Hot Weather, Cool Cocktails: 3 Summer Drinks

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"There is no way of avoiding summer," say Virginia Elliot and Phil D. Stong in the reprint of their 1930 bartending manual Shake 'Em Up!. While this may be true, there are three drinks I've made this summer that "furnish an illusion, at least momentary, of autumnal comfort," a prerequisite for summer drinks according to Elliot and Stong. And that reprieve is much welcomed, especially here in muggy Washington, D.C.

Rather than a long wind up—as reading itself is bound to produce perspiration in this heat—let's just get to the recipes, shall we? I might also recommend the Rickey, but I've covered that well before and don't want to wear out its good name.

Daiquiri #4 (Floridita Bar Style)

This recipe is sometimes referred to as the Hemingway Daiquiri or mistakenly as the Papa Doble. Forget about all that for now and just get out your blender, sit back, and enjoy. It's delicious: tart and refreshing, and can be pulse blended to perfection.

    • 2 ounces light rum
    • 1 spoonful sugar (you can adjust the sugar to taste)
    • ¾ ounce lime juice
    • 1 teaspoon grapefruit juice
    • 1 teaspoon Maraschino liqueur

Pulse blend until frapped. Pour into chilled cocktail glass.

Biarritz "Monk Buck"

From Charles Baker's book, Jigger, Beaker and Glass, this cooler is best with shaved ice. Baker recommends two and a half jiggers of cognac; we recommend less. Two ounces works fine.

    • 2 ounces Cognac
    • peel of one lemon, cut into spiral shape
    • 4 ounces ginger ale (Blenheim's spicy ginger ale works well)
    • ½ oz yellow Chartreuse

Put in lemon peel and fill glass with crushed ice. Add cognac and ginger ale. Sink yellow Chartreuse by pouring over a spoon at the glass's edge and then fill the glass with shaved ice.

Tequila Sunrise

The original Tequila Sunrise is a poolside cooler made without orange juice or grenadine, created to combat the Arizona heat at the Biltmore Hotel. If it works in the Arizona heat, it'll work anywhere.

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