new brand to impress guests; an out-there bottle to stir up conversation; or a completely unheard-of flavor combo that crackles as bright as a backyard firework.

We’ve got a handful of recommendations that fit the bill. With July 4th soon upon us, here are eight must-buy tequilas, vodkas, ready-to-drink cocktails and more perfect for the festivities.

Tequila – Aguasol Reposado

(Photo: Aguasol)

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Gimmicks are usually a bad sign in the tequila aisle. Thankfully, that’s far from the case for Aguasol, a critically acclaimed brand that sells its spirits inside the glass silhouette of an oversized plastic water bottle. If you’re looking for a lightly aged reposado that delivers unrivaled bang for its buck, Aguasol Reposado is the choice to beat. Three months in ex-bourbon barrels imbues a big hit of vanilla custard flavor, alongside gentler flashes of black pepper, burnt marshmallow, apple pie spice and roasted agave. Bottles are widely available online for around $40.

Ready-to-Drink – Crafthouse Cocktails Mai Tai

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The Chicago-based Crafthouse Cocktails has earned a small but mighty reputation as one of the finest brands on the ready-to-drink shelf. We’re big fans of its Mai Tai, which might be the best canned rum cocktail we’ve ever tried. The recipe combines Planteray, orange curacao, lime and almond orgeat, is canned at a pleasantly high 16% ABV and will run you about $15 per four-pack. The funky, tropical bite of Caribbean rum rides in the front seat, bringing with it plenty of bitter grapefruit, molasses and pineapple flavors that taste like they were poured straight from the shaker.

Non-Alcoholic – BERO Shandies

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Tom Holland’s non-alcoholic beer brand, BERO, recently expanded its catalog with a quartet of shandies that combine 70% lemonade with 30% Kingston Golden Pils. If you don’t like beer — no worries! That’s not really what these are going for. The brand’s Lemon-Lime and Grapefruit flavors balance an understated sweetness with a flash of malt, while its Elderflower and Blackberry Yuzu are more akin to the brightly flavored sodas you might find at a Japanese grocery. Toss a $20 variety pack in the fridge and enjoy all day long.

Gin – Suncliffe Dry Gin

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Gin might not be an obvious choice for July 4th festivities, but Suncliffe’s twist on the spirit feels appropriately hot and summery in all its finer details. Distilled in Arizona using locally foraged botanicals like manzanita, western elderflower and ponderosa pine bark, the bottle balances a recognizable hit of juniper with arid flavors of ash, rosemary, sage and pink peppercorn. What’s more, the brand donates all online proceeds to DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project, a nonprofit providing water access to families on the Navajo Nation. Consider picking up a bottle for $40.

Whiskey – WhistlePig Declaration

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WhistlePig releases usually lean big, flashy and expensive. That’s (mostly) untrue of the brand’s recently unveiled Declaration Wheat Whiskey, a double-barrel blend hitting the market in honor of America’s 250th anniversary. Now available for around $70, the whiskey offers an easygoing profile of blueberry pie, chestnut, coffee and lemon peel, followed by hints of biscuits and pepper on the finish. This is the kind of whiskey you could serve to just about anyone, and its reasonable price feels like a shoo-in for Old Fashioneds mixed up to impress the in-laws.

THC-Infused – Nowadays Black Cherry 

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We’ve reviewed our fair share of hemp-derived THC beverage brands over the past few years, but none has impressed us quite as consistently as Nowadays. For a flavor that feels like it was plucked straight from the cookout, we’d opt for its recent Black Cherry, a 750-ml multiserve that contains 5 milligrams of THC per 1.5-ounce serving. The palate is tart and sugary like a well-balanced cherry lemonade, with a silky, thick body that falls somewhere between a spirit and a pre-mixed cocktail. A full bottle clocks in at $70, but you’ll get more than enough use out of it if you consume in moderation (as you always should!).

Rum  – Rhum Barbancourt Haitian Proof 

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In the world of rum, a low price does not equal low quality — nor does it indicate a low proof. Distilled and bottled by Société du Rhum Barbancourt in Haiti, this swelteringly strong 55%-ABV agricole-style rum is available online for as little as $25. Vegetal notes of green banana, mango, citrus and lemongrass dominate the nose, followed by a palate bursting at the seams with fresh-pressed sugarcane juice and dried pineapple. Toss this into your next daiquiri and thank us later.

Vodka – Hard Cut 

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A celebrity-owned vodka? Yes, we can already hear the uproar. This is neither a category nor a spirit that we’re particularly fond of, but we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that actor Dolph Lundgren’s Hard Cut doesn’t punch far above its weight. Distilled in Idaho using potatoes and water sourced from the Rocky Mountains, the spirit makes up for its relative lack of flavor with a thick, chewy mouthfeel and faint hints of sourdough bread, vanilla bean and pear. An added bonus: It’s bottled at 90 proof (hence the brand name, since this was imagined as a response to a vodka industry “gone soft”). Action movie silliness aside, $30 isn’t a bad price to pay for one of the best vodkas we’ve tried in recent memory.