9 End-of-Summer Tomato Cocktails

Muddled cherry tomatoes, gin, blanc vermouth and a splash of pepperoncini brine that bullies everything else out of the way. You'd expect the tomato to lead and instead it's back there somewhere, waving. It's the martini for people who think olives are for quitters.

Muddled cherry tomatoes, a splash of simple syrup and a dash of hot sauce that shows up late to state its case, make this a vodka martini unlike any you've had. It's subtler than a Bloody Mary, which means you can drink one before noon without committing to the whole celery-and-shrimp situation.

The tomato water and oregano-infused gin sneak in behind the sweet vermouth and Campari, and suddenly your Negroni tastes like it works at a pizzeria. You'll spend the first sip trying to figure put your finger on what's different and the second sip not caring.

Make it!

Cherry tomatoes sit buried in sugar for two days until they surrender a syrup, before it gets added to a glass with prosecco. It drinks salty and sweet at once, the kind of low-proof thing you can have two of before anyone starts counting. Give the first sip a second and the salt will find you.

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Sun Gold tomatoes, lovage that tastes like celery, ghost pepper salt, all in one glass. It's a salad you drink, which sounds ridiculous until you remember you've been drinking your dessert for years without blinking. So, go ahead, pour yourself a salad.

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It's a Bloody Mary boiled down to the good part, grated raw tomato and three pickle brines standing in for the whole spice cabinet. It works best with peak summer tomatoes, so don't try this in February and act betrayed when it tastes like pickle juice.

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The Paloma is already the easygoing one, all grapefruit and tequila and no fuss. Drop a little tomato in and it gets even mellower, rounding off the part of the tequila that usually bites back. It's the drink equivalent of someone talking you down.

Make it!

Most tomato drinks show up thick enough to chew. This one uses tomato water instead of juice, so it's light and clear and the tequila actually gets a word in. Salt, pepper and a bit of sherry do the rest.

Make it!

Mashed tomato on top, fruity wine on the bottom, and a spoon-back pour standing between you and cocktail disaster. You go slow with the steady hand of a bomb tech, because the whole point is the red perched up top like the head on a properly poured pint.