ISO refreshment: part 2

The citrus syrup I posted yesterday is extremely versatile for a myriad of spring and summer sippers.  Beware though.. One liter of syrup has only lasted Grace and I two days.  Here are some ideas that I have played with in the past few days.  Some are boozy (for me) and some not so (for Grace and the fetus-Geiger). The first is Grace's favorite, a soda.

Second, is an IPA Shandy.  In my humble opinion a Summer Shandy should not be premixed and bottled.  I love the ability to choose the beer that I use in my shandies.  This time I mixed 2 parts syrup with 3 parts seltzer to make the lemonade then mixed an equal portion of Dogfish Head's 90-minute IPA.

  

The resulting shandy was bright with grapefruit astringency upfront fading into a sun-shiny lemon zip.  The 90-minute IPA asserted its malt backbone and trailed off with a resin hop that was accentuate by the citrus.

Finally I used my favorite Italian soda, Chinotto to make one hell of a cocktail.  Chinotto is a soda made from the same bitter orange used in making Campari, an Italian apertif.  Shake 2 parts gin and 2 parts syrup with plenty of ice.  Strain into a DOF filled with fresh ice and top with Chinotto.  Stir and garnish with a strip of lemon zest.  For an NA version sub gin with seltzer and stir ingredients in lieu of shaking.

I hope your weather measures up to the beauty in Central Ohio right now.  If it does then go grill something and enjoy the spring air with your beverage of choice.

-Jon