No. 110: July/August 2024

Everyone has their own way of experiencing summertime. Some venture outdoors with seemingly no intention of setting foot inside again until September, while others prefer to park in front of the AC until the days grow cooler and shorter. Whatever your preference along the summer spectrum, as the saying goes, you do you.

We’ve got your back, of course, when summer-appropriate refreshment is called for. If you hold closer to the “outside all the time” approach to life, then cool, sparkling drinks should be in your regular rotation. Check out our roundup of summer’s best spritzes. And while you’re stocking the shelves with sparkling wine for a season’s worth of effervescent happy hours, don’t sleep on Cava. Spain’s signature sparkling wine is experiencing its own return-to-roots renaissance, and Betsy Andrews brings us that story.

Perhaps the Paloma is more your summertime cup of tea—check out our Taste Test of assorted grapefruit sodas. Or if pandan is your jam, you’re definitely in luck—the aromatic plant is increasingly migrating from the kitchen to the bar, and Rich Manning brings us a few ways to mix it into cocktails. Speaking of cocktail hour, crushed ice is an essential at this time of year, and we’ve got all the ice-busting tools you could need.

It’s a shame the Nobel Prize didn’t yet exist in the 19th century, so it could have been bestowed on the creators of the milkshake. This sippable ice cream treat has evolved over the decades, but the best ones retain a beautiful simplicity that promises a special kind of summer satisfaction. Matt Rowley takes us through a tour of milkshake history.

And nothing says summer refreshment like a glass of cider, right? Okay, maybe you need some convincing on that one—after all, this apple-based beverage seems so inextricably linked with autumn that a flannel shirt is practically a required uniform while sipping one. But as Josh Bernstein shares with us on, today’s cider makers are aiming to break down both seasonal and stylistic boundaries, making this drink more of a year-round essential with many directions to explore.

Imbibe 75 alum Samara Davis started shaking up the bourbon world several years back when she founded the Black Bourbon Society. Today, her influence is extending throughout the spirits industry, and Gray Chapman brings us her story. We’ve also got Christine Sismondo’s introduction to the women changing Mexico’s bar world, Abigail Gullo’s story on how the search for a great Manhattan converted her from a school teacher to a bartender, and Wayne Curtis’ look at how a cocktail first mixed at a private club escaped into the wild.