Summertime Drink Recipes

Still no Deadwood DVDs in my mailbox ...

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is sit on the dock at camp with a frosty beverage in hand, dangling my feet in the pond and watching the sun work its way west towards the mountains. Usually the frosty beverage is beer, but on the really hot days beer can be too heavy.* So what are the time-honored favorite cocktails of which I then avail myself? I'm so glad you asked. Oh - I usually pour my mixed drinks in pint glasses so as not to have to get up so often for refills.

Tonic-assisted: gin & tonic (usually Tanqueray but I've been branching out to Bombay Sapphire which is more delicately floral and less junipery) or rum & tonic (I prefer Mount Gay here; a really dark rum, like Gosling's, works better in a Dark and Stormy situation.)

Seltzer-assisted: I already mentioned my crush on Stoli Blueberi & seltzer/club soda; limoncello & lemon seltzer is lovely too, and the seltzer really cuts through the stickiness of the limoncello

Michelada: Salt the rim of a pilsner glass. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon, add enough hot sauce to pink up the lemon juice. Add a really cold pilsner (I like Corona) and shake some coarsely-ground black pepper on top. Drink half the michelada at one go, and then work your way through the rest. (I was introduced to this spicy treat at my baby brother's wedding outside of Pucon, Chile, by Robbie, a New Hampshire native and purportedly one of the best white-water kayakers south of the equator.)

Frozen: Bourbon slushes (recipe from Cuzzin Kathy). 1 1/2 cup bourbon, 12 oz. frozen lemonade, 6 oz. frozen orange juice, 6 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of brewed tea. Thaw the frozen ingredients enough to mix together with everything else. Freeze, and then scrape up into cups like a sassy granita. (Seems like a lot of water, doesn't it? I haven't made this for AGES so the recipe may need some tweaking.)

Key Lime Margaritas: 1 can of limeade, 1 limeade can's worth of tequila, 1/3 can of triple sec, 3/4 can of water, 1/2 can of Key Lime Liqueur. Mix it all together and serve over ice; blend with ice if you're high maintenance. (Recipe compliments of Bug)

Sangria: 1 bottle (750 ml.) red wine (merlot or shiraz), 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4-1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup dark rum (or brandy - but I'm more apt to have rum in the house). Mix it all together, add sliced citrus fruit (oranges, lemons, limes, whatever). Splash in some unflavored seltzer right before you serve it. Obviously, if you want more kick, add more booze.

Bloody Mary: I do not have a good Bloody Mary recipe! Anyone willing to share theirs? I like 'em spicy.

*As probably mentioned elsewhere in this blog, I am a beer-snob - I only drink microbrews. You couldn't pay me to drink that pale mass-produced Mill-mich-busch-coors-bud crapola.