Blitzed Smashed and Drunk: Cocktails to End the Summer On

Labor Day marks the end of the “Summer Season”. No more white after Labor Day. The Seersucker Suit gets put back in the closet. We may still have an Indian summer to prolong the warmth and feel of the summer before slowly easing us into the fall. The start of the NFL Season is right around the corner and the first game of College Football’s Saturday Game Day is Penn State vs. UCF at 8:30 AM EST. Fantasy Football drafts almost done for the year and Week 1 soon approaches.

Of course, with Labor Day fast approaching, we have a long weekend to revel in the closing days of summer. With the long weekend ahead of us it’s a perfect time to drink. In honor of that, I wanted to share some great Labor Day drink recipes to help end the summer with.

When it comes to Labor Day barbeques and festivities, if I’m involved in throwing the affair, I tend to get tasked with bringing the beer and playing bartender before party begins. Usually, this is just a jaunt to the liquor store for beer, wine and possibly a bottle or two of hard liquor and a quick stop to grab a few last minute mixers followed by a little bit of prep to make sure that everything is ready. All of these recipes are great end of summer/Labor Day weekend cocktails and can be enjoyed all year round.

The first is a simple beer drink and a play on the Beer Mimosa. The Beer Mimosa is a combination of Blue Moon, Orange Juice and can be topped with a floater of Grand Marnier or some other nice orange liqueur. When I serve it at a Labor Day Barbeque, I prefer to use a White IPA and fresh Raspberries. This drink combines the nice refreshing pairing of a hoppy wheat beer with the sweet and tart flavors of fresh fall raspberries. A White IPA is basically an IPA that is brewed with wheat as its primary grain. It’s light and refreshing while having that nice hoppiness to it. In a nutshell, take a handful of raspberries and put them at the bottom of your beer glass. Crush the raspberries up so the juice and flesh start to break up and appear, then pour a nice White IPA on top then garnish with a raspberry or two.

The second recipe is my go to Labor Day Sangria. I’m a huge fan of making my sangria with white wine as opposed to red wine during the summer. With the heat of the summer, I prefer to stick to drinking lighter reds and most white wines as I think they are far more refreshing to drink. In the same vein, I prefer a nice chilled white wine to help feel cool and refreshed while drinking outside. When it comes to making my sangria, the same rules apply for wine drinking, lighter and refreshing to temper the heat outdoors. The recipe I use for making sangria follows the principle. Whatever you do, don’t add ice until you’re ready to drink, as it dilutes the flavor of the Sangria. All you need is 2 bottles of chilled white wine (whatever your preference is – I personally use a pinot or chardonnay for my white wine sangria), a cup of brandy, a quarter of a cup of superfine sugar (you can use granulated if you don’t have any superfine), 2 navel oranges, 1 lemon and 1 lime. To make it, slice all the fruit up into nice slices and throw into a large punch bowl or something that can handle ~2 liters of liquid. Next, add the two bottles of wine and the cup of brandy. Finally, stir in the sugar slowly until it all dissolves. If you are making this in advance, go ahead and cover and throw it in the fridge. Serve with in ice filled glasses for all to enjoy.

The third and fourth recipes cocktails that just exude the end of one season and start of the next. Applejack, on the other hand, is a perfect liquor to help ease into the fall with. Originally brewed from cider, Applejack has remained as one of the few apple based liquors still available today. While I am partial to it, I don’t generally break it out until the fall when the season starts to turn.

The third drink is a gin drink. To me, gin is that quintessential summer liquor. Although it can be enjoyed all year round, a nice G&T after a hot day is a great way to cool the palate. A nice Cucumber Gimlet on a hot summer day. The third drink, Gin Ricky, while great all year round and sometimes proclaimed to be the drink of summer, is a perfect drink to end the summer on. The Ricky, a classic sour drink to begin with, has been around since the late 19th century. While there are multiple stories that can be attributed to how the drink was created, it was first recorded in a cocktail book in 1903 and the recipe has not changed in the last 100+ years. Although the Ricky can be made with bourbon, gin or rye, the most common way to drink it is with gin. It’s a very easy drink to make and tastes refreshing on a hot summer day. All it takes is 2 ounces of gin, juice of a lime, some soda water and ice. Combine the gin and lime juice in a glass, then add ice, stir and top with soda water. It’s a refreshing summer drink worth ending the summer on.

The final drink is called the Bramble Bar. The drink originated in Scotland and is named after the bar it was first made in. It also happens to be a great way to ease into the fall on Labor Day weekend. The drink is two ounces of Chivas, although any whiskey can do, 2 ounces of apple juice, an ounce of lemon juice (the juice of a lemon), a half ounce of St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur, and some soda water to top. This is made the same way as the Gin Rickey is. Take all your ingredients and pour them into a glass. Add ice, then stir and top with soda water. This drink is a great way to jump into the fall, with the apple flavors really coming forward while the St. Germaine offers nice floral flavors to balance out the cocktail and remind us of the fading flavors of summer while making way for the fall.

These are my cocktails that I like to end the summer on when I throw a Labor Day Party. What do you guys drink for Labor Day Weekend? Any particular go to drinks to end the summer on or start the fall with? Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go and enjoy a nice a Last Word, which is my personal favorite drink to enjoy over Labor Day.

 

I generally don't have a preference when it comes to a White IPA. While I'm familiar with the sub-grouping of IPAs, I have only had a handful of them given what's available on the East Coast. I've tried Saranac, Otter Creek, Sam Adams, Harpoon, Blue Point and Sierra Nevada. That's really it given what's available where I am. I would consider trying either the Saranac or the Sierra Nevada if you can find them.

 
Best Response

@"Cookies With Milken", Don't drop the Brass Monkey on a fan of the Beastie Boys!

There's a difference between a Beermosa and a Brass Monkey. That Funky Monkey requires a 40 of OE and some OJ to top it. The OJ is meant to help mask the flavor of the OE. The Beermosa uses a wheat beer and tops with OJ because of the flavor profile in the wheat beer meshes well with OJ and enhances the flavor profile. Plus, you can't get OE with brunch. You can get Blue Moon and similar beer. So you have to adapt.

@"Dingdong08", I am not generally a fan of Pimm's unless it's an off number Pimm's variant. If I can find the a rare unopened bottle of Pimm's Nr. 4 or an unadulterated Nr. 3, then I'm all for it. Pimm's by its very nature is roughly a 25% ABV liquor depending on the number and thus more sessionable when throw into cocktails. So having a Pimm's Cup means you're drinking the rough equivalent to a 6.5% ABV beer. It's great for a session drink but I think on something like Labor Day Weekend, a stronger drink is in order. If you like the Pimm's try my Sangria recipe, you may like it.

 

I'm going to a white party on Friday, probably the last time I'll wear seersucker shorts this year. I decided a few years ago to end the summer with a massive champagne party. Which has become tradition, Billecart-Salmon and Veuve mostly. Do the same on New Years, everyone brings two bottles per person... not two per couple, two per person.

Wild.

 

I prefer a vodka ricky (is that a thing?) over a gin ricky but it's definitely the most refreshing in the heat. Do you have any end of summer cigar suggestions?

This to all my hatin' folks seeing me getting guac right now..
 

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