This post invites notices of the best ethanol vehicles for a really hot summer afternoon and evening. We know about Sangria, gin and tonic (and that it must be made with Tanqueray), mint julep and rum punch (and that they are very strong and deceptively so), bloody Mary, and thanks to NPR last week, the Pimm’s cocktail. What about more obscure survival potions? Anyone still drink a Southside?
My nomination is Campari and Tonic; substitute Campari for the gin in a gin and tonic, lemon or lime are OK for the squeeze.
Dark and Stormy–light rum and ginger beer, with lime
Colonel Collins–bourbon, sugar, lime juice, soda water–(It’s basically a whiskey sour with soda in it).
If you want refreshment and not much alcohol, a shandy is good–fruit juice (apple is my choice) and lager, mixed half and half.
I don’t know if there’s an official name for this, but I call it a cucumber martini: 5:1 ratio of gin to vermouth, infused with cucumber. (Just dice half a cucumber and put it in the shaker.) Garnish with a cucumber slice.
My Dad used to make the following whisky sour recipe. Put ice cubes in a blender until they reach the top. Scoop in one can of frozen lemonade. Fill empty lemonade can with Seagram’s and pour that in to. Carefully (start blender on low) pulverize the concoction until smooth. Pour.
I love Cucumber Martinis! I put a large amount of cucumber innards into a shaker and muddle them, add vodka, ice, a little water and a generous pinch of sugar.
I also employ Mojitos and white wine.
Atomic cherries: Take a bottle of maraschino cherries, replace the fluid with Everclear, and let soak for a month. After that store them in the freezer, and eat them cold.
Caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil (which is also the nation where ethanol has had its greatest success).
2 tsp granulated sugar
8 limes wedges
2 1/2 oz cachaca
Pulverize the sugar with the lime wedges in a mortar. Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice cubes. Pour the cachaca into the glass. Stir well.
how does the lime moosh get into the drink?
Gimlets – Rose’s lime juice and gin. Good enough for Philip Marlowe, good enough for you.
I second the vote for caipirinha. It can also be done with vodka in case cachaca is hard to find (in Brazil, this is actually quite chic), but it will not have that distinctive taste. (Rum is not a suitable alternative.)
I’ve never seen a mortar used. The lime and ice are crushed right in the glass. (The picture of a caipirinha on Wikipedia is highly unrepresentitive, by the way).
muito obrigado. Eu vou buscar a cachaça e provarei uma caipirinha, com as cançãoes de Jobim.
I think that you’re making a mistake by not including summer beers on your list. Light, carbonated ethanol feels good in so many ways and you can hold it against your temple if things get really bad.
Plenty of great contenders to choose from, including an excellent entry from the Anchor Brewing Co., but for having a weiss-beer-with-lemon on a hot day Hoegaarten remains the gold standard.
Mudslide:
Pour equal parts vodka, Kahlua, and Bailey’s into a blender with about twice the volume of ice cubes. Pour into a chilled collins glass.
Margarita:
Juice of four key limes
2 oz non-rotgut tequila (Cuervo Tradicional works nicely)
3/4 – 1 oz Grand Marnier (or Cointreu, if you prefer something sweeter)
Ice to fill above the fluid level.
Process in blender until smooth. Serve in a margarita glass rimmed in kosher salt. Garnish with lime slice.
Bottled key lime juice works just fine.
Yes, I vote for the caipirinha too. Best hot weather drink ever. I sometimes make a simple syrup to mix with the limes, if I have to make it for more than one person.
Cachaca is available in many non-state owned (ABC) stores, if you have them in your area. In Ohio it is even sold in varieties ranging from $10 to $30 a bottle. Go figure.
Michael,
Você vai gostar, sem duvida. Lembra, não precisa usar uma boa cachaça para fazer capirinhas.
You’re in the islands, mon, with Myers’s Original Dark rum and tonic. On the rocks with a lime twist.
Gotta be Myers’s! Ahhhhhhh!
There are two twists on a shandy that are must drinks this summer. 1. Sparkling blood orange (you can find this at Whole Foods or Trader Joes) and pale ale, lager, hefeweizen, or whatever beer is on hand will work just as well. 2. Same as above but substitute sparkling grapefruit juice for the blood orange.