porch drink: fruity beer

each summer robert & I unwittingly adopt a "porch drink". the past few summers I was obsessed with making arnold palmers & honey whiskey with ginger ale. this summer we've been busy with house projects, so we've kept it as simple as popping a top. 

I have tried for many years to become a beer drinker. the phrase "pizza & cold beer" sounds so appealing to me. but even after a trip to belgium, the best that I could do was a lambic. this summer I discovered stiegl raddler graprefruit beer, and it's right up my alley. it tastes like a delicious, fruity, fizzy soda (warning: it's easy to consume one too many of these). and for a backup, we've also kept some of these michelob ultra pomegranate raspberry beers on hand. it's light, refreshing, and doesn't taste too much like beer :) 

happy labor day

happy labor day! today you'll find us in our newly landscaped backyard (finally!) sitting on a picnic blanket sipping ginger ale with a splash of honey whiskey & playing some jarts. enjoy the long weekend! 

porch drink: arnold palmer's

my porch drink of choice this summer: the arnold palmer. a.k.a sweet tea + lemonade. I've altered tyler florence's recipe a bit to include sweet tea & a little alcohol. hey- it's summer, afterall.

arnold palmer {adapted from tyler florence's recipe}

1-2 family size iced tea bag

1 tea kettle filled with boiling water

pitcher

* ¼ sugar {for sweet tea}

1 cup simple syrup {for lemonade, recipe below}

1 lemon zest

1 cup lemon juice

ice cubes

vodka {or sweet tea vodka}

fresh mint for garnish

directions:

place 1-2 tea bags in a saucepan. boil a tea kettle full of water.  pour the boiling water over the tea bags.  let steep for several minutes. add *¼ cup of sugar & the hot tea to a pitcher. fill pitcher up with cold water & mix well until sugar dissolves.

lemonade:

to a blender, add the simple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 cup ice cubes & pulse to puree. place the mixture into the freezer for 15 mins.

add a handfil of ice cubes & a cup of the sweet tea to the shaker. using an ice cream scoop, scoop some of the frozen lemonade into the shaker. add 1 shot of regular or sweet tea vodka & mint leaves. shake well & pour into glass with the mint as a garnish.

simple syrup:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

add the sugar & water to a medium saucepan. bring to a boil & allow to simmer until the sugar has dissolved. remove from heat & set aside to cool completely.