Summer Sipping...

It’s summer time… Time for a little research :-)

Besides sitting on the beach in the summer and enjoying this view….

 

I enjoy inventing cocktails. All my books feature a drink. I created the signature drink for my son’s wedding. A local bar still serves my rum dancer in the summer. So I’ve had some success.

But have you ever wondered where did that cocktail come from that you sip while enjoying a summer evening on the deck? Or around a bomb fire? Or at the family summer picnic?

Every Thursday on my blog, I feature a drink or recipe so I decided to do a little research on my fellow cocktail forerunners. (How many people can say they had to research drinking and create drinks for their job? ❤ my job)

This is my favorite martini creation ... Coconut Blast

This is my favorite way to eat fruit in the summer :-)

 

Here are some interesting things I learned:

1.    Cocktails earliest roots are medical related. Gin and Tonic was developed for a way of taking daily quinine rations. Pink Gin was a way to combat seasickness. The Gimlet was developed as a way to keep vitamin C in sailors.

2.    The world of drink development was VERY competitive. Countries had frosty relations over brandy and their national drink. Bar tenders in early Britain challenged each other to duels over the rights of drinks.

3.    The American’s were the first to serve or use ice in their drinks.

4.    The first cocktails were considered elegant and sleek – The Bee’s Knees, White Lady, Manhattan, and dry Martinis. When the Pina Cola and Mai Tai type of drinks hit the scene they were at first considered vulgar and low class.

 

What are some of your favorite summer/fall/winter/spring cocktails?