Game. Set. Sip.

Signature sports-event drinks bring the tournament into your home.

- Lucy Simon

Make game dayready cocktails perfect for hot summer days, like the Azalea (p. 44) and the Black-Eyed Susan (p. 42).

EVERY SPRING AND SUMMER, a cast of cocktails returns to prime time. There’s the mint julep, of course, the signature drink of the Kentucky Derby, made with bourbon, mint, simple syrup, and ice. Then there’s the Black-Eyed Susan, a fruity bourbon cocktail served at Maryland’s Preakness Stakes; it tips its hat to the state flower and the blanket of florals crafted to evoke them that’s draped over the winning thoroughbred horse (recipe at right). There’s also the Azalea, the unofficial cocktail of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia (recipe p. 44). Shaken with pineapple and lemon juice, grenadine, and vodka or gin, the sweet and tangy drink shares its name with the pink blooms that line the golf course.

Cocktails like the Black-Eyed Susan, the Azalea, and the Oaks Lily (the vodka-and-cranberry-juice-based cocktail served at the Kentucky Oaks, a horse race in Louisville held the day before the Kentucky Derby) signal the start of tournament season.