The anatomy of a summer drink is fickle. It must be refreshing, yes. Beyond that, there is a wild world of ways to help people cool down as the summer, relentless beast that it is, rages on around them.
While some parts of Europe are married to their summer traditions, we’re less resolute in our summer drinking.
Some summers have a uniquely insistent thirst, like the year Britney Spears made us all want Iced Frappuccinos or when we all went collectively mad for Aperol Spritz.
Then there was a revolving door of drinks trying to recapture that spark. The Paloma and the Spicy Margarita. Iced Oat Lattes have been the harbinger of many a glorious summer evening.
There was the summer it felt like Whispering Angel was all anyone could talk about or Instagram. Last year, was peak hard seltzer and the pét-nat craze is not to be forgotten.
But what will capture our taste this year?
Yellow is shaping up to be the colour of the summer. Butter yellow has been taking up space on mood boards for weeks now. It has infiltrated clothing, Instagram flat lays, and columns the world over.
Typically, if a colour or aesthetic starts to dominate online it infiltrates food culture. And vice versa. So I think we’ll see a lot of lemon cropping up on drinks menus nationally.
During summers, lemons are inexpensive, easy to find, consistent in quality and hard to use incorrectly. Lemon in summer drinks is hardly groundbreaking.
The first records of lemon-sweetened drinks date back to ancient Egypt, over 2,000 years ago. It has long been listed among ‘foods to reduce body heat naturally’ which may still come in handy.
Here’s your guide to some of this summer’s freshest quenchers.
As temperatures climb and the Irish humidity amps itself up, the chewy delight of boba tea comes into its own.
Sometimes Boba shops can be intimidating for beginners who experience a bit of choice paralysis, but a safe bet is always the classic, or the vanilla.
If you want to have a boba in the comfort of your own garden, Ladyboba has brought canned versions of this Asian export to supermarkets across the country.
As with all Boba this is a playful drink with tapioca pearls suspended in chilled milk tea making it refreshing and texturally captivating.
I’d recommend the Taro version, here the Taro with its vibrant purple hue, embodies summer charm.
Made from earthy-sweet taro root, its creamy sweetness and velvety feel are ideal for long, sunny afternoons.
- LADYBOBA’s Taro Bubble Tea Drink
Matcha is the perfect drink to cut through summer’s lethargy. It tastes like Zen in liquid form.
Matcha lattes provide an earthy balance of sweetness and that distinctive, satisfyingly dry finish.
Releasing caffeine much slower than coffee the faintly vegetal drink comes in a wealth of options and pairings.
Newly ubiquitous, you can find this green drink all across the country from Circle K to an increasing number of specialist Matcha Bars.
If you’ve never tried it before tis the season. If you ever see a lavender option, it really is worth a punt.
The flavours face off well and create a sort of floral congruent pairing.
Highly recommended if you have a thirst that needs quenching and to meet a deadline on a sunny day.
While whispers of matcha-tinis hint at a future where matcha sheds its wellness shell.
- Dubliner Lizaveta Takvarava’s company Mafia Matcha offers ceremonial-grade Matcha you can make at home.
For those nostalgic for Yakult, Actimel, or even the era of the Yop, Kefir is the relatively new to Ireland option that is socially acceptable to consume in the office.
This tangy fermented milk carries notable probiotic benefits. Lightly tart and slightly effervescent, kefir invigorates the palate, making it perfect for health-conscious dairy loving drinkers seeking refreshment with depth.
- Leitrim’s Blakes Always Organic.
Cold brew is the iced coffee for chemex/v60/moccamaster people. Nitro cold brew has surged into speciality coffee shops over recent years.
Cherished for its creamy, Guinness-like texture thanks to nitrogen infusion, the drink is typically fruity with chocolaty notes that shine brightest after a slow extraction, which is why some coffee drinkers find cold brew sweeter compared to conventionally brewed coffee.
It’s the ideal summer thirst quencher for your 3pm slump.
- 3fe and many places it supplies locally and nationally serve this smooth, chocolatey beverage that’s naturally sweeter than traditional iced coffee.
If you are looking for a delicious alternative to fizzy drinks, or as my nanny would say ‘minerals,’ without all the added sugar or artificial sweeteners, live soda is the summer thirst quencher for you.
This is a new style of low sugar, all natural, belly-loving drinks. They’re called ‘Live Soda’ because they contain live probiotic cultures, and often fibre, to support ‘gut health’. (The buzzword du jour in wellness land.)
Unlike Kombucha, the more well known fermented drink of the moment, Live Sodas are typically made with real fruit juice. So they have a more fruit forward flavour profile akin to the ‘European fanta’ summer fantasy feel.
- Living Things is an Irish company in this space offering a gentle fizzy drink with subtle sweetness. They come in a range of flavours – my favourite is the lemon.
Espresso tonic elegantly bridges the gap between morning caffeine and evening leisure.
Slowly gaining popularity beyond specialty coffee menus. This effervescent drink combines tonic water’s sharp bubbly bitterness with the robust intensity of espresso, creating a sparkling cooler drink perfect for sultry afternoons in the sun.
It has been slow to make its way to Ireland creeping onto the menus of serious coffee houses like Smithfield’s Proper Order over the years. It has a distinctly moody aura.
It’s a drink for people who want coffee’s nuance with summer’s breezy indifference. It’s the negroni to an iced lattes April Spritz.
- Smithfield’s Proper Order or other serious coffee spots.
Ginger beer is on the up up and away. Whether enjoyed straight or spiked, it embodies vibrant summer afternoons. It came to me personally by way of Hallow and Fentimans circa 2017.
Since then ginger beer has become a fast favourite among Irish people. These days there are multiple Irish made versions of this spicy, cooling, and delightfully effervescent drink.
Ginger beers marry ginger with a kick of a rotating crop of extra bits like chilli, lavender or apple.
- Poachers for a non alcoholic version that isn’t too fiery or Kinnegar’s Jackrabbit if you want to up the ABV.
If you demand liquid refreshment that sings of sunlight, ease, and icy relief then maybe a Shandy/Radler is more your scene.
Both a shandy and a radler feature a blond lager (usually Pils or Helles) as a base. They have long been summer favourites, blending lemonade’s tart sweetness with beer’s refreshing depth.
Generally they’re ideal for extended summer evenings where you want to be relaxed.
- Whiplash’s Body Radler, a sherbet-lemon brew that hits precisely this mark. Made the traditional German way of making lemonade then blending with body riddle to get to a sherbet lemon 2.8% pint. It’s crisp, and utterly sessionable.
Could the limoncello spritz dethrone Aperol’s iconic reign?
Quite possibly. Limoncello itself has been enjoying a resurgence of late as Italian culture dominates social media aspirational content.
Many brands and bartenders have returned to it for its versatility twists on the Spritz serve.
As an alternative spritz it’s zesty and brightly citric with delicate bubbles, and a lemony sweetness that positions it perfectly as the breakout drink of this summer.
- Funkin have a canned Lemoncello that I have seen in SuperValu and independent specialist shops.
This is a relatively new category to land on our little island.
Generally hard iced tea is the perfect equilibrium of robust tea flavour, delicate sweetness, and just-right alcohol levels make it an ideal beach or garden companion.
Hard teas fit into many of the same drinking occasions as hard seltzers. Despite their newness there’s a comfortable familiarity to them accompanied by a lightly sugary kick.
The category is coming into its own now though it goes back to the turn of the century, when, in 2001, Boston Beer Company introduced Twisted Tea.
Anyone who took American history for their Leaving Cert might argue that tea has been made “hard” as far back as the 1800s.
- Lay-Low Hard Iced Tea reimagines iced tea through an Irish lens making it a new summer essential, destined for coolers nationwide. Available in peach and lemon flavours.
