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LoginSummer Drink Recipes: 19 Regional Summer Coolers Ideal For Sipping On Hot Days
5 min
15/04/20265 min15/04/2026
If winters leave you craving hot drinks that soothe the throat and warm the soul, summer drinks recipes are nature’s coolant – especially when made with local and seasonal ingredients and without chemical additives. And no, that does not mean all you have is a simple lemonade. These regional summer coolers vary in tastes, textures, and regions, but unite in one thing – beating the heat!
Summer shows up differently across India – some regions battle humidity, others brace for hot, dusty winds, scorching heat, and high temperatures. Then there are the hills that offer cooler, pleasant conditions. Just as the season varies, so do the summer coolers that show up across the different regions. The only thing common is how they help keep cool. So, here are nineteen regional coolers from across India that you must add to your drinks roster this summer!
The summer drink recipes from Northern regions focus on locally available flowers and fruits, seasonal produce, and the right mix of spices to produce refreshing and hydrating drinks.
A spiked lemonade made from mixing cold water with lemon juice, sugar, and basic spices (cumin, black pepper, black salt, etc.), shikanji is a staple across the streets of Delhi and UP. It’s easy to prepare, easily customisable, and perfect for hydrating on hot days.
A staple of Iftar in Ramadan, babri beol is a traditional drink from Kashmir that’s known for its cooling properties, thanks to the mix of soaked basil seeds, milk, and sugar. You can consume it as is, or enhance it with cardamom, saffron, or rose syrup for festive occasions. Aromatic and refreshing, babri tresh keeps the body cool and benefits the gut because basil seeds are rich in fibre, iron, calcium, and plant-based omega-3 fatty acids.
Buransh sharbat is available across the Himalayas, and even in regions of Kashmir, because it is made from the petals of the Rhododendron (Buransh) flower. This is one of the summer drink recipes that scores high on the healthy meter because it supports heart and liver health, and offers antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
If your idea of cooling down involves a thick, creamy delight, then try lassi from Punjab. One of the more popular regional summer coolers, lassi has sweet (with sugar) and savoury (with salt versions. For both, the base is made by blending yoghurt (curd) with water. Common spices may be added to the mix.
A sour but refreshing summer drink, tenga pani makes use of kaji nemu, aka Assamese lemons. It is made by mixing fresh lemon juice with water, sugar or jaggery, and black salt. Tangy and cooling, it is similar to a nimbu pani or shikanji, but with a more pronounced sour taste.
One of the more widely popular summer drink recipes, aam panna, doesn’t belong to just one region. It’s popular in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, UP, and even parts of North India for its tangy flavour that leaves a sharp, savoury bite with every sip. This one’s a seasonal summer cooler, because it is made from the pulp of raw mangoes that are only available for a short duration.
West and central India also employ regional fruits and seasonal produce in their summer drink recipes. However, a few regions (like Goa) also bring in coconut water or coconut milk to the mix, because of its abundant availability.
Sweet, sour, and deserving of a whole lot of pyaar (love) is amalavani from Rajasthan. This traditional sweet-and-sour summer cooler is a refreshing, hydrating, and nutritious beverage designed to protect against loo (hot winds) common in deserts. It is usually served chilled.
Don’t confuse this one with Gujarati kadhi or Punjabi kadhi, both of which are curries made from gram flour and yoghurt. Sol Kadhi, on the other hand, is a mauve-hued cooler that doubles up as a digestive. This “pretty in pink” summer beverage gets its signature colour from the extract of kokum, a tropical fruit native to the Western Ghats.
If you look for good aroma in summer drink recipes, you have to try the variyali sharbat. This traditional, refreshing Gujarati summer drink primarily uses fennel seeds (called variyali in Gujarati) and rock sugar (mishri). It’s sweet, aromatic, and beneficial in battling heatstroke.
For those of you who like the summer drink recipes with a side of health benefits, try the bael sharbat. Derived from the wood apple fruit, this summer cooler has intense cooling properties and can provide digestive support. While traditional sciences like Ayurveda regard it as highly beneficial as a digestive aid and for blood sugar management, modern sciences recommend controlled consumption. It’s a hydrating, nutrient-rich support, not a solution.
If you like simple drinks with layered flavours, try the sweet-and-sour kokum sharbat. Refreshing and tangy, the drink is made by blending soaked kokum into a syrup or by boiling it. It’s a natural coolant that combats heat stroke and aids digestion. It’s also popular in parts of Kerala.
Southern summer drink recipes are laced with sweetness and use coastal ingredients. Some even have a touch of spice, depending on the region!
A jaggery-based summer cooler, panakam is an aromatic, cooling beverage that’s commonly served during religious festivals like Ram Navami, because it is considered to be Lord Ram’s favourite drink. Beyond mythology lies a simple fact – this is cooling, hydrating, and perfect to beat the summer heat.
It’s tempered with curry leaves, hinge, and spices, mixed with green chillies, and still works as a summer cooler. Don’t question the ingredients before you try the neer mor or sambaran, a traditional South Indian thin, spiced buttermilk used to beat summer heat.
How to make neer mor?
If James Bond chose a lemonade, it would be this one. Because this Kerala-style lemonade is shaken, not just stirred. This summer drink recipe may sound similar to a shikanji, but it is distinct for being shaken in a container to mix ingredients. It also commonly includes soaked sabja seeds (basil seeds) and spicy green chillies that are missing from a traditional shikanji.
A summer drink recipe from the streets of South India, nungu sharbat doesn’t belong to just one state. It is made from ice apple, a mildly sweet and highly hydrating seasonal fruit perfect for beating the heat. It’s made by muddying the fruit with nannari syrup, a herbal concentrate made from the roots of the Nannari plant (Indian Sarsaparilla).
With thanda, meaning cool, in the name, jigarthanda can’t be anything but a cooler! A sweet drink with a chewy texture (and you thought only boba tea had that!), jigarthanda is the unofficial mascot of Madurai. It uses milk, almond gum, and sugar as the base ingredients.
The east brings its fermentation rituals to the summer drink recipes as well, along with local berries and common spices.
Another version of buttermilk, this one’s a Bengali-style cooler that uses the aromatic Gondhoraj lime in the mix. It’s an aromatic, citrusy, frothy, and probiotic-rich remedy for hot summers. It is best served chilled with extra ice.
Served as a prasad (holy offering) at the Jagannath Temple in Puri, tanka torani is another probiotic-rich fermented rice drink from East India, specifically Odisha. It is made by fermenting cooked rice with water, curd, and spices, usually in earthen pots.
Sattu, or roasted gram flour, is one of those ingredients from Bihar and Jharkhand that has slowly but surely made its way to the rest of India. Sattu sharbat is a traditional summer cooler made from roasted gram flour, water, and spices. It’s supposed to provide instant energy. Like lassi, it too has a sweet and savoury version.
Traditional drinks have been around for centuries because people have always relied on natural ingredients to deal with the changing seasons. While mass-produced, sugary drinks may feel like a quick fix, they are not always the healthiest of options. Traditional summer drink recipes come together just as easily, but allow you to customise, experiment, and enjoy the best of seasonal produce.
