You know that bottle of Campari that you’ve got up on the liquor shelf? That beautiful bright red liquor that you bought once because someone said (s)he had to have it, and now you don’t know what to do with it because it’s really bitter?
Good news. It’s summertime. And you can get fresh grapefruit. Go ahead and juice one of those bad boys, and mix in equal parts of Campari, gin, and cranberry juice. Serve it over ice, with a pealing of the zest from the grapefruit, and maybe a sprig of fresh mint.
First sip, yeah, that’s kind of tart and bitter. After that, you won’t be able to get enough.
So what’s your taste of summer?
Burt Likko is the pseudonym of an attorney in Southern California. His interests include Constitutional law with a special interest in law relating to the concept of separation of church and state, cooking, good wine, and bad science fiction movies. Follow his sporadic Tweets at @burtlikko, and his Flipboard at Burt Likko.
One word: Habiscus.Report
An ice cold lager, a chilled good white or rose wine, or a gin and tonic.Report
Beer.
Beer is also my taste of spring, fall, and winter.Report
But, at least for me, different beers per season.Report
A shandy is quite nice.Report
Cool, he finally published the next book of …
Oh. Never mind,Report
Vodka martini up, with muddled basil and fresh squeezed lime and blood orange.
A proposterous drink in December, but a rather perfect one on a warm, late-light June evening.Report
2 choices depending on the mood: a Stiegl radler (beer and grapefruit juice), or a gin and tonic made with, and only with, Small’s gin. If you are a gin drinker, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of this stuff. You’ll never look back.Report
Ooh, do those have a name? Because they sound delicious.Report
I tried a tiny bit of Jack Daniels Honey whiskey. It was good. I’m glad they left nutritional information off the bottle because I think it was probably nothing but honey with a bit of alcohol.
And Christian Brother’s Very Smooth Brandy. That was…frightening. It barely tastes alcoholic despite being 40 proof. I felt like I understood how people could get alcohol poisoning once trying that.Report
Frozen (slushy) strawberry mojito. A preposterous drink, but one that always brings me to summer, even in the dead of winter.Report
Tonight it was damned hot into the early evening, and we were drinking vermouth and soda over ice.Report
Oh dear god I hate campari…
And unlike Tod, I think martinis belong more in winter, next to a fireplace, while waiting for the hostess to call us down to be seated for dinner…
Nope, it’s gin and tonics or mint juleps. Or some light refreshing wines- Tavel perhaps?
@Slade the Leveller
I’ll have to check that gin out.Report
Plug for the Gin Rickey here. Shot of gin, juice from half a lime, the corpse of the aforementioned lime, seltzer, ice. Stir together in a Collins glass. I find it to be lighter and more refreshing than a G&T.Report
Tecate, in cans so cold your fingers stick to them.Report
Gazpacho.
The French 75 (gin, bubbly, lemon juice, simple syrup) is delicious, but daaangerous.
Because to make one, you have to open a bottle of bubbly. And then you have to finish it lest it go flat in the fridge which would be a terrible waste. And having had the first glass as a French 75, you can’t just drink the rest on its own – all subsequent glasses also require gin, lemon juice, and syrup.Report
Summerwine, with a dash of blackberry.Report
Or a Dark and Stormy…Report
Dark and Stormy or a Moscow MuleReport