Are you hot? I mean......are you overly warm due to the heat and humidity of summer? Cool down and stay hydrated with these drinks: 
 

Watermelon Fizz

Dead easy and totally refreshing.

Ingredients:

7-Up or other clear pop
1 ½ cups watermelon, cubed and seeded

Preparation:

Throw the watermelon in a blender and whirl around until liquid.  This does not take long, as the aptly-named watermelon is mostly water anyways.  Combine with pop to taste and serve over ice.  Vodka is a nice addition to this drink, if one is so inclined. 
 

Cool Green Tea

This is not a sweet drink. If you would like this sweeter, either add some sugar to the tea while it is still hot (stirring until sugar is dissolved) or rim the glass with sugar prior to serving. 

Ingredients:

2 litres brewed green tea, cooled
½ cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
Optional: 1 heaping tablespoon pickled ginger
               1 tsp sugar
               cheesecloth and string

Preparation:

Brew green tea as usual, using bags or leaves (whichever you prefer). When fully steeped, remove bags or leaves and store in the refrigerator until cool. Then transfer to a larger glass pitcher and add cucumber slices.

Pickled ginger tastes great but, frankly, looks gross floating around in a glass pitcher of green tea. To get the flavour kick without the unappetizing visual, sprinkle the ginger with sugar and then wrap tightly in cheesecloth. Tie the cheesecloth closed with string, leaving about six inches of string. Use this to suspend the ginger bundle from a wooden spoon, which you will balance over the mouth of the pitcher. This saves you from fishing the bundle out with a fork later.  
 
 
Nice Iced Tea

Ingredients:

2 litres Regular tea (such as Red Rose), brewed and cooled
¼ cup Grenadine syrup, or to taste
2 limes:  juice of one lime, the other sliced thinly 

Preparation:

Combine tea, syrup, and lime juice in a large pitcher and whisk together. Add lime slices. Serve over ice. 

Citrus-Mint Sparkler

Ingredients:

Juice an orange, freshly squeezed
Juice of  ½ a grapefruit
½ cup mint leaves, washed and torn
Club soda
Sugar water syrup (see below)

Preparation:

Muddle the mint at the bottom of the glass – that is, squash the leaves with a spoon (wooden spoons work especially well). Add juice and stir. Add ice cubes and soda and syrup to taste. 
 

Squashed Mango

This is not really a drink, but it is slurpy and delicious.  I’ve also heard that in some places in the world this is the preferred method of eating mango. 

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango
A knife
A functioning garden hose
A towel 

Preparation:

Wash your mango and then roll it around on the countertop until squishy. Cut some peel off the top. Use your hands to squish the mango pulp up and slurp it out as quickly as possible. This is a treat to be enjoyed outdoors. Use the towel and hose to clean yourself off afterwards.


Bonus: Essential Kitchen Technique – Sugar-Water Syrup Drink Sweetener

To sweeten any cold drink, or to make proper Mint Juleps, make sugar-water as follows:

Combine equal parts sugar and water in a small pot. Heat over medium flame until sugar dissolves. Stir constantly. When the liquid is crystal clear, it’s done. Allow to cool before using. Store in the refrigerator for up to several days.