Porch Swing Cocktail

This is nothing short of summer in a glass. It tastes like lemonade. It tastes like iced tea. There are crisp cucumber slices and a splash of 7-Up in a tall glass with ice cubes and if that has not convinced you — and seriously, how did that not convince you? — hopefully its name will.

It’s call a Porch Swing and they make it at a the St. Louis/Kansas City/Memphis/North Carolina/Texas-styled barbecue restaurant called Blue Smoke and from Smitten Kitchen. Sit back and imagine wrap-around porches with creaky old swings, overgrown lawns and hot weather that was somehow more bearable because it was chased by a breeze and a cool Porch Swing Cocktail.  Remember the lazy days of summer, it‘s all right here in a glass.

Makes 2 tall cocktails

Ingredients:

2 ounces gin (Hendricks is specified)
2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1 liqueur
4 ounces (1/2 cup) homemade lemonade (recipe below)
7-Up or another lemon/lime soda
12 or more paper-thin half moon slices of cucumber

Directions:

1. Pour gin, Pimm’s and lemonade into tall Collins glass, then add a few ice cubes and a splash of 7-Up. Finish with cucumber slices.

For the Lemonade

1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 part simple syrup, or to taste

2 parts water

Make simple syrup: (Seriously, it is so easy to make, you don’t have to buy an expensive store brand)  Simmer one part water with one part sugar (I did a cup of each and ended up with about 1 1/2 cups simple syrup) until sugar has dissolved. Let cool. Or, you can use my speedier method (from Smitten Kitchen) where you simmer one part sugar with half as much water and once it has dissolved, add the second half of the water, cold, which cools the mixture down faster.