The so-called long drinks, in which we could include some medium drinks, are refreshing and great for this time of the year. Their base is a distillate (rum, gin), accompanied by juices and, almost in every occasion, extended and complemented with soda or another soft drink. There are many families: Collins, its proportion: 3/5 parts of distillate, 2/5 parts of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of sugar syrup, extended with Schweppes soda. It is prepared in a tall glass with 3 or 4 ice cubes. The most popular are: Rum Collins and Tom Collins, whose base would be gin. The coolers are first cousins ​​of these last ones, they are prepared with ginger ale Schweppes, instead of soda.

Meanwhile, the fizzes are medium drinks prepared in a shaker, with 2/3 parts of distillate, as a base, 1/3 part of lemon juice and 1-teaspoon of sugar syrup. Once mixed, must be served in tall or medium glass, with a tiny bit of Schweppes soda. The most popular one is the gin-fizz that has two brothers: the silver, with ½ part of egg white, and the golden, with egg yolk. Fashionable in the 50s and, today, they still remain as trendy cocktails. The base of punch is rum mixed with juice. My favourite is Cuba Punch and Planter’s Punch.

For now, I’m going to stop writing proportions to not overwhelm you too much. There are good books on the art of making cocktails. The best known, today, were very successful in the past: cubalibre, raff, gin and tonic, or the known as screwdriver. This last one owes its name to Polish workers that, without fears, used to built skyscrapers, in the United States, and used to drink vodka with orange, mixed with screwdrivers, in order to fight the cold weather.

From the so-called slings, the most popular one is the Singapore sling that was born in one of the most prestigious hotels, that still remains alive today: Raffles. The Flip’s base is sugar, egg yolk, liqueur and a touch of cinnamon. The most renowned: porto flip. With no family and unique: mojito. Typical from Cuba. Made with half a tablespoon of sugar, mint leaves, a half lemon juice and a stroke of angostura. It must be ground with a sledgehammer.  After, a glass of white rum and ice must be added. A bit or soda or rum could do. The decoration is up to you. Don’t overdo it too much. It is refreshing and, indeed, a typical summer drink.

TOM COLLINS COCKTAIL RECIPE

It was prepared with Holland (Dutch gin), a sweet gin also known as Old Tom. Because of this, many people started calling it Tom Collins. It is prepared with a tall and wide glass: we should add lemon juice, a teaspoon of sugar dessert, or syrup, a glass of Bombay Sapphire gin and Schwepes soda. Mix the resulting drink and add three or four ice cubes.