My summer drinks used to have three ingredients: gin, tonic, and lime. Sometimes I would even get a little crazy and replace the lime with cucumber. At bars and restaurants, summer drinks revolve around cold beer and bright, fruity drinks. While there’s nothing wrong with any of that (and I can get behind a cold beer any day!)  a couple years ago, Alix and I took a Tiki class and it changed my world. I realized that summer drinks could be outside of the box, and incredibly boozy while being dangerously approachable. And now that we are back on the farm, I’ve been playing a bit and came up with 5 Summer Cocktails to keep you satiated all season:

Sugar Beet
1.5 Tommyrotter Gin
.5 beet syrup
.75 lemon juice
.25 orgeat syrup (Fee Brothers)
.25 Domaine de Caton
1 egg white
(This drink was a birthday drink for Alix’s sister, and pulls ideas from one of our favorite drinks in Alexandria, VA.)

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When Curious George Grows Up and Buys a Tiki Bar
1 oz of light rum
1 oz of Bacardi 8 Year Old Rum
.5 oz Creme de Banana
.25 oz orgeat syrup (Fee Brothers)
.25 oz falernum syrup (Fee Brothers)
.5 oz of lemon juice
A small amount of all spice sprinkled on top
*NOTE: Depending on how much you like the banana flavor you can add another .25 oz to the drink.

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Strawberry & Basil Mule
2 oz strawberry infused vodka
1 oz fresh lime juice
Top with ginger beer
Garnish with basil

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A Farmer’s Guide to Gardening After Dark
1 Tommyrotter Gin
.5 apple brandy
1.5 homemade carrot juice
.75 beet syrup
.5 fresh lemon juice
.25 Domaine de Canton
Garnish with mint

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I Got The Beet
2 Whiskey Rye
.5 fresh lemon juice
.75 beet syrup
mint leaves (6-8)
garnish with mint
(Include everything into a shaker and pour over ice, garnish with more mint.)

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(Goats not included, but recommended) 

As you can see, we had some fun playing around with the flavors of beets and different vegetables. These summer cocktails are an attempt to include things that we are currently or might be growing on the farm in the future – except for the bananas ;)

And hey, when you lack the energy or the ingredients for a fancy cocktail, you simply can never go wrong with a nice rosé – skip the fuss and put it in one of these lovely Glazze Crystal glasses – our new obsession – and you’ve got a perfect summer sipper. Not only are these hand-cut in Turkey (oh, how AI misses living in Istanbul!), but they are hand painted in 24k gold, which completely ups the ante! Want one of your own? Order them here, and make sure to check out their other products – I’ve got my eye on several of the whiskey glasses to add to our collection…..

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So now you’ve got the glassware and the recipes – what are you waiting for? Cheers!