A frosé by any other name should still be slightly sweet

The summer of our content is finally here. Well, almost if you’re worried about technicalities (the first official day of summer is June 21). There’re no required masks, there’s no indoor spacing and no need for vaccination cards.

It might not be the summer of love, but it could be the summer of like, right? And if there’s anything anyone loves (or likes) on a hot summer day, it’s a cold drink. And there’s no colder drink than a blended one.

But before anyone rushes out and orders a blended Hemingway Daiquiri (aka Papa Doble), the ones that so-called “Cocktail King of Cuba” Constante (mentioned in 1970’s “Islands in the Stream”) used to make — two shots of rum, maraschino liqueur, grapefruit juice and fresh-squeezed lime — I suggest that you really think twice about that for two reasons. One, double drinks are almost never a good idea, and two, no sugar? WTF?

One thing blended drinks need is sugar. Limes and lemons need balancing in cocktails. And one thing that balances out tart is sweet. There’s a desire these days to use fresh juices and fresh fruit in everything. And while that is usually applauded, in blended drinks, fresh berry fruit is never sweet enough nor is it the right color. Your fresh blackberry Margarita is going to end up supremely tart and a weird pale gray color, neither of which are appetizing. You can certainly add sugar and color yourself (jam and jellies or liqueurs are a great way to do that). But premade frozen purees in the form of berries are often a much easier, more manageable and certainly more cost effective way to go.

Watermelon, on the other hand, contains plenty of sugar sweetness and color all on its own. Ironically, watermelons really are “berry” fruits, at least according to botanists. But then again so are cucumbers, beans and tomatoes. I don’t think anyone is asking for tomato daiquiris, at least not yet.

Ironically, you do see a lot of so-called “molecular” mixologists “acid correcting” fruit with powdered citric acid. Adding natural sugar is one thing, but adding an artificial chemical additive to replicate a natural process is quite another. And one I tend to steer away from.