For me, summer isn’t summer without watermelon. I know for some it’s tomatoes. For others, peaches. But for me, the hot hot days of summer go hand-in-hand with icy cold watermelon. I like big cold chunks on a plate, lightly sprinkled with kosher salt. And preferably seedless from Swann’s in Calvert County, MD.

Last year I developed a pretty amazing watermelon cocktail. It’s fresh and fruity and just right for summer, but it’s also potent and I make each one individually. So when my dear (beach) friends Sue and Steve invited me over for Sunday dinner with a (new) friend Cookie, I wanted to make something a little lighter and in a pitcher, but still rely on the luscious local watermelon. Why wouldn’t watermelon work in a sangria? I drew on the flavors of the previous year’s cocktail – grabbing mint and lime and some flavored rum. I had a bottle of white wine ready-chilled. Even though I typically do a spice-infused simple syrup to start a sangria, I knew the fresh mint leaves didn’t require that (in fact, I prefer the fresh flavor to a steeped flavor). And we were off!

Watermelon Sangria
Serves 4 happily

2 – 3 cups cubed seedless watermelon
scant 1/4 cup sugar
scant 1/4 cup lime juice
Big handful of fresh mint leaves
6 tablespoons strawberry rum
2 tablespoons orange liqueur
1 bottle dry white wine (I used a pinot gris from Oregon)
12 ounces (1 can) ginger ale or lemon-lime seltzer

Cube your watermelon. You can see in these pictures I took a different approach to peeling — it seemed safer this way. And yes, those are fossils in the background. They are pretty much found on every horizontal surface in our beach shack.

Muddle the sugar, lime juice, and mint leaves in a large pitcher. Add the rum and orange liqueur, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Add the watermelon and stir gently, trying not to break up your cubes. Put this in the fridge to percolate for a couple of hours (just before serving, I pulled the mint leaves out — I don’t mind them in a mojito but they looked a little spent for the sangria).

When ready to serve, add the white wine. Taste at this point — if it seems balanced in terms of sweet to acid, add your ginger ale. If it tastes a little too sweet (because wines can vary so widely), add seltzer water instead. Stir gently. Serve over ice, garnished with a little mint.

This was definitely a less-boozy version of sangria. Flavored rums tend to be quite a bit lower in alcohol than the usual brandy. The watermelon soaks up some of the rum-and-sugar mixture, so it’s really delightful to eat that as you empty your glass. Strawberry complements the watermelon, but I think passionfruit rum would as well. I would stick with a fairly neutral white in this — a riesling or heavily oaked chardonnay is going to fight with the watermelon. Pinot grigio is the same grape as pinto gris, just a different style of wine, and that would work nicely as well.

These two cocktails came right out of my CSA box — blackberries AND blueberries! So maybe I’m a little obsessed with smashes right now, but the fresh local and semi-local produce is simply glorious. And there’s only so many quick breads and muffins that I could (should?) consume in a week! You’ll notice my smashes all follow similar proportions — smooshable fruit, a small amount of sugar (both for sweetness and to help break down the fruit), some citrus for acidity and balance, 3 or 4 tablespoons of liquor/liqueur, and something fizzy to top off. I might throw in some herbs to add some depth. Use my recipes as broad guidelines — mix up your fruit and liquors!

I made this first smash to accompany some pork enchiladas. I wanted something margarita-inspired, but still use some of the insanely juicy blackberries from my box. Hard blackberries won’t work here — you gotta be able to smash them without destroying your glass (I did that once). As for the second, I found an unopened bottle of Pama liqueur in the back of the likker cabinet. Pama is made from pomegranates and is both sweet and tart, as well as being a beautiful red (we drink with our eyes first, right?). I thought it might mix well with the botanical notes in the gin – and I was right.

Blackberry-Tequila Smash
Serves 1

3 or 4 sweet juicy blackberries
1 – 2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
3 tablespoons silver tequila
1 tablespoon orange liqueur
Ice
2 – 3 ounces ginger ale

Put the blackberries, sugar, and lime juice into the bottom of a sturdy wide-mouth tumbler (“Old Fashioned” glass). Muddle these together, making sure to smash the berries well. Add the tequila and orange liqueur and stir to combine. Add the ice and top off with ginger ale.

Blueberry-Pama Smash
Serves 1

1 tablespoon ripe juicy blueberries
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
3 tablespoons gin
1 tablespoon Pama liqueur
Ice
2 – 3 ounces lemon-lime seltzer

Put the blueberries, sugar, and lime juice into the bottom of a sturdy wide-mouth tumbler (“Old Fashioned” glass). Muddle these together, making sure to smash the berries well. Add the gin and Pama liqueur and stir to combine. Add the ice and top off with seltzer.

Sorry to have missed a week … at work, we are in the midst of the frantic run-up right before a major release, so last week was just weird, schedule-wise. I think I did some cooking in there — but nothing blogworthy. And then I went out of town for the weekend. But I know I owe you a seasonal cocktail!

Here in the mid-Atlantic, strawberries are ON. I’ve made some strawberry-rhubarb jam (delish if loose), a strawberry rhubarb pie (to die for), and just ate them out-of-hand. Then there was a raucous evening down at the beach shack with multiple pitchers of strawberry daiquiris (that recipe needs some refinement not that anyone complained). In a more civilized moment, I did prepare this oh-so-simple smash. Note — no added sugar. Between the juicy vine-ripened strawberries at their peak, the strawberry rum, and the ginger ale — none was needed.

Strawberry Smash
Serves 1

2 diced strawberries
3 – 4 mint leaves
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon strawberry rum
3 tablespoons silver rum
3 – 4 ounces ginger ale (1/3 cup to 1/2 cup)

Put the strawberries, mint, and lime juice into the bottom of a sturdy wide-mouth tumbler (“Old Fashioned” glass). Muddle these together, making sure to smash the strawberries well. Add the rums and stir to combine. Add the ice and top off with ginger ale. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a strawberry if so inclined.

 Just for fun, this is what my tiny little kitchen looks like while pulling cocktails AND a meal together. This is the only workspace in that kitchen!

So after last week’s less-than-gelled rhubarb jam, I was THRILLED that the rhubarb syrup turned out so well. It was SOOO pretty, I almost hated to use it. Except that I did. In kick-ass cocktails. So I was compelled to buy more rhubarb today at my Tuesday farm stand stop. I’ve mentioned them before — Twin Springs Fruit Farm — a farm out of PA that brings fresh, seasonal produce down thisaway several days a week through the growing season.

These cocktails are SOOOOO easy, once you make up a batch of rhubarb syrup. So refreshing. So eye-catching. Pretty much spring in a glass!

Rhubarb Margarita
Serves 1

4 tablespoons silver tequila
2 tablespoons rhubarb syrup
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 strawberry for garnish (optional)

Put the tequila, rhubarb syrup, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice. Shake vigorously for at least 10 seconds until the cocktail shaker is icy. Strain into a rocks or old-fashioned glass that has been rimmed with red decorating sugar and kosher salt. Garnish with a strawberry. Consume immediately.

Rhubarb Strawberry Smash
Serves 1

2 ripe strawberries, diced
Finely ground/grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons rhubarb syrup
3 tablespoons silver tequila
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup lemon-lime seltzer
Sprig of mint for garnish (optional)

Put the strawberries, ginger, and lime juice into the bottom of a sturdy wide-mouth tumbler (“Old Fashioned” glass). Muddle these together, making sure to smash the strawberries well. Add the rhubarb syrup and tequila and stir to combine. Add the ice and top off with seltzer. Garnish with a sprig of mint if so inclined.

Rhubarb Syrup
Inspired by Tori Avey’s Homemade Rhubarb Syrup

2 or 3 rhubarb stalks, trimmed of leaves and diced
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Place the rhubarb and the water in a saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer and cook gently until the rhubarb is mush and the water is a lovely pale pink. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard the mush. Measure the remaining (strained) liquid and add enough water to make 1 cup. Pour this into a clean pan. Add 1 cup sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring often to ensure sugar is dissolved. Boil gently for 2 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Refrigerate. Should last two weeks, but we used our first batch up in less than a week!

So I’m still a little obsessed with smashes. They really are the perfect spring drink. Light in color, a little fizzy, and those little pops of fruit and ginger — just the thing when it’s 90F in May! And when I saw fresh mangos for $1/each, I thought — why not ?? It’s just a variation on the blueberry-ginger smash from a couple of weeks ago, but that’s kinda the point of a smash — use the fruit you have available.

The CGP is not as big a fan of the fresh ginger as I am — so I skipped it in his (personally, I LOVED the ginger in here). If your mango is fairly ripe, one teaspoon of sugar will do. It it’s still a little tart, you probably want two. The mint is a very subtle herbal note — this is NOT a mojito (despite the presence of lime and rum!). I may have to try this with Thai basil once I hoe the garden and plant some

Mango Smash
Serves 1

3 to 4 tablespoons diced mango
Finely grated ginger (optional)
4 – 5 mint leaves
1 – 2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
4 tablespoons white rum
Ice
About 1/2 cup ginger ale

Place the mango, ginger (optional), mint, sugar, and lime juice in the bottom of a tall wide-mouth glass. Muddle these together, making sure to smash the mango well. Add the rum and stir well, ensuring the sugar is dissolved. Add 4 or 5 cubes of ice then top off with ginger ale. Stir gently to combine. Garnish with a mint sprig. Serve immediately.

Thank goodness the cleaning people are coming today! I left my husband alone for ONE night, and I come home to an unbelievably sticky kitchen floor. He denies any and all knowledge of said stickiness. I’m sure there’s an embarrassing story in there but I didn’t push

So in honor of Cinco de Mayo, I wanted to make margaritas last night. I’ve been a little obsessed with fresh ginger, so that was going in there. I had some Trader Joe’s Dixie Peach juice blend in the fridge needing to be used. And I always love an excuse to use my cocktail shaker!

I made these two ways — one with and one without peach. I liked both — and was surprised at how well the ginger and tequila paired. The CGP definitely preferred the peach version. I skipped rimming the glass with salt or sugar — only because the CGP is not a fan of either. For the peach version — I bet dipping your moistened glass rim in some sugar would be tasty and festive.

Ginger Margarita
Serves 1

3 tablespoons silver tequila
1 tablespoon ginger liqueur
1 tablespoon lime juice
Finely ground/grated fresh ginger

Put the tequila, liqueur, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice. Grate/microplane some ginger directly into the shaker. Shake vigorously for at least 10 seconds until the cocktail shaker is icy. Strain into a rocks or old-fashioned glass. Consume immediately.

Gingered Peach Margarita
Serves 1

3 tablespoons silver tequila
1 tablespoon ginger liqueur
1 tablespoon lime juice
4 tablespoons peach juice blend
Finely ground/grated fresh ginger

Put the tequila, liqueur, and juices in a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice. Grate/microplane some ginger directly into the shaker. Shake vigorously for at least 10 seconds until the cocktail shaker is icy. Strain into a rocks or old-fashioned glass. Consume immediately.