A Recipe For Day Drinking Success

When it comes to self-indulgent pastimes, day drinking is right up there with yoga and...well...blogging.

The boozy brunch, the tipsy tailgate, the pie-eyed picnic...these are activities that a chosen few can take part in and then go on to have a regular day afterward: say, do a couple loads of laundry, catch up on emails, call mom, shower, and go to dinner. I don't know how they do it. Lightweight that I am, the moment that a Bloody Mary or a Bellini passes my lips I know that I am waving a big, fat goodbye to the balance of the afternoon and evening. Within an hour, I'll be too sleepy and dim-witted to do anything more ambitious than collapse in front of the TV in a state of semi-sleep.

That was one thing in college. We all had a lot of time on our hands, not to mention an endless supply of charismatic pushers who could make a keg of Milwaukee's Best or a trash bin filled with "jungle juice" seem like an offer not to be refused at 11 AM on a Tuesday. There was no shortage of reasons for a big daytime lash -- a football game, the end of midterms, some lesser holiday marked by a frat party.

It's quite another thing in the working world. I try to suck every last moment out of my two precious weekend days, and the cost-benefit analysis of drinking while the sun is still high in the sky has changed. I've gotten a lot pickier about the when, the who, the why...but especially the what. If I'm going to get legless at lunch, it won't be on a bad margarita.

This is all a long-winded way of announcing that I have discovered a new drink that from now on will be my beverage of choice for any and all day drinking this season. It's light, refreshing, balanced, and tastes like liquid summer on ice. Best of all, preliminary testing suggests that it causes minimal hangover side-effects.


Fizzy Lizzy
Adapted from Gourmet, May 2009

1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 (8-inch) rosemary sprigs, plus more to garnish
Vodka
Chilled club soda

1. Bring lemon juice, sugar, and rosemary to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved.

2. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

3. Cool completely; discard rosemary sprigs.

4. Fill a glass halfway with ice. Add equal parts syrup and vodka, top off with club soda, and garnish with rosemary sprig.