When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
When life gives you summer, throw some vodka into that lemonade and have a party.
It’s hard to imagine anything better on a hot summer day than an icy glass of that citrus-flavored nectar, but Fly Magazine contacted hundreds of bars and restaurants, sifted through dozens of recipes and came up with several highly qualified alternatives.
From a creek-inspired sipper straight out of a Mark Twain novel to a frozen drink that combines the best in Mexican booze to a pair of fiery (literally) drinks to heat up those summer nights, we present eight of the most creative, unusual and must-have drink concoctions York has to offer.
So head out to the deck (or an equally appealing air- conditioned interior), kick up your feet, tip back your glass and tell us what you think. Send your comments or a drink suggestion of your own to david@flymagazine.net. (Your drink might even make it into a future issue.)
Just don’t email us until you sober up. We don’t care about your relationship problems.
COOL CUCUMBER COCKTAIL
Harp & Fiddle
Vodka, melon liquor, simple
syrup, muddled cucumber and soda water served on the rocks
The year was 2006 and Central PA bars were in the icey grip of the mojito craze.
Amidst the intoxicating haze of rum and muddled mint, a bartender was perfecting a drink that, while similar to the mojito in execution, would feature a combination of ingredients that no other bar would ever fathom: vodka and cucumber.
That bartender was Harp & Fiddle’s Amanda Kraut, and her cucumber concoction became an instant summer hit. The refreshing and unusual cocktail is only served until September.
After that, it quietly slips back into the lore of the Central PA bar scene.
CRICK WATER
Valley Tavern
Vodka, rum, triple sec, lime juice, orange juice,
Pepsi and Sprite served in a quart mason jar with a plastic bug, cattail and assorted seasonal décor
Also known as a stream, brook, creek or run, a crick is often categorized as a body of water confined within a bed and stream banks but differentiated from its brothers by being either smaller than a creek or deeper than creeks of the same width.
If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the folks at Valley Tavern went down the street to the Codorus creek and dipped a Mason jar, named for mid-1800s inventor John L. Mason, into the creek, plucked a cattail from the banks and added ice.
Throw in a plastic bug and you’ll find yourself on the lookout for Tom Sawyer.
DIRTY MONKEY
Ember’s Steakhouse & Seafood
Kahlua, banana liquor, vanilla ice cream and
vodka blended and served in a tulip glass with whipped cream and a cherry
Six years ago, it was discovered that green vervet monkeys on the rum-producing Caribbean island of St. Kitts had developed a taste for alcohol in the form of fermenting sugar cane.
In a controversial study to try and isolate an “alcohol gene,” scientists began feeding 1,000 of these monkeys booze. They were given the choice of non-alcoholic, diluted alcoholic and neat drinks.
The results were distinctly human. There were happy party monkeys, angry drunk monkeys, moody emo monkeys and the sloppy slutty monkeys. It’s not certain if any monkeys drank this frozen treat, but you can be certain those dirty chimps would love it.
FIRECRACKER
Kickin’ Kadilaks Bar & Grill
Goldschläger, Bailey’s Irish Cream and
Bacardi 151 in a shot glass, set on fire and sprinkled with cinnamon
The origin of fireworks (and their noisy cousin the firecracker) can be traced back to China, where they were first used as celebratory instruments, as military rockets and to scare away evil spirits.
Cinnamon, which is sprinkled over this flaming shot, creating a sparking firecracker-like effect, also has its origins in China. The valuable spice was exported from China as early as 2,000 B.C. and was often given as a gift to royalty.
It’s easy to look at a bottle of Goldschläger, the Swiss cinnamon schnapps, and imagine yourself as royalty. But in reality, there’s less than 25¢ worth of gold flakes in each shot.
FLAMING DR PEPPER
Red Lion Tavern
Amaretto, root beer schnapps and Bacardi 151
in a shot glass, set on fire and dropped into half of a Budweiser draft
Invented in Waco, Texas, in 1885 by German chemist Charles Alderton, Dr Pepper is often touted as being comprised of 23 flavors.
Despite popular belief, the Dr Pepper formula does not contain any prune juice (nor was it named for Alderton’s employer). In fact, the secret formula for the tasty soda was allegedly split into two parts and locked in separate banks so that no one will ever know the complete list of flavors.
In similar fashion, the Flaming Dr Pepper contains several interesting flavors including Budweiser beer – but no Dr Pepper. And you don’t even have to hold up a bank to get the recipe.
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THE LIQUOR CABINET
Zinger’s Sports Bar
Jose Cuervo, Southern Comfort, triple
sec, blue Curacao, peach schnapps, splashes of orange and pineapple juices and grenadine on the rocks
What happens when you let bar patrons create a drink? They raid the liquor cabinet and combine a bunch of seemingly random liquors into a delicious mixture. And that’s exactly the case with Zinger’s The Liquor Cabinet.
The citrus-powered base to many of our favorite mixed drinks, triple sec, is often overlooked, but has a history dating back to the early 19th century. Invented in France by Jean-Baptiste Combier in 1834, the sec is made by steeping sun-dried orange skins in alcohol for 24 hours prior to being distilled.
If you can’t find a bottle of triple sec in your liquor cabinet, you aren’t looking hard enough.
SMALLATOV COCKTAIL
Smalls
Varies in recipe. One version is vodka, peach
schnapps, banana liquor, blueberry liquor, pineapple juice and cranberry juice topped with Bacardi 151.
Named for Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, the Molotov Cocktail is an incendiary device famous for its use by the Finnish Army during World War II.
The traditional construction of a Molotov Cocktail involves a bottle full of gasoline corked by a rag, which is then lit on fire. When thrown, the bottle breaks, releasing the fuel, which is ignited by the flames, resulting in a massive fireball.
Just as there are several variations on the Molotov Cocktail, so are there on Smalls’ Smallatov Cocktail, which is prepared differently by each bartender and often ordered by color. And, no, they don’t light it on fire.
TAILGATERITA
Tailgaters Grille & Drafthouse
Sauza Extra Gold tequila and margarita mix on the rocks
in a 32-ounce glass garnished with an open upside-down seven-ounce Coronita and a lime
There are a couple dudes who lay claim to inventing the margarita. But one thing is for certain – neither of them ever thought of opening an ice-cold Corona and turning it upside down into their drink.
Peculiar, considering the tendency that drinkers of that Mexican brew have of pushing a wedge of lime into the neck of the bottle. The origin of putting a lime in a Corona is often said to have been a way of preventing flies from entering the bottle.
Other highly mythologized notions have the lime wedge cleaning the lip of the bottle, masking the odor of deteriorating hops and providing a faster buzz.
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