5 Drinks You Have to Try This Summer
Friends, we want to be the first to wish all the dads and dads-to-be a very happy Father’s Day and to wish each of you a wonderful Summer Solstice this Sunday!
Today, we want to share our favorite summer drinks.
A few are boozy, but all of them can be made with fresh fruit and herbs from your garden.
Whatever your fancy, none of these will disappoint!
So make one for yourself or your favorite dad to celebrate the start of Summer this weekend!
#5 Sangria Water
When you’re out enjoying the hot, hot sun it is vital to drink water.
But after a while plain water can be pretty boring!
So, we really enjoy this super simple way of making sure we are getting enough water when we’re outside working or just having fun.
Just add fruit!
Ingredients:
1 pitcher of water
6-8 ripe strawberries
6-8 pieces of watermelon
6-8 red raspberries
Method:
Dice up your fruit and add to the pitcher.
Fill your pitcher with cold water.
Enjoy it immediately or pop it in the refrigerator for half an hour to let the fruit diffuse for added flavor.
#4 Lavender (or mint) Lemonade
We can’t decide which is better, but one thing we’re sure of is that once you try lemonade with lavender or mint, you’ll never drink it without one of these delicious herbs again.
Ingredients:
1 pitcher of lemonade
3-5 sprigs of lavender (or mint)
Method:
Simply wash your fresh sprigs and then add them to your lemonade.
This drink is bound to quench your thirst on a hot summer day!
Make your lemonade fresh:
In a gallon pitcher, add the juice from 6 lemons along with 6 cups of water and 3/4 cups of white sugar.
#3 Rosemary Gin Fizz
This is the Summer yin to the Winter Moscow Mule yang, friends.
You’re going to love the way the gin mixes with lemon and Rosemary to produce this lemonade for grown-ups!
Ingredients:
1/2 oz. Rosemary simple syrup
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
2 oz. Tanqueray (or your favorite London Dry Gin)
3 oz. club soda
1 lemon slice for garnish
1 sprig of Rosemary for garnish
Method:
To make the cocktail, add gin, lemon juice, and your rosemary simple syrup to your mixer, then fill it with ice and shake until it’s cold — or for about 10-15 seconds after you feel like your arm’s going to fall off.
Now, strain into a glass filled with ice.
Add club soda and garnish with a lemon slice and fresh Rosemary sprig.
Save a couple bucks at the store for a bigger bottle of gin by making your own simple syrup.
Add 1 cup of white granulated sugar and 1 cup of water to a medium saucepan.
To give your drink that extra rosemary flavor, add a sprig of fresh-cut Rosemary, too.
Bring it to a boil while you stir, until the sugar dissolves.
Remove the sauce pan from the heat and let the Rosemary steep in your simple syrup for 1 hour as it cools.
#2 Lime Sorbet Mojito
Charles had this in a cafe, just across the street from the flat he and our kids rented in Pamplona’s Casco Viejo this spring.
The bartender very carefully described the ingredients of this in Castilian Spanish and dubbed it “the best mojito in Pamplona.”
Made with rum, fresh Mojito mint, and lime sorbet, it’s the best Mojito wherever you are!
Ingredients:
2 oz. Castillo Silver Rum (or your favorite white rum)
Leaves from 1 sprig of Mojito mint, finely diced
2-3 scoops of lime sorbet
Method:
Add the rum, diced mint leaves, and lime sorbet to your cocktail mixer and shake it for 15-20 seconds or until the sorbet mixes into the rum.
Can’t find lime sorbet in the grocery store?
We had more trouble finding lime sorbet in the grocery store than toilet paper, so we made our own!
There are two ways to do this if you have an ice cream maker (psst, this makes a great Father’s Day gift — for everyone!)
With fresh lime juice. Mix 1 cup each of lime juice, water, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the sugar dissolves, then add to your ice cream maker and let it run for 20-30 minutes, or until it looks like sorbet.
With limeade concentrate. Mix 1 can of limeade from the juice aisle with one can of water in a saucepan, then add to your ice cream maker and let it run, same as with fresh lime juice.
Both of these are going to make a great Mojito!
#1 The Green Lady
This gem combines Hendrick’s Gin with green Chartreuse, fresh Egyptian mint, and fresh lime juice.
Be careful. It’s dangerously good!
Ingredients:
3 oz. Hendricks’s Gin
1 oz. green Chartreuse
1 oz. simple syrup
8 whole fresh Egyptian mint leaves
Juice from 1/4 lime
Method:
Load up your mixer with everything, fill it with ice, and shake until your hands are on the verge of frostbite.
The ice in your mixer will grind your mint leaves for you.