A glass of ice tea. A chilled wine spritzer. Sangria. Popular summer party drinks all of them. That said, it’s difficult to know which ones to pick when you’re having a summer party. An article in the Wall Street Journal has a suggestion for selecting wine that actually provides a good guide for selecting drinks in general. WSJ suggests choosing something simple and tasty. These drinks should also be inexpensive and easy for you to get. Finally, there should be a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks so that kid and adult can enjoy the celebration. With that in mind, here are a few of the drinks that made our list.
Wine Spritzer
Let’s start with the spritzer. First of all, wine is a good choice anyway, because depending on what you serve for dinner, you and your guests will probably be drinking at least a little anyway. Second of all, spritzers are basically wine and soda water. The soda water actually provides a base for many drinks besides spritzers. Drinks like the Tom Collins, the mojito, and the vodka/ soda count as just a few of the drinks that take soda. However, if you don’t want to go with soda due to the sodium, the Greatist website suggests substituting seltzer. Either way, the spritzer is a drink that’s both refreshing and economical.
Italian Sodas
Italian sodas are simple in concept, but delicious and popular with both kids and adults. They’re simply flavored syrup and soda water, sometimes mixed with half-and-half. The fanciest ones also include a dollop of whipped cream on top. They come in a variety of flavors, including cherry, strawberry, raspberry, vanilla, coffee, and lime. If you’re buying these primarily for kids, think about buying popular Popsicle flavors, so grape, cherry, or raspberry flavors are good starts. You don’t have to limit yourself to that, but those flavors are a good place to begin.
The Sea Breeze
This drink is really simple. It’s just vodka, cranberry juice, and grapefruit juice with a spritz of soda or seltzer. It’s also representative of the type of drink that uses ingredients that mix well with other. Any fruity drinks usually take some form of fruit juice or frozen fruit concentrate. As an added bonus, these types of drinks literally celebrate the refreshing fruit flavors that are in bloom come summertime.
A Bit of Brunch
Orange juice, French toast and bacon have never dampened a family get-together – and they’re really easy to make as fancy or low key as you want! Inviting the kids to help you with the cooking can be both fun and safe, since mostly it involves mixing up batters and toasting breads. If you want something higher-end, lose the table syrup full of high-fructose corn syrup. Buy real maple syrup from Weston Table or a similar business and add some fresh fruit and powdered sugar. You’ll be sure to knock the socks off your relatives.
Family parties give you a chance to celebrate and share your summer days with both your children and your extended family. Often these celebrations are barbecues due to the nice weather. Although it goes without saying that drinks like iced tea, colas, and lemonade are popular standbys, especially if you’re gearing some of your drink choices toward kids, you don’t have to limit yourself to just these drinks. Drink concoctions like Italian sodas and wine spritzers also offer refreshing options and can be just as economical as many other drink choices.
