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www.cheersonline.com 6 • July/August 2015 FIRST SIP THE SPIRITS OF SUMMER WHEN YOU THINK OF SUMMER COCKTAILS, the usual suspects come to mind: the classic Gin and Tonic, the Pina Colada, anything citrusy, frozen or sparkling. As such, rum and gin are the traditional spirits of warm-weather drinks. But then vodka is always in season, as is tequila. And with the current popularity of all things whiskey, mixologists are now creating refreshing summer cocktail recipes using conventional brown spirits. In putting together our Best Summer Drinks guide, we were particularly impressed with how bartenders are incorporating liqueurs, amari and fl avored spirits into their concoctions. Elderfl ower, ginger and peach spirits remain popular options, and the bitter orange aperitif Aperol appears in several recipes. The most valuable player award, though, would have to go to Ancho Reyes ancho chile liqueur from Mexico. Launched just last year by William Grant & Sons, the spicy spirit popped up in a number of our seasonal drink picks. On the beer front, the summer MVP is Grapefruit Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point Brewing Co. in San Diego. Our new beer panel conducted its fi rst review with the IPA category (see page 42). Five different panelists reviewed the Grapefruit Sculpin, and all gave the beer fi ve stars; it's also in one of our summer beer cocktails (page 24). How did we select the best summer cocktail recipes of the hundreds we receive throughout the year? We looked at ingredients, spirit combinations, fl avor profi les, preparation and visual appeal of the cocktails, among other factors. Some recipes are deceptively simple—a fl avored spirit or mixer paired with some citrus and soda can go a long way—while others are more complicated, calling for custom infusions, house-made syrups, barrel aging spirits, and so on. We hope you'll be able to incorporate some of these ideas in your seasonal program, or perhaps become inspired to create your own summer classics: All told, we have more than 85 recipes in this issue. And if you have a great drink recipe, send it to us for consideration in future roundups. We also cover the latest exotic spirits (page 26), the cider category (page 30) and Eastern European wine fi nds (page 34), plus spirited books, an American cab tasting, and much more. That should get you through the next two months. Have a wonderful rest of the summer, and see you in September. Cheers! Melissa Dowling Editor Cheers July/August 2015 / Vol. 26 No. 6 Editor Melissa Dowling 203-855-8499 ext. 223 mdowling@specialtyim.com Associate Editor Kyle Swartz 203-855-8499 ext. 225 kswartz@specialtyim.com Managing Art Director Dodi Vessels dvessels@epgmediallc.com Production Director Cherri Perschmann 763-383-4425 cperschmann@epgmediallc.com Contributing Editors Kelly Magyarics, Thomas Henry Strenk Senior Regional Sales Managers Bruce Kostic 203-855-8499 ext. 215 bkostic@specialtyim.com Mark Marcon 248-761-6231 mmarcon@specialtyim.com Debbie Rittenberg 215-431-8787 drittenberg@specialtyim.com List Rental MeritDirect, Jim Scova jscova@MeritDirect.com 914-368-1012 Reprints Robin Cooper rcooper@SpecialtyIM.com Cheers ® is published by EPG Media & Specialty Information Editorial offices at 17 High Street, 2nd Floor Norwalk, CT 06851 Tel: 203-855-8499 • Fax: 203-855-9446 CEO Marion Minor Sr VP/Audience Development Joanne Juda-Prainito Sr VP/Finance & Operations Gerald Winkel VP/Beverage Group Amy Collins Cheers (ISSN 1051-564X—USP Number 007-239) is published nine times per year (January/February, March, April, May, June, July/August, September, October, November/December) by EPG Media & Specialty Information, 17 High Street, Norwalk, CT 06851. Periodical Rate Postage paid at Norwalk, CT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cheers, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823 SUBSCRIPTIONS: One-year subscription rates: USA $35.00; Canada $50.00; air mail to other countries $75.00. All subscriptions payable in U.S. dollars. Payment must accompany order. To subscribe write: Cheers, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823, or call the Cheers customer service line at 847-763-9565, Fax 847-763-9569, M-F 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST. Subscription customer service e-mail: cheers@ halldata.com. Copyright 2013 by EPG Media & Specialty Information, 17 High Street, Norwalk, CT 06851. Reproduction without the express written consent of the publisher is prohibited. EPG Media & Specialty Information, publishes Cheers, Beverage Dynamics, StateWays, Wine & Spirits Industry Marketing, Handbook Advance, Liquor Handbook, Wine Handbook, Beer Handbook and Fact Book.