I refuse to feel bad for saying this but one of my favorite summertime hobbies is drinking at the beach. Listening to the waves, digging my feet in the sand, and soaking up the sun is plenty relaxing BUT it goes into overdrive when I have a delicious ice cold cocktail in my hand. Unfortunately, it isn’t very convenient to haul a full bar out to the beach with you so I have compiled a list of cocktails that taste fantastic premixed and dumped into a large thermos for later consumption.
The Margarita: Classic Beach Staple
This is very easy to make and tastes fine when made in advance. Just remember the key is 3 parts tequila, 1 part triple sec or Cointreau, 1 part lime juice. I like using fresh limes but they are super expensive at the moment so there is no shame in utilizing some Rose’s Lime Juice. It depends on how fancy you want to get, I suppose. Give all those ingredients a good shake in your large thermos and place it into your cooler filled with ice. When you get to the beach, get your plastic cup, fill with ice, pour your margarita in it, maybe add a splash of sprite and a slice of lime, no need worry about salt…plenty of salt water at the beach..some of it will inevitably end up in your drink.
The Dark & Stormy: Almost Impossible to Mess Up
There is no premixing involved with this one. All you need is some dark rum in a plastic bottle and a 6 pack of ginger beers in cans. Fill a cup with ice, pour in 2 parts rum, top with 3 parts ginger beer, add a squeeze of lime and that’s it.
The Mojito: Getting a Little Complicated
This can be done but requires some effort. You will need a handful of fresh mint, at least a cup of sugar, 4 or 5 lemons, 4 or 5 limes, a bottle of light rum, and a liter of club soda. In a large pitcher, muddle mint sprigs with sugar and lemon and lime juices until well combined. Don’t know how to muddle? Find out here: MUDDLE Add the rum to the muddled mixture and place in large thermos. When you get out to the beach, strain that into a plastic cup of ice but only fill it up about a third of the way. Top it off with the club soda and you will have a beach perfect Mojito (and hopefully you did a good job straining and won’t end up with mint parts in your teeth).
Planter’s Punch: Crowd Pleaser
Almost everyone enjoys Planter’s Punch and it is great for a premix. Dump a bottle of dark rum into a large thermos. Then you add a generous amount of lime juice, lemon juice, and grenadine..I include a little bit of OJ in mine…some people add more sugar but I think the grenadine makes it sweet enough. Mix up all your ingredients and take it to the beach. Pour it over ice, drop some fruit in it, maybe add a splash of club soda to it..whatever you like. It is easily modifiable to suit a variety of tastes and that is exactly what makes it so awesome.
Safe Sex on the Beach: For Those of You Who Do Not Imbibe Spirits
Not everyone drinks. I get it and it’s none of my business why you don’t. I like to make these when I know I have to drive or when responsible for a large group of children. They are very tasty and refreshing too. Mix up some cranberry juice, grapefruit juice, and a can or two of the Jumex Peach Nectar into your thermos and head on out for relaxy time in the sand. I never add ice to the thermos because I hate watered down drinks. I highly recommend adding the ice when you are on the beach itself. Also, I love fizz so I add club soda to this too.
So I hope you try some of these recipes while you are on Tybee and I REALLY hope you enjoy them. Please feel free to add your own favorite drink recipes to the comments section. Oh! Please don’t forget to drink plenty of water in addition to your adult beverages, don’t forget to reapply your sunscreen, and don’t drink too much and get obnoxious..you will only regret it later.
