Holy cow guys, it's freakin' hotter than hot here in the midwest. I think that with the weather extremes we have in this region, we tend to forget just how crazy hot (or cold) it gets during the respective seasons. So today I'm sharing a cocktail recipe that contains two of my favorite summer beverages to help you cool off, lemonade and beer. I'll admit, I had help with this mix. The awesome Alex Potts created it, and I just got to mix up my own batch and enjoy. It's refreshing, light, and perfect for a hot summer party.
You can make this recipe a few different ways. If you're lazy like me, you'll just buy the lemonade and add the muddled blackberries. If you're industrious and love making cocktails, then you can make your own blackberry lemonade. Here's what you'll need:
- 20 ea Ripe Blackberries
- 10 oz Granulated Sugar
- 10 fl oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 10 fl oz Sparkling water
Muddle the blackberries in a pitcher with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon until broken apart. Add the sugar and stir until the mixture becomes a nice purple color. Pour in your lemon juice and stir until the sugar dissolves (this could take some time since the mixture is still at room temperature, just keep stirring or if you have some time to spare, let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes, the sugar will dissolve into the juice over time).
Top off with the sparkling water and gently stir the mixture together. Taste! If it is too tart , add more sugar or water and if it is too sweet add more lemon juice. Also if you don't like blackberry or lemon pulp in your juice you can strain it out, or leave it in, whatever you prefer.
Now it's time to get boozy. We're keeping it local with this one, using Boulevard Wheat, but you can also choose any other citrusy wheat type beer or a hoegaarden style beer yields a nice cocktail too. Here's what else you'll need to complete the cocktail:
- 4 fl oz Sparkling Blackberry Lemonade
- 1 fl oz Decent Brandy
- 3 fl oz Wheat Beer
- Optional: 1 fl oz Sparkling wine, Champagne or Prosecco (optional, but I like the extra bubbles that the Champagne brings to the party.
- Optional: 2 dash angostura bitters (optional, but brings a complex flavor to the cocktail, if you have some around, try it!)
- 2 ea Blackberries and lemon rind for garnish
Create your cocktail base with the lemonade and add in the shot of Brandy. Top that off with the beer and some of the sparkling wine if so inclined. Dash in the bitters if you have it and stir gently just to incorporate, we don’t want to lose any bubbles.
Garnish with your blackberries and lemon rind and enjoy on a hot summer day! I hope that you'll try out the Boulevard blackberry shandy, and tag your pics #handmakerofthings. Come on back for more cocktails in the future too, I'm making Happy Hour a regular feature. Good stuff is in the works.
xo - Emily
