BeverageLife
  • Home
  • BevLife Blog
    • Beer & Cider
    • Coffee
    • Spirits & Cocktails
    • Tea & Juice
    • Wine
    • & Eats
  • Events
  • Resources / Merch
    • Q&A Series
    • Lifestyle
    • KC Cafes
    • KC After Hours
    • Midwest Tea Stops
  • About
    • Team
    • Press / Portfolio
  • Contact

Summer Drinks In The Industry

6/25/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
What's everybody drinking as temps heat up this year? We've got the scoop. 
*Top photo by Dave Greenbaum* 
Dave Greenbaum - Doctor Dave - Lawrence, KS
Summer is all about relaxing and having fun, so my drink choice this summer, hard root beer, reflects that.

I discovered hard root beer recently at the Screenland Crossroads Tapcade where I relive my Gen X childhood. Back then wine coolers were the thing.  I'll admit root beer is about as far away from real beer as wine coolers are from real wine.  That doesn't make them any less refreshing!  Even if Milli Vanilli was faking it, they still made some catchy tunes.

Much like Crystal Pepsi making a comeback, alcoholic root beer isn't new.  It was originally a little alcoholic due to fermentation (the same amount that shows up in kombucha).

Hard root beers replace the sugary sweetness with an alcohol bite. The closest "true" beer style is a lambic.  My preferred brand of hard root beer is Root Sellers but I'm open to any brand I can get in the area. I'm not going to start my meal with these.  They're just too easy to drink and I need to keep my (cough!) swimsuit figure.

This faux beer will be my after dinner drink this summer.  The fancy people might have a port wine, but I'm finishing off the meal with a sugary childhood drink that keeps my buzz going.  Or are those just the cicadas?  I can't tell.


- Dave
Picture
Steve Agocs - kccoffeegeek.com  - Kansas City, MO
Summer in Kansas City means hot temperatures and a lot of humidity. The big trend in coffee for the past year or two has definitely been cold brew, but a lot of us lack the patience and equipment necessary to do it right. Enter the cocktail shaker! This is a hybrid between the fast “Japanese” iced coffee pour over method and the classic Italian espresso-based “shakerato.” This works with pour over methods as well as AeroPress, but I haven’t tried it with standard drip coffee.  You need to start with good, fresh beans. I love using Ethiopian natural coffees for this because all those berry flavors really pop! 

Use your usual coffee recipe, but replace half of the weight of water with ice cubes in the container you brew into. Brew your pour over or AeroPress using half of the water you’d normally use. The hot coffee will drip directly onto the ice and cool immediately, which keeps the bitterness down. When you’re done, transfer all of this to a cocktail shaker and give it a good shake for at least 15 seconds. Pour this over a tall glass of ice and there you have it! If you have a sweet tooth you can add simple syrup before you shake (it’ll foam up and put a “head” on your drink), or a couple spoonfuls of condensed milk afterward. 

- Steve
Picture
Vanessa Waters - The Rieger & ImbibeKC.com - Kansas City, MO 
Let me preface with one fact: I am not a summer person. I don’t enjoy the heat and sunshine or the sounds of cicadas. I do, however, enjoy summer beverages. Light, crisp, refreshing – these are my tonic to a Midwest heat-wave. 

This summer, I’m drinking three things: iced tea, cold coffee, and cocktails.

I home brew iced tea using two bags each filled with four teaspoons of loose-leaf Black Currant black tea and let it sit in the sun for a few hours for easy DIY sun tea. It’s light, refreshing, and a tiny bit fruity. 

For coffee, I desperately crave the Nitrogenated Cold Brew from Second Best Coffee in Waldo, or a good old-fashioned toddy with some flavored syrup (think: house-made mint syrup from Kaldi’s). 

But nothing “beats the heat” like a great summer cocktail. I’m looking for fresh citrus, seasonal herbs, and maybe something bubbly for added refreshment. Probably gin based. Or I’m always a fan of whiskey. You just can’t lose. 

Cheers! - Vanessa 

Picture
Michelle Bui - Bui PR and The Spy FM.com - Oklahoma City, OK
With the summer heat creeping in, it's hard to say no to the Power House. The Power House lies in the middle of the historic Farmers Market in Oklahoma City. As the area continues to grow with new developments, such as this extremely comfortable bar with one of the best patios in the city, weekly movie screenings and a food truck park in the works, how could one possibly stay away from here? The owner is one of the sweetest and you feel like Norm from "Cheers" when you walk in because he seems to know everybody's name. 

My summer drink of choice from the Power House is the Cherokee 75. Yes, it is our own rendition of the French 75, and it also has some local flair in it. The ingredients are Prairie Wolf Organic Gin, made right in Guthrie, a neighboring city, lemon juice, sorghum sage syrup and champagne. When it gets hot and humid, you can easily regulate your temperature with one of these gorgeous drinks. When you're all cooled down, jump into the sun to play some corn hole or take some pics of the historic Farmers Market building. Honestly, the opportunities are endless with this cocktail because when it's cold outside, there's a fireplace and a fire pit outside to help warm you up. Don't let the weather stop you from appreciating this locally inspired drink.

- Michelle 
What are you drinking this summer? 
~ Join the Conversation ~
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Advertisements
    Australia
    Barista Skills
    Bartender
    Beer
    Beer Tour
    BeverageLife
    Bikes
    Bitters
    Boulder
    Bourbon
    Brandy
    Caffeine Crawl
    California
    Cappuccino
    Cappucino
    Chai
    Champagne
    Chartreuse
    Chemex
    Chicago
    Chocolate
    Cider
    Cocktail
    Cocktails
    Coffee
    Cognac
    Cold Brew
    Colorado
    Colorado Springs
    Columbus
    Community
    Cupping
    Danny Meyer
    D.C.
    Denver
    Design
    Destination:Drink
    Digestif
    Distillery
    Doughnut
    Espresso
    Fall
    Family
    Fernet
    Food & Wine
    Fort Collins
    Friends
    Gifts
    Gin
    Green Coffee
    History
    Holidays
    Home Bar
    Home Brewer
    Hospitality
    Hot Buttered Rum
    Houston
    Ice Cream
    Illinois
    Indianapolis
    Industry Terms
    Interview
    IPA
    Italy
    James Beard
    Juice
    Kansas City
    Latte
    Louisville
    Madison
    Media
    Mezcal
    Milk
    Minnesota
    New Orleans
    New Year's
    New York
    Nitro
    North Carolina
    NPR
    Ohio
    Oklahoma
    Oklahoma City
    Omaha
    Orlando
    Pairings
    Personalities
    Philadelphia
    Pina Colada
    Pittsburgh
    Portland
    Portugal
    Pourover
    Press
    Pride
    Punch
    Q&A
    Riesling
    Rose
    Rum
    Sacramento
    Salt Lake City
    San Diego
    Santa Barbara
    Scotch
    Seasonal
    Sherry
    Single Origin
    Social Media
    Soda
    Sommelier
    Spirits
    Sports
    St. Louis
    Subscription
    Summer
    Tales Of The Cocktail
    Tea
    Tequila
    Throwback Thursday
    Tiki
    TopTenTuesday
    Top Ten Tuesday
    Travel
    Tulsa
    Twin Cities
    Vermouth
    Vintners
    Vodka
    Washington DC
    West Coast
    Whiskey
    Wine
    Wisconsin
    WordWednesday
    Word Wednesday

  • Home
  • BevLife Blog
    • Beer & Cider
    • Coffee
    • Spirits & Cocktails
    • Tea & Juice
    • Wine
    • & Eats
  • Events
  • Resources / Merch
    • Q&A Series
    • Lifestyle
    • KC Cafes
    • KC After Hours
    • Midwest Tea Stops
  • About
    • Team
    • Press / Portfolio
  • Contact