Summer Cooler Recipes: From Iced Coffee To Watermelon Wine

Sitting here this morning in the pellucid light, sipping my first (and best) coffee of the day, listening to the little Jenny Wren raising her anthem to the new day, I am struck by the sheer perfection of the moment...

...and I wonder why I am contemplating another Summer Hub instead of enjoying this perfect day. Is the call of setting down my dearth of deathless prose so strong that I will ignore nature's siren spell to put hand to keys? Now, if this were some long years ago, I would have said "put pen to paper", and would immediately have fallen into the dreaded cliche trap.

Not so, gentle reader. I have the double bliss of gazing out my open window into the wakening garden, laptop at the ready - drat! I need another coffee - hold that thought and I'll be right back...

OK. Where was I...ahhh, yes. The morning unfolds, stretches its wakening arms, and - well, the neighbor let his large, noisy dog out, which startled away Jenny Wren, and my neighbor on the other side just turned her three boys loose on the trampoline - there goes the gentle summer morn - back to work. Good coffee, though.

Without further ado - here are three of my personal favorite coffee concoctions:

Cappaccino au Cointreau

• 1/2 - 1 oz. Cointreau
• 1 clove
• 1/2 - 1 oz. Jamaican Rum (or Rum flavoring) *optional
  
• 2 oz. hot fresh espresso
• 4 - 6 oz. hot foamed milk
• whipped cream
• grated orange peel

Place Cointreau, clove, Rum or Rum flavoring, and orange peel in a small saucepan, and heat gently, just enough to warm the liquids.

Remove from heat and discard the clove.

Add the espresso and pour into a heat resistant glass.

Add steamed gently and top with foam. Stir gently to make a swirly pattern.

Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of grated orange peel

Kahlua Cream Cappuccino

• 1/2 oz. Kahlua or chocolate syrup
• 1 - 2 oz. white creme do cacao or white chocolate syrup
• 2 oz. hot fresh espresso
• 4 oz. hot steamed or foamed milk
• whipped cream
• cocoa powder

Pour liqueurs, in order, into a tall, stemmed glass.

Add espresso and spoon the milk on top.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.

Iced Thai Coffee

• 1 1/2 cups cold espresso or strong coffee
• 1 tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• dash each of allspice and ground cloves
• light cream
  

Stir sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, and spices into the coffee.

Pour into a tall glass over ice, stirring to blend.

Add a swirl of light cream.

Decadently different.

Another lovely thing about summer is that you get to sit poolside sipping fruit-laden alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) beverages with little umbrellas in them - if you have a pool to perch beside, and you enjoy being half-drowned each time Uncle Teddy shows the boys how to do the flying cannonball.

I have neither a pool, nor an Uncle Teddy, and the boy is at work today, as usual, so the back yard is rather quiet now...but I do have some nice, tall glasses, and the Chablis we were saving for a special occasion is looking mighty attractive just now...

One of our family favorites, with its attendant variations is Watermelon Wine, a lovely blend of summer fruits and berries in a blush Chablis or white zinfandel (which you all know is actually pink, yes?)

Watermelon Wine

• Small seedless watermelon
• 1/2 lb. fresh strawberries
• 1/2 lb. mixed seasonal berries - raspberries, black berries, etc.
• 1 -2 tbsp. berry sugar
  
• 1 bottle blush Chablis or white zinfandel
• A few mint sprigs
  

Halve the melon and scoop most of the pulp to make melon bowls, leaving enough to make a pleasing pink rind. Place the pulp in a chilled blender and puree.

Add shaved ice and mix again, leaving small ice chunks visible in the pulp.

Wash and hull strawberries, slice and sprinkle with half the berry sugar.

Gently clean the raspberries and blackberries, sprinkling them with the remaining sugar.

Add berries and a bit more shaved ice to the blender and mix til smooth.

Pour in the wine and stir with a long handled spoon.

Place cracked ice in each melon bowl, pour wine mixture over ice.

Garnish with a sprig of mint if desired.

You can quickly and easily create a pitcher of bliss by dipping sliced oranges and lemon in berry sugar and layering them in a pitcher with a few bruised mint leaves, and pouring your favorite fizzy wine or non-alcoholic beverage over it all. Add a layer or two of raspberries to the mix and voila - decant the resulting thirst quencher into tall, stemmed glasses for a simply smashing summer sipper.

A perennial favorite, made famous by the David Niven and Marlon Brando movie, Bedtime Story, is the Champagne Cocktail.

Peel and slice a fresh white peach.

Place several slices in each of two champagne glasses.

Fill the glasses with Veuve Clicquot or Moet et Chandon

Enjoy with a good friend