Bored with the same old mixed drinks? Summer is the perfect time to discover a new favorite cocktail, so we have a trio of fresh, cool drinks that are great for a warm evening on the patio or a sophisticated get-together with friends.
Related: Are elitist cocktails wrecking our bars?
Ricardo Zarate, of the Los Angeles restaurant Picca, says this Peruvian cocktail is his favorite way to feature that country's signature liquor pisco.
Contributing: Corie Brown
Chilcano de Anis
Ingredients
Squeeze of lime juice
½ ounce ginger syrup
½ ounce anise syrup
Shot of pisco
Soda water
Pernod
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously.
2. Top with soda and pour over crushed ice.
3. Garnish with mint sprig and a spritz of Pernod.
Related: The Internet puts great cocktail recipes just a click away.
Short for a petit punch, 'ti punch, is a classic mix of lime, sugar or sugar syrup, and white rum from the French Caribbean. There, natives debate whether it ruins the drink to add an ice cube and discuss the relative merits of using simple syrup (sirop de canne), which is sold in the grocery stores, or simply crushing brown sugar with a spoon.
'Ti Punch
Serves one
Ingredients
1 lime, cut into pieces
Sugar or simple syrup to taste (use refined sugar).
White rum from the French Antilles to taste. (You may use any white rum, but the rum of the French Caribbean has a sugar-cane-y flavor that is not duplicated in the whites from the rest of the region.)
Directions
1. Place the lime pieces into an old-fashioned glass or a small wide-mouth stemmed glass.
2. Add the sugar and pour in the rum. Stir until well mixed.
3. Some will add an ice cube, but many consider this anathema.
Contributing: Jessica B. Harris.
Related: If you like sushi and you like booze, try a uni shooter for the best of both.
In Spain, you can enjoy a summer beverage called zurracapote or zurra for short. Sangria is a wine and fruit punch, but in this version, nectarines are the main fruit.
For this recipe, choose one bottle of good quality light white wine, such as a Spanish cava, a good rose or a Rioja red.
Zurracapote
Ingredients
1 bottle of wine
2 tablespoons sugar
2 two tablespoons Spanish brandy such as Domecq or apricot brandy
2 tablespoons Cointreau
1 cup soda water
1 cinnamon stick
½ cup of fresh raspberries
2 ripe pitted nectarines, quartered and thinly sliced
Directions
1. In a pitcher, stir together the ingredients.
2. Half fill the pitcher with ice cubes and leave in the refrigerator for two hours before serving.
Contributing: Clifford A. Wright
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