Yep. Exactly. BAR-B-CUE-ooooler.
As in cooler. Get it?
BBQ? Cooler? As in the hotter than hot dog days of summer? And you’re out at a BBQ…. and you need a nice refreshing cocktail to make you cooler ….. Bar-B-Cue ….. Bar-b-cue-ooler
I guess I may have thought it was pretty clever at the time.
So the hubs and I decided to throw a big ‘ol OUTDOOR barbecue, and seeing that it’s only the hottest freaking month of the entire freaking steaming hot year (I live in the sunshine state of Florida)….I seem to think a lot of things are clever when in fact THEY ARE NOT.
People were sweating off body parts they didn’t even know they had (see ya). The only really large fan that we own had to be directed at the sound system to keep it from melting into a plastic puddle (no lie). The water misters that we thought we were clever (there’s that word again) enough to install just mixed with the dew-point saturated air and basically kept anyone who wasn’t already sweaty – completely soaked (bad hair day anyone? you’re welcome).
Attempting to escape the elements, guests then desperately packed themselves into the house like sardines only to cause the air conditioner to freak out with all the extra body heat and it basically refused to work like it’s supposed to (I’ll call 911, okay?). Good grief.
I’ll bet you wish you could have been there, right? Not so much?
On the other hand, maybe you do……because you KNOW on that day you would have been sittin’ pretty (or pretty soggy) out by the pool with one of these babies in your hand………
Super smooth, citrusy tart and not too sweet, faintly fizzy refreshment awaits when you take a sip of this heat waving crasher of a concoction…..the BAR-B-Cue(ooler). This awesome invention was such a hit with our normally beer blasting, wine guzzling gang that I was sincerely shocked!
Okay, maybe not.
Hot enough for you yet? Looks like you could use a Bar-B-Cue(ooooler).
To smash out the best little summer cocktail you have ever had (at least so far today…ha) you will need just four simple ingredients:
- Vanilla vodka (any brand you like, you don’t have to get too fancy)
- Cointreau (a yummy orange flavored liquor….try it in your next margarita!)
- RubyRed grapefruit juice (cranberry juice works here too, although with a sweeter result)
- Some sort of unsweetened fizzy soda water (I chose Perrier orange, but you can use any type of sparkling water you like, as long as it’s fizzy, and NOT sweetened in any way)
Sliced oranges are a pretty nifty touch…..but if all you can scrounge up is a lemon or a lime, use THAT! It’s all citrus goodness……and after a couple of these you won’t really care if it’s a sliced beet. (just kidding……just kidding…….beets would NOT be good in this) lol (No, really..always drink responsibly)
Anyhoo…..public service announcement out of the way……fill a decent sized glass with ice (mine was about 16 ounces) right up to the top……
and add 1 ounce (generally a shot glass) of your vanilla vodka.
Fill it approximately halfway with the rubyred grapefruit juice…..
and then add the bubbly water almost to the top………but not right up to the tippy top because you need a little room…….
to add a capful of Cointreau to “float” over the top! Viola! Just like that………
Pop in an orange slice….stab in a straw…
and you have got yourself a summery, citrusy, kiss of a heat wave chaser. Sort of like an orange creamsicle………without the cream. Or the stick. Or the kids for that matter.
