Summer Drinks

If it wasn't before, it's now definitely summer in Texas. Forget Memorial Day. When you have to turn the cooler on every day, it's summer.

And that, of course, brings up the topic of summer drinks. In civilized times, which I define as times when the high is under 75F, my preferences lean towards Scotch and darker or Belgian varieties of beer. But you can't drink Scotch straight up (the way it deserves to be drunk) when it's ninety degrees outside. And beer that's nearly black in color or over eight percent alcohol suddenly becomes a bit much when it comes to hot weather.

This is the season for amber and brown ales under 6% alcohol. And it's the season for mixed drinks.

The favorite drink in the Darwin household right now is that basic but reliable stand-by, the gin and tonic. Simple yet eminently drinkable (and definitely refreshing on a summer day) the G&T has the advantage of only requiring one hard liquor ingredient, plus two mixers which are cheap and readily available.

Top shelf gin is not required, in fact I'd tend to feel that Bombay is wasted on a G&T. Something in the range from Gordon's to Beefeater is fine. Drop a couple ice cubes into a 8-10oz tumbler. Add a squirt of lime juice (or squeeze a wedge or two of lime in). Add 1.5 to 2.5 oz of gin. (Less than 1.5 will give you with very little gin taste. 2+ will leave MrsDarwin excessively vulnerable to suggestion.) Fill the rest of the tumbler with tonic water and you're all set.

Mmmmm.