Do you love it when it rains in the summer? I love the respite from the heat, the sound of the rain beating down on the windows, and that little bit of coziness in an otherwise decidedly un-cozy season. I like to curl up in an armchair with a good drink in hand and just dream away the afternoon.
These little summer session old fashioneds are the perfect drink to curl up with. First off, they’re a session (a riff off of session beers; lower alcohol beers), which in theory, allow you to drink more while getting less drunk. In that sense, they’re not technically old fashioneds, but they have a couple of similarities: bourbon, simple syrup, and bitters.
That’s where the similarities end. I added in some thyme for herbaceousness, as well as some citrus fruit for a bit of a summer punch. Then I threw everything into Bonne O’s Home Carbonation system to bubble it all up. Bubbles make all drinks better and this is extra fun because all of the items go straight into the bottle for the ultimate infusion of flavor.
I know summer is winding down, but I hope you guys are getting your drink on anyway!
GIVEAWAY: I paired up with Bonne O to give away a Home Carbonation System so you can get creative and make your own fizzy drinks at home.
ENTER: To enter, leave a comment below with your best summertime drinks memory. I want to hear ALL the details! I’ll randomly choose a winner and contact them by email. Open to Canadian and US Residents only. (Sorry international friends.) Contest ends September 7th at 12AM PST. Good Luck!
Update: Congrats Katelyn, you’ve won yourself a Bonne O! Check your inbox for the details!
Thyme Simple Syrup Recipe
makes about 1/2 cup of syrup
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 15 minutes
total time: 20 minutes
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4-5 springs fresh thyme
Add the water and sugar to a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat then remove from the heat. Add the thyme springs and let steep for 15 minutes. The longer you let it steep, the more intense it will be.
Summer Session Old Fashioned Recipe
serves 3-4
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 5 minutes
total time: 10 minutes
- 1 orange
- 1 grapefruit
- 1/2 cup bourbon
- 6-7 dashes angostura bitters
- 1 batch thyme simple syrup (see above recipe)
- water, or sparkling water to top
- orange twists, to garnish
- thyme springs, to garnish
Section the orange and grapefruit and cut into bite-sized chunks.
For Bonne O Home Carbonation System: Place the fruit and bourbon in the bottle. Shake in the bitters and top to the rim with ice-cold water. Place the thyme syrup in the flavor chamber and activate the machine to carbonate. Pour over ice and enjoy with orange twists and thyme!
In a pitcher: combine the fruit, bourbon, bitters, and thyme simple syrup. Top with 1 1/2 – 2 cups sparkling water. Pour over ice and enjoy with orange twists and thyme!
I was in Costa Rica a few years ago volunteering with sea turtle conservation projects. Our shifts were long, and we were on black sand beaches so it was doubly hot in June. We got one day off every two weeks, so we went to the nearest port town, sag on a patio and had wonderfully cold red wine sangria, loaded with pineapple and star fruit. It was really cheap but so delicious! And we just drank and sat on the patio. It was awesome!
No specific memory! But love hanging out in the backyard with the sun setting and having drinks and playing lawn games with friends…perfect summer night.
My favorite summer time drink is homemade raspberry lemonade topped with fresh raspberries.
Summer drinks memories: drinks with my girls on our favorite patio. The best strawberry margaritas, chips & guac, and good conversation is the best recipe for a hot evening.
This Bonne O system looks great. I love that it doesn’t need to use Co2!
my summertime drinks memories go back to when i was more of a drinker and less of a bubbly water rated G mocktail-er … when Rich’s family had their family sailboat, we would go out and cruise the gulf islands for a week or so at a time in the hot doggy days of summer … the whistle of the sail and the bow gliding through the water like a knife through hot butter … baking sun pounding down and all you want is to cool the heck down … it would be either pitchers of red wine sangria with all the local fruit we could cram in there – sliced nectarines, blackberries, local strawberries, a bottle of wine, whatever fruity berry juice that was lying around, bubbly water and almost toppling over with bagged ice cubes from the mini general stores you find on tiny islands… sipped in goofy plastic wine cups (they didn’t have breakables on a sailboat) while greasing up a fashion magazine with sunscreen soaked fingers… i would so love to win a bubbly-maker… ^__^
I hosted my very first dinner party with my girl friends the summer after I graduated college and spent all day making the perfect sangria with lots of delicious fruit. It’s become one of my favorite summer things to make!
I love champagne in the summer.
I was a total pool rat in my neighborhood growing up. My favorite part of going to the pool was sometimes going to High’s (the convenience store) next door. My sister and I felt so grown up going into a store by ourselves to buy a drink, and we usually spent our money on a slushie. The ice was always too chunky, the syrup a little too sweet, and it all fused together into one impossible-to-penetrate-with-a-plastic-spoon ice ball, but we loved it. The blast of AC of the store on our sun-warmed and pool-wet skin was actually freezing rather than refreshing, and we’d head back outside with our slushie’s, excited to lounge outside with our cold treasure.
My best summertime drink memories is going on family vacations with my cousins and aunts and uncles that were just a few years older than me and drinking my first grown up beverage. They would sneak me little mixed drinks in a bottle my grandma picked it up at one point and was like who’s drink is this and no one said anything so she drank it and was oooh this is good haha
Lemonade! Sometimes with a splash of vodka! :-)