Summer drinks

Most of the work for a hot day happens the night before, so during the day all you need to do is pour. Cold-brewed tea infuses in the refrigerator in about eight hours and becomes less bitter than tea brewed hot and then left to cool; remove the tea bags before putting the pitcher away. Simple syrup that you cook needs a night to become truly cold, so it is best not to make that half an hour in advance either. Put bottles, pitchers, and cartons of juice at the back of the refrigerator rather than in the door, because it is colder there. And put the glasses in for the last hour: a cold glass noticeably reduces the amount of melted ice at the start.

It feels wrong to fill a glass three-quarters full of ice, but it works better than adding a few cubes. A lot of ice cools the drink almost immediately, then melts slowly because everything around it is already cold. A little ice melts completely into a warm drink, adding all that water. Large cubes from a 4 cm ice cube tray last the longest; for a pitcher, you can also freeze some of the lemonade itself, so the melting ice does not dilute it.

The biggest difference between a pleasant afternoon and an afternoon spent standing behind the pitcher is making one thing for everyone. Put a pitcher of iced tea or lemonade on the table and let people refill their own glasses. Allow about one and a half liters for every four guests for the first hour. Make the pitcher on the strong side, because the ice in the glasses will dilute it anyway. Keep ice in a separate container so the pitcher does not fill with melted water, and place a second pitcher of still water beside it. You can find pitchers in the water pitchers and carafes collections.

Not everything needs to be a recipe. Water with cucumber, mint, and a few lemon slices infuses in the refrigerator in half an hour and is often the only thing that really works on a hot day. Make homemade lemonade with simple syrup and fresh juice so you can control the sweetness yourself; instructions for making that syrup are at making simple syrup. A smoothie made with frozen fruit and yogurt or juice is thicker and more filling, so pour it into a smaller glass and drink it with a glass straw.

Beer is at least as common as a cocktail in warm weather, and a radler is simply beer with sparkling lemonade, so it is lower in alcohol and sweeter in taste. Pour into a tilted glass and straighten it for the final part, and you will get a head that retains the aroma. Do not put the glass in the freezer: ice on the wall will destroy the head. The models are listed under beer glasses. NIX18: no 18, no alcohol.

A glass of wine gets lukewarm outside faster than you think. So pour small amounts and refill more often, and keep the bottle in a cooler or in a bucket with water and ice instead of ice alone; water conducts cold better. A stemmed glass also helps, because your hand will not warm the wine. The models are listed under white wine glasses and rosé wine glasses.