Summer Drinks

With this weekend being the start of Memorial Day, it's time to roll out the annual, what to drink on a hot summer day, post.

Alright I'm just going to say this up front - mojitos were so 2006-2007. Unless you are at a specific mojito-themed bar (I'm thinking of the Great American Restaurants chain where they have sugar cane just for this), don't order a mojito - bar tenders LOATHE to make them and they will remember you (in a bad way) for that for the rest of the night.

My pics for this year -

Firefly distillery out of South Carolina has released a sweet tea vodka, and damn it, it's pretty dang good. In fact, one of my bartenders (yes, I have a team) poured me a half glass under a ruse of trying the new brand of tea at Clydes in Chevy Chase - I couldn't tell there was alcohol, it just tasted like a sweet tea from a mix. In other words, this is dangerous stuff. This doesn't really need a mixer if you can hold your alcohol - just pour over ice. If necessary, try an Arnold Palmer, but with lemonade and sweet tea vodka.

It seems like folks are FINALLY catching on to the Van Gogh Espresso Vodka. What they don't know, is there is also a VG Double Espresso Vodka, and that the Three Olives brand Espresso Vodka is significantly tastier with less of an alcoholic edge to it than VG has. This has so many opportunities in winter, but where these vodkas really shine is out of the freezer. Just like the tea vodka, these don't really need mixers unless you do - just pour over ice. If you do need a mixer, add to a bit of iced coffee.

And finally, the summer drink that will make the list every year - the dark and stormy. Ginger Beer (not ale, beer) that has a lot of bite to it, a nice rum (i prefer a mix including Goslings), and several lime wedges to cut through the bitterness. Spencer at Clydes in Chevy Chase makes the best Dark and Stormies I've had yet, and you can enjoy them at the patio bar outside in back of the restaurant on nice days.

Cheers.