Elderflower spritzers pretty much scream “English summer day” to me.

What are the beverages that you most associate with summer? Are there specific citrus-flavored or fruit-flavored -ades that you prepare from scratch or prepare from a frozen mix? Are there more diluted fruit-infused waters you prefer? Iced coffee or tea? Flavored or pure?

Do you find yourself craving certain potables to slake your thirst on a hot afternoon, sweltering in the heat & humidity? If so, what are your go-tos?

Iced tea. What are your favorite flavors?

There’s a reason the homes south of the Mason-Dixon line often have wrap-around porches & verandas replete with rockers, hammocks, or swings used during the siesta hours of the afternoon sun. When the sun scorches and the steam rises even in the shade, we just have to slow down. Our bodies demand it. In England, we see cordials & spritzers as quenchers, & in Italy there are granites, all taken with long sips or slushed to replenish the body.

Just as hygge helps us feel cozy & warm during the dark winter months, so does the siesta of a hot shade & sipping icy beverages restore the soul in smoldering, simmering summers.

Late afternoon rays remind me of the golden-hued beverages that taste of summer sun.

Do you remember those old-school commercials from the 80s that featured sun-brewed Lipton iced tea? Well, I do. (Maybe I’m showing my age here?) There seemed something almost magical about the process, like how could the sun brew tea?! That was up there with sun-dried clothes & linens hanging on the lines, which my mom brought in & folded, smelling of sunshine.

Man, I wanted one of those Lipton jugs so badly, since plain old water grew boring as the only childhood beverage. Perhaps I thought that sun-brewing tea was my shot at finally having a flavored drink? (It’s not a coincidence that the only thing I ever stole as a kid was a Kool-aid packet, grape. That ended quite badly for me, but that’s for another time, another post.)

By lake or by sea, a thirst-quenching iced drink on a hot afternoon tastes of rejuvenation.

Maybe that’s why some part of me still rebels when scolded to drink more plain water by family or medical people? My just body goes into revolt. Like, No way, not unless you’re dying… You need to be in the desert, crawling towards your last drops in a canteen. Maybe then…

But seriously. The struggle is real.

Thankfully, infused waters have become a thing.

So, I suppose this is a bit of mental ramble, but it reveals the kinds of things I think about in a free associative way. As an introvert, I do think a lot about random things, often revisiting memories from childhood or youth. Like remembering that my brother Dan loved Yoo-hoos, which grossed me out. Still do. Related to some urban myth of a cockroach once found in a bottle…

Or thinking about how Orangina sounded funny as a beverage name, or how hard it was to spear a Capri-Sun pouch just right with the straw. Oh, the worries of childhood summers.

Lemonade Stand was one of my favorite Apple //c games as a kid.

These were the kinds of images I associated with summer drinks.