What are the best drinks for a picnic?
Rosie, London E11
Picnic drinking (in moderation, of course) is a tricky business. First off, says Zoe Burgess, founder of drinks consultancy Atelier Pip and author of The Cocktail Cabinet, there are the logistics (“How are you carrying everything?”), guests (“What do they like?”) and food (“What would pair well?”) to contend with. Then, warns Mark Diacono, author of Herb, Spice and Sour, “you don’t want to premix something in which one element is fizzy and another sharp [think lemon or lime juice], because it will totally lose its sharpness over time.” And you really don’t want anything too potent – after all, Burgess says, “drinking in the day can take its toll”.
For all these reasons, shrubs (or drinking vinegars) are a good strategy, especially when the summer fruit glut arrives, Burgess says: “Pick your fruit, then heat it with caster sugar and verjus, which has a much softer acid balance than cider or white-wine vinegar.” Bottle it up and keep in the fridge or freezer, “ready to be topped with soda water and fresh lemon or lime juice” at your outdoor destination. Happily, shrubs pair well with vodka and gin, too, should the mood take you.
Diacono, meanwhile, would “be thinking hard about mojitos” for his outdoors drinking concept. The classic is, of course, made with white rum, soda water, sugar, lime juice and mint, but in a picnic scenario Diacono substitutes the sugar for mint syrup: “It makes life so much easier,” he explains. “Take equal weights of sugar and boiling water and stir like crazy until the sugar dissolves. Lob in a big handful of fresh mint and let it sit and infuse until the mix is lovely and minty.” Lift or strain out the herbs, decant into a bottle and “get that dead cold”. Before heading out, Diacono might mix rum and mint syrup “in a proportion of 5:1”, then “all you’ve got to do is [add] lime juice [fresh, or get one of those little bottles from the supermarket] and soda water”. A handful of fresh mint leaves and some ice cubes are encouraged – “You don’t want a warm cocktail, after all” – but not 100% essential. “It’s delicious, everyone’s happy, and you haven’t been messing around too much.”
A big batch of cool pineapple-and-ginger punch will also hit the happy hour spot, says Maria Bradford, author of Sweet Salone. That said, she’s equally fond of “the lazy picnic”, which simply requires a supermarket sweep: “Lavender and coconut water are easy to mix, whether topped with elderflower tonic for a refreshing mocktail or with a little gin or vodka.” Much the same goes for Bradford’s mango lemonade, a staple from her homeland of Sierra Leone: “Pour that into a glass with prosecco for an exotic bellini.”
Burgess also embraces the bubbles, though in her case that would be in that perennial favourite, the spritz. “It’s nothing new, but it’s a good place to start, because you can take a pre-batched Campari and sweet vermouth mix with you, then top with prosecco or soda water in the park.” While you’re at it, consider getting creative with any flavoured spirits and cordials you have knocking around. “It’s as if you’re riffing between the structure of a spritz and the longer-style Tom Collins,” Burgess explains.
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