Cold Summer Drinks
July is chock full of National “cold summer drink” Days. The dog days of summer are the perfect time to sip a refreshing icy beverage. Today, July 10th is National Pina Colada Day. The drink, a blend of rum, pineapple juice, and coconut cream blended with ice, was developed in 1954 by Ramon Marrero of the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Tomorrow, the 11th, is National Mojito Day-my personal favorite. Here is a photo of a mojito I enjoyed on board a sailboat cruise of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The concoction is white rum, lime juice, soda water, muddled mint, and sugar. Our captain’s creation utilized brown cane sugar. The drink history refers to the 1650s in Barbados vs a more recent highball creation in Havana, Cuba. The 15th is Strawberry-Rhubarb Wine Day. Reminiscent of strawberry-rhubarb pie with sweet and sour notes. Rhubarb is a vegetable recognized in the US as a fruit; its origin is China, where the stalks were used as medicine. The leaves, however, are poisonous in large ...