Slashfood Ate (8): Favorite warm weather drinks

by Bob Sassone, Posted May 17th 2006 @ 11:04AM

It's been raining here in the Boston area for a week (you've probably seen it on the news), but you can also feel the warm weather creeping in. I hate summer with a passion (it's a long story, mostly involving humidity), and one of the very few things that gets me through the months of June, July, and August (besides tennis and Red Sox baseball) are the cold drinks. So here are the eight that help me survive the season of hell:

1. Iced tea. No, not the "real" iced tea, made with tea bags and served cold. That stuff just tastes like you left a hot cup of tea out for a few hours and it got cold. No, I mean giant glasses of very cold iced tea, with as much sugar and lemon that Lipton can fit into a giant tub. Oh, I love this stuff.

2. Diet Coke. It's weird, I used to be a 100% Diet Pepsi guy, but somewhere along the line I started buying Diet Coke for some reason and I've never changed back. Oh, Diet Pepsi is fantastic too (though Coke and Pepsi do taste different), but I've just gotten used to Diet Coke, and this is something I always have in my fridge, not just in the summer but all year round.

3. Beer. I try to have at least a six pack of one of these in my fridge: Sam Adams, Red Stripe, or Sierra Nevada.

4. Booze of all kinds. Gin and Tonic, Campari and Soda, Blue Hawaii's. All with ice, sitting in front of a fan, with the door or window open, watching television. Mmmmmmmm.

5. Orange juice. With lots of ice. Yeah, it waters it down, but ice cold orange juice is remarkably refreshing in the summer.

6. Poland Spring spring water. Is it wrong that I put water, that most essential of liquids, on the list after soda, beer, and gin and tonic? Probably.

7. Venti Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks (no whipped cream). Coffee does things to my stomach that I really don't want to describe here, but this drink suits me just fine, and it really hits the spot after a long walk in the humid city.

8. Border's chai, cold. Unfortunately, this will soon be just a memory.

Filed Under: Lists, Slashfood Ate, Drink Recipes
Tags: beer, coffee, coke, diet coke, diet pepsi, iced tea, juice, mocha frappucino, orange juice, pepsi, poland spring water, slashfood ate, soda, soft drinks, spirits, starbucks, summer drinks, SummerDrinks, summertime drinks, tea, water, wine

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-17-2006 @12:02PM Adm said... Beer with friends is my choice! Always helps. But if the beer is warm... Yak
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5-17-2006 @12:36PM Hawk said... - Anything extremely tart. This includes amaretto sours made with only lemon juice and amaretto (don't try it with whiskey! you need the sugar with whiskey), things like mike's hard lemonade mix (it's mikes without the fizz, so you can blend it with ice without causing an explosion), lemonade, etc.

- Labatt Blue, or if you're in canada, Blue Light (the light in canada is not the same as the US one somehow.) Completely palatable, dry, and thirst-quenching.

- nothing sweet. Weird, huh? Sweet and hot don't go together for me. Hot makes me want to consume, and consuming lots of sweet liquid makes you sweat and *feel* hot, along with making you nauseaus. And fat.
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5-17-2006 @1:42PM Nicole said... #1 is Canadian iced tea, that being lemonade with a tea bag waved at it. Its occasionally tasty, but I'm generally an iced tea purist.
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5-17-2006 @2:59PM Robyn said... definitely iced tea (either w/o sugar or the Aloha Maid brand), water, and iced espresso drinks. also guava juice and passion orange juice. i have to vote no on the alcohol--it just does not appeal to me when it's hot.
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5-17-2006 @4:08PM Michael said... Greek Frappe Coffee. Which is nescafe instant coffee in a long drink glass with lots of ice and in my case milk and lots of sugar. The perfect thing for those hot days in Athens.
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5-17-2006 @4:22PM Rachel B. said... I agree - nothing overly sweet is very thirst-quenching to me. i like a cold dark beer on a summer night. i also enjoy a slightly bitter grapefruit soda.
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5-17-2006 @4:46PM B said... Lipton iced tea, saturated with sugar? I'm sorry, but that's just wrong. This isn't a personal choice, such as disliking Pearl Jam. I think you should have your foodie card revoked.
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5-17-2006 @10:23PM Sotiris said... Definetly Greek FRAPPE... I'm actually enjoying one right now, but I drink mine "metrio" (an equal balance of coffee and sugar... think medium). I also enjoy iced tea, LEMONADE (no one mentioned that one... i'm amazed), and definetly a really cold bottle of beer... any will do really.. but my favorites are Heinekin and Corona.
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5-18-2006 @10:17AM wageslave said... I think you need to elaborate on the booze aspect. Rum Rummers, Daiquiris ... all those drinks become more palatable in warmer months. Plus, beer is a whole subcategory as well.
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5-18-2006 @11:47AM T. Allen said... most of your choices have been proven to actually DEhydrate. Sugary drinks are almost as bad as salt for wicking up moisture. As is anything with caffeine, or alcohol.
While I do like iced tea on a hot summer day,(absolutely NO sugar!!) I try to follow with ice water to prevent dehydration. Beer doesn't even appeal on really hot days.
Prolly have to bring my own if we get stranded on a desert island, huh?
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