You Can Make It: Blackberry Lemonade Shandy Recipe
Mixed-drink recipes intimidate me. This is why I mostly stick to drinking wine and beer. All I have to do is pop a cap, or a cork, and I’m good to go. Lately, however, I’ve been trying to get over my irrational fear of cocktails and have been gradually collecting various, easy-to-follow recipes. And I truly don’t think it gets any easier than the following shandy recipe.
So, what exactly is a shandy? Here’s a brief history of this cool summer drink:
The shandy originated in England centuries ago. It’s popular in the UK, Europe and Australia. The drink is a mixture of beer and lemonade. The shandy now comes in many different forms, and is often a mixture of beer and one of the following other beverages: ginger beer, citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger ale (try the beer/ginger ale mixture in the article, “Fun Beer Cocktail Recipes”), or cider. The typical shandy is a 50/50 mix. The following mix, however, is more like a cocktail, and also contains a fruity surprise: blackberries!
Blackberry Shandy Lemonade Recipe via The Whole Foods Market Blog
Makes one serving
Ingredients
4 large organic blackberries
2-ounces of fresh-squeezed organic lemon juice
1-ounce agave nectar
8-ounces Pabst Blue Ribbon lager (or any other lager, or pilsner)
Method
Muddle the organic blackberries with the agave nectar in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add the organic lemon juice and shake the mixture vigorously with ice for about five seconds. Double strain the mixture into a glass over ice. Top off with the beer of your choice (I went cheap, obviously.) Enjoy!
For a different take on the traditional light shandy: Try making a darker shandy with a stout! Top off the stout with an ounce of non-alcoholic sparkling apple cider, and you’re set. See the recipe (and a few other apple cocktail recipes), in the article, “3 Sweet and Tart Apple Cocktails.”
Image: wink
