I don’t know much about what we Americans call soccer. I didn’t play it as a child nor did any of my kids. Of course, full disclosure: I didn’t have any children, so there is that.

​I know almost as much about socc – football as I do about hockey.  That is to say, I pick a team (usually because I like the color of its uniforms, or think one of the players is hot, or I like the team’s mascot) and yell encouraging things like “Go!” or “You got this!” or “Kill him!” And I cheer when other people cheer so I look cool.

I picked England and Belgium to be playing for the World Cup championship on July 15. They played July 14. For third place.  Congrats Belgium.  Tomorrow it’s all about Croatia and France.  And in my time zone the match begins at 9 a.m.

And 9 a.m. on a Sunday, for me, means one thing: coffee. But tomorrow, in honor of the two countries playing for the title, I’ve decided boozing is in order. Why not enjoy a little of the crazy the folks in those countries, and all the fans of the two teams, will be embracing?

I won’t pretend to love socc – football, but I can truthfully say I love it when the World Cup rolls around every four years. The world’s football isn’t as popular in our country as America’s football and our fervor for our favorite football teams is crazy. But American football crazy is pretty tame compared to the fanatical world football crazy that takes over the globe for a month.

So for this booze blog entry, I picked two drinks from both countries to try today so you can reap the benefits tomorrow while screaming “Go!” or “You got this!” or “Kill him!”

I am lacking the palate for boat and beach drinks. All that fruit and pretty colors makes it hard to take seriously. Plus, I was scared the fruit was a backdoor way to make me eat healthier. However, I realized I had better actually make the recipe I was posting for this day because booze. 
It's been hot here. I know. It's been hot everywhere, but I don't care about everywhere. I care about here. In my house. Where it's hot. I didn't sign up to live in a desert. That's why I live where I do. Anyhoo . . .

I purchased all necessary ingredients for to make the drink for National Piña Colada Day. I went home to my "dry heated" home and headed to the basement. The only place to get respite from the eternal gaze of the sun. And that's where the bar is so it was a win-win. 
So I gathered all my ingredients and proceeded to measure (I am not Deidre) and prep. I got all my ducks in a row, added them to the blender, and blended the hell out of them. It was satisfying. I plopped my beverage into the waiting glass, garnished it, and promptly took pictures. 

Lesson learned. Check your ingredients and make sure you put everything in the damn drink that goes there. Bummer. Now I have to make another. If you need to make one and prove you are more able than I am, follow the link here. 

Ah, the good ol' U S of A. 'Murica. The land of the free. What a good home you are. In honor of your birthday, people get obliterated every year on the 4th of July. How lucky you are. While beer seems to be the most consumed alcoholic beverage on this fine day, let's not forget the cocktail drinkers. The ones for whom beer makes them think of Nascar (no judgement) and people who wear their ballcaps backwards (possible judgement). I am a beer drinker so I am shutting up about that.
However, I am also a cocktail drinker. And it's fugging hot out. Hot. And a cocktail with ice is just what any subpar doctor would recommend.

This light and refreshing drink helps one forget that it's burning up outside and fireworks are illegal this year. Drink one as a toast to the country that lets you drink one for your country. 

Since PB and I still have kiddies who are in school, we are obliged to take care of them. For our youngest, we take him to various swim camps and meets. One swim camp was in Colorado Springs, CO, and we were kind of excited because Colorado has a pretty happening brewery scene. One of our servers told us that Colorado Springs has 39 craft breweries, which to me seems a bit much, but oh well. As this trip was all about Dex, we couldn't ditch him and pub crawl, so alas, we only got to visit two  breweries, one cocktail bar, and one gastropub (which I didn't know was an actual word). We just combined our food and brewery experiences. Here's a brief (hopefully) glimpse into our adventure.

​​There is no way I will spend time at (or in) a swimming pool without a tasty beverage in my left hand. Left hand because when I was younger the group of friends I spent time with required beverages to be held left-handed. A beverage in your right hand required pounding said beverage as a punishment for violating the scared left hand only rule. But I digress . . .

My friend MP, whom I’ve known for half her life, turned 50 June 9. She is a pool goddess. If it’s summer, that English (Language Arts) teacher is sunning and funning the day away. Why not combine the milestone birthday with her favorite summer activity? Which meant we also got to combine one of my favorite activities – day drinking – with her party.  Saturday perfection.

Pool drinking requires some pre-planning. Obviously no glass bottles. Breaking one of those bastards would ruin a party in a heartbeat. No red wine. Cool chlorinated water, 90-degree sun, and a lounge chair is really no place for a velvety Cabernet Sauvignon. Really pool beverages mean light, cold, refreshing, and because it’s a daylong event, low alcohol content.

So we hit the liquor warehouse. I heart liquor warehouses; I can spend hours there. But that’s another post.

 Ever been so confused about what glass to use for a drink that you just don't have a drink? Yeah, neither have I. Maybe someone has been though . . .

There are bunches of different types of glasses for alcohol. It isn't so much important that you know them all or that you even care, but it's fun information to have. This is a brief (here's hoping) glance at many different types of alcohol glassware. I need to admit up front that I don't own a brandy snifter or a Nick & Nora glass or a hurricane glass . . . you know what? I think I will just stop right there on that list and focus on what I do have.

Many people just don't understand that the mixers used for drinks are just as important, if not more so, than the spirit used. An icky sweet ginger beer or sour tonic will ruin your drink and create a tear in the fabric in time.

Here at Highball Hijinks, we are all about trying to create quality experiences. I would rather have one fantastic G & T than a pitcher full of swill that attempts to pass for it. 

One mixer I use often is ginger beer. I enjoy Moscow Mules, London Mules, Berry Mules, and other mules in general. I am a mule gal. My one true rule for ginger beer is that somewhere in the list of ingredients on the bottle/can, it MUST say ginger in some form be it extract, ginger root infusion, or ginger root. It has to have actual ginger in it. I also won't buy anything ever at all at any time that has HFCS in it. Just say no.
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​As you can see in the picture, I went a little nuts bringing together different ginger beers for this taste test. There are so many from which to choose; it can be sort of intimidating, but I was totally set on forcing my testers to run the ginger beer gauntlet. And run it they did. Three of my kiddies and I spent a delightful afternoon smelling, tasting, and swishing these ginger beers. The opinions are solely ours. If there's a brand we didn't particularly love, but you do, then that's great. You do you. When we say a ginger beer is spicy, we don't mean it's spicy hot; there's just a lot of spice affecting the taste.

Back in the day when I was a novice drinker, Coors came out with a "refreshing citrus beverage" called Zima. I vividly recall sitting on the deck with my father drinking a Zima spiked with cinnamon schnapps. It was the 90s, be nice.

​In 2017, Zima was re-released. I tried quite hard to get my hands on some, just to wax rhapsodic about my youth which is slipping away at an alarming rate. I digress. I did not manage to find any. My memories of my pops and me sharing a quiet afternoon sipping ice cold cinnamon Zima would go forever as just that: memories. ​However, the other day in the liquor store I spotted Zima in the cooler. Could this be true? Was it a mirage or wishful thinking? NO! Lo and behold, Zima was there on the shelf, just waiting for my arrival and subsequent rush of father/daughter memories. I was the proud owner of six bottles of the elusive elixir of my youth. Two shooters of cinnamon whatnot and I was headed home with my spoils.
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​I was genuinely worried that I had romanticized this whole thing in my head. It wouldn't be the first time I had done so. Was it really quite as delightfully refreshing as I recall? It was all a horrific possibility.