Iowa Spring-Summer 21 - 36

ummertime and outdoor relaxation go
hand-in-hand-like a baseball and glove, or
a poolside lounge chair and a Tiki drink.
When you're relaxing in nature with a calming cocktail in hand-surrounded by a soft breeze and the
soothing sounds of cicadas, crickets, or katydids-
getting up for a refill can kill the mood. Or if you're
entertaining friends in your backyard, refreshing
your guests' drinks for every refill means you're
working, not socializing.
How can you keep refills coming as peacefully
as the breeze whispering across your face? How
can you keep the drinks flowing as easily as the
conversation?
Pitcher drinks are the answer!
Whether you start with a recipe or create your
own, make-ahead batch drinks help you extract all
of the goodness from summer.

RECIPES TO FOLLOW
Recipes provide the easiest way to plan your
pitcher. They also provide a template for creating
your own. Note the ingredients, the balances
among alcohol, mixers, sweeteners (simple syrup
or sweetened sodas), bitter flavors (like tea or alco-

S&B Fiery Pomegranate
Moscow Mule
From S&B Farms Distillery

1 cup S&B Farms Field Fire
½ cup lime juice
½ cup grapefruit juice
1⅓ cups pomegranate juice
1 jalapeño, sliced
Ginger beer, for topping
Combine the Field Fire, lime juice, grapefruit
juice, pomegranate juice, and jalapeño slices
into a large pitcher. The longer the jalapeños sit,
the spicier the drink. Strain out the jalapeños and
discard. Return the drink to the pitcher and chill
until ready to serve. When ready, fill the pitcher
with ice and top off with ginger beer. Or fill
glasses with the mix and top off each glass with
ginger beer.

36 IOWA SPIRITS

hol bitters), fruits, etc. Then play with substitutes
that especially tickle your tastebuds. Start with
small samples rather than full recipes to play with
proportions and adjust ingredients.
Using some of the recipes below as inspiration,
for example:
* Cody's Punch uses Cody Road Bourbon, light
beer, and frozen lemonade. A botanical twist could
use gin, a light Belgian ale, and limeade (though
the twist would probably call for less gin and
limeade).
* A Moscow Mule can become a Kentucky Mule
using bourbon instead of vodka, a Mexican Mule
with tequila, an Irish mule using Irish whiskey, a
Oaxacan Mule with mezcal, and a Gin Mule with-
wait for it-gin. And note the S&B Fiery
Pomegranate Mule, for an Iowa distillery's idea for
a Mule variation.
* Limoncello Collins could substitute gin for the
vodka and grapefruit soda for the club soda (probably using less or no simple syrup, since grapefruit
soda has sweetener).
* Boozy Strawberry Peach Punch could swap in
a different sherbet and other sweet fruits, such as
raspberry sherbet and fresh raspberries.

Iowa Spring-Summer 21

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Iowa Spring-Summer 21