Generally I like to serve beer and wine to accompany grilled or barbecued food. Dry, hoppy beers go nicely with richer barbecue, as do fruity, spicy white wines like Gewürtztraminer and crisp, citrusy Sauvignon Blancs. And, of course, there’s nothing like a big chewy red like Ravenswood Zinfandel to go with steak or lamb. I recently discovered that the smoky, intense flavour of artisanal Mescal (a relative of Tequila) is insanely good with barbecue. More on that in my next podcast, coming soon!
The key to summer beverages is to maximize your eating and drinking pleasure, and one way to turn up the fun volume is to start off the party with a nice cocktail. Here are a few of my favorites.
 
Cuba Libre
Makes 1 drink
Have one of these and it’s summer … even if it’s 20 below zero.
11/2 oz | 45 mL best quality white rum (I like Appleton best)
1/4 fresh lime
cold Coca-Cola
1 lime slice
            Fill a highball glass with ice cubes, pour in the rum, squeeze in the lime juice, and top the glass up with Coke. Garnish the drink with the slice of lime.
Pimm’s No. 1 Cup and Ginger
Makes 1 drink
These sneaky little cocktails are innocuous enough, until you’ve had a couple and your face starts to feel as if it’s made of rubber.
11/2 | 45 mL oz Pimm’s No. 1 Cup liqueur
cold ginger ale
1 orange slice
Fill a highball glass with ice, pour in the liqueur, top it with ginger ale, and garnish the drink with an orange slice.
Sangria
Makes one large pitcher full
Make this great Spanish-style cooler a day ahead to give all the flavors time to meld into the ultimate summer drink.
2 bottles of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja, Zinfandel, or Shiraz)
2 tsp | 10 mL Cointreau
2 oz | 60 mL Brandy
2 oz | 60 mL Curacao
4 Tbsp | 60 mL Sugar
2 navel oranges, cut into ½ inch | 1 cm slices
2 ripe peaches, peeled, cored, and cut into ½ inch | 1 cm slices
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into ½ inch | 1 cm slices
half a ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into ½ inch | 1 cm slices
2 cups | 500 mL club soda
Combine all the ingredients except the club soda in a pitcher. Mix them together, cover the sangria, and refrigerate it, overnight if possible but for at least a couple of hours before serving. Just before serving, stir in the club soda. Serve the sangria in tall glasses.
Dirty Banana
Makes 1 drink
This rum-based drink, from my friend Chris Brown, makes any time, or day, or location, a tropical celebration.
11/2 oz | 45 mL Appleton Estate VX
1/2 oz | 15 mL Sangster’s Jamaica Rum Cream
2 oz | 60 mL pineapple juice
2 oz | 60 mL orange juice
quarter of a banana
(half if you really like banana)
fresh fruit for garnish
Blend the ingredients until they’re smooth. Serve the drink in a hurricane glass. Garnish it with fresh fruit. 
Rocky Mountain Margaritas
Makes 2 blenders of margaritas, enough for 8 to 12 drinks
I call these Rocky Mountain Margaritas because the blue curaçao combined with the green limeade concentrate gives the drinks an emerald glow like a glacier-fed river or a high mountain lake.
2 fresh limes, cut into wedges
kosher salt
1 12 oz | 350 mL container limeade concentrate,
thawed
1 cup | 250 mL water
1 81/2 oz | 235 mL bottle lime juice from concentrate
10 oz tequila
6 oz blue Curaçao (or Triple Sec) 
Pour 2 Tbsp | 25 mL of coarse salt onto a small plate. Wet the rims of 4 large margarita glasses (or however many you’re serving) with a wedge of lime and dip the rims into the salt. Set the glasses aside. Combine the thawed limeade concentrate, water, lime juice, tequila, and blue Curaçao in a jug or a large measuring cup. Fill a blender with ice cubes. Pour in the mixture to cover the ice cubes and whiz it until it has the consistency of a Slurpee. Fill the glasses and go for it!
Ack-Ack-a-Daq!
One batch makes one blender of daquiris, enough for 4–6 drinks
This, my friends, is the ultimate summer blender drink. It should only be made when local peaches are at the peak of their