When it's summer outside and you've got time to spare, enjoying a cool fruity cocktail must be one of the most intensely decadent ways of passing time.
Refreshment and hydration when the sun is shining is an obvious summer combination, and although it's fairly obvious that getting hammered in direct sunlight is perhaps slightly stupid, I would take issue with anyone denying the plentiful benefits of al fresco cocktail mixing.
In summertime, the supermarkets are awash with all sorts of fruit and potential ingredients, from the humble apple to rare starfruit and juicy melons. With a bottle of clear spirit, like vodka, cachaca or gin it's possible to produce a huge range of fruity concoctions (with the help of a bit of sugar syrup) that are devilishly simple to make.
For example, the Brazilian Caipirinha (a mixture of muddled lime chunks, sugar syrup, cachaca and ice) can be transformed into a Caipiroska with vodka substituted for cachaca, a Caipirissima with rum, and into a Camparinha with Campari.
A Mint Julep (muddled mint and sugar syrup, with bourbon and crushed ice) easily transforms into a Mojito with rum substituted for the bourbon, and a few chunks of lime as well as the mint).
Every citrus fruit muddles well, so you could try mixing spirits with fruit (rum and orange, lemon and tequila, lime and gin, etc), adding a dash or two of sugar syrup (to provide a much needed element of sweetness) and serving either strained into a martini glass or on crushed ice in a tumbler.
The Watermelon Martini has been a very popular newcomer on to the summer lists of cocktail bars in London and elsewhere around the country. Perhaps that's down to memories of chomping wedges of the stuff on hot beaches, or just because it's damn fine!
Watermelon Martini
In a shaker muddle a couple of matchbox sized chunks of watermelon, then add a large (50ml) shot of vodka, 2 dashes of sugar syrup and a handful of ice. Shake hard, and strain into a martini glass, garnishing with a wedge of watermelon.