When we were in college, we went often to the Brigham’s Ice Cream Parlor in Harvard Square for a Raspberry-Lime Rickey. The coffee shop craze that began in Seattle had not yet become a destination elsewhere. Rickeys were the Frappuccinos of the day.

To us, a Rickey was raspberry syrup mixed into club soda with a big squeeze of lime.

We had no idea that the Rickey (originally the “Joe Rickey”) was a fizzy highball, created in 1883 at Shoomaker’s bar in Washington, D.C. (the different types of fizzy water).
 
THE HISTORY OF THE RICKEY

The drink was named for “Colonel” Joe Rickey, a Democratic lobbyist from Missouri. Each morning, he went to Shoomaker’s for a Bourbon with Apollinaris sparkling water over lump ice (today’s cubes).

Cocktail history was changed one day when the bartender, said to be George A. Williamson, squeezed half a lime into the glass and tossed the squeezed lime in after it. The Rickey was born.

 
Omit the spirits altogether and you have a mocktail/soft drink that you can layer with other flavors. Omit the bitters in the cocktail and trade the simple syrup for fruit syrup, and you have the Raspberry-Lime Rickey of our youth (fondly referred to as a Razz-Lime Rickey. We had to have at least one a day).
 
MODERNIZE YOUR RICKEY

Create your signature Rickey: the [Your Name] Rickey instead of the Joe Rickey.

Soft Drink Variations

 
Cocktail Variations

 
RECIPE: THE RAZZ-LIME RICKEY: COCKTAIL

We turned our college favorite, the Razz-Lime Rickey soft drink, into a cocktail.

Ingredients Per Drink

[1] A Gin Rickey from from Elegant Affairs. [2] A Raspberry Lime Rickey soft drink rom CooksCountry.com. [3] A Blueberry Rickey with a blueberry cocktail pick (photo courtesy Essence Designs). [4] The original Rickey, made with bourbon (the mint must be left over from a Mint Julep (photo via Tumblr).

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the raspberry-lime syrup: Place the raspberries in a bowl, sprinkle the sugar on top and add the lime juice. Mash with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside and let the mixture marinate for 10 minutes. Strain it through a sieve to remove the seeds.

2. FILL a glass with ice and add the syrup add the sparkling water. Stir, add the vodka and stir again.

3. TOP OFF with sparkling water. Garnish and serve

You can make four drinks at a time with these proportions. In a pitcher combine as above:

 
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Stir again before pouring into ice-filled glasses.
 
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*The Brigham’s chain of ice cream parlors is defunct (along with its competitor, Bailey’s). The company closed most of its locations in 2008 and sold the rights to its ice cream brand to HP Hood. The chain declared bankruptcy in 2009, but Hood still produced quarts under the Brigham’s name, sold in supermarkets in New England.
  

Bacon hot dogs from Vermont Smoke & Cure, a craft producer of meat products (photos courtesy Vermont Smoke & Cure).

The dogs combine beef, pork and uncured, maple-brined bacon. They’re smoked with cob and maple wood and stuffed in a natural lamb casing. The result: a succulent snap and a sweet, mellow smoke flavor.

Here are tips for enjoying a bacon hot dog:

 
The hot dogs are $5.99-$6.99 at select Whole Foods and natural foods stores in the Northeast. Here’s a store locator.
 
ABOUT VERMONT SMOKE & CURE

Vermont Smoke & Cure makes bacon, ham, hot dogs, meat sticks, pepperoni and uncured summer sausage.

The products are made from premium, vegetarian-fed meat with no added hormones or antibiotics. They are free of dairy, gluten, nuts, preservatives and sodium nitrites.

The company sells most of its products on Amazon and its own website store, but not [yet] the hot dogs.

We did discover this tempting bacon gift basket that contains:

 
Put it on your gift list for bacon lovers.

In the interim, find a store, buy the bacon dogs, and make people happy.

We were delighted with this summer refreshment idea from Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse.

The Frosé combines Davio’s house-made sorbet with rosé wine.

It’s a refreshing winetail, a mixed drink made with wine instead of spirits (also see beertail.)

You can turn a Frosé into dessert by adding more fruit and less wine. You also can mix different flavors of sorbet.

Don’t use a bone-dry rosé, but have the wine store clerk guide you to something with a hint of sweetness*. It will go better with the sorbet and fruit. We used a sparkling rosé and loved it.

Use whatever glassware you have on hand, from tumblers to wine goblets.
 
> Also See Wineshakes, Wine Milkshakes
 
 
RECIPE: DAVIO’S FROSÉ

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. SCOOP the sorbet into a glass, add the fruit and then top with the rosé.

2. GARNISH and serve with a spoon and a straw.
 
 
WHAT IS ROSÉ WINE?

Also referred to as blush wine, rosé can be made as a still, semi-still or sparkling wine.

Still rosé wines can be made from almost any red grape varietal, or from a blend of varietals. Sparkling rosé wines, including rosé Champagne, are exceptions because they also can be made with white grapes.

The wines get their rosy color from contact with the red grape skins. Depending on the grape, terroir and winemaking techniques, the color can range from the palest pink to deep ruby red to hues of orange or violet.

[1] For a slushy drink, add the sorbet and fruit to the glass and top with rosé (photo © Peabody Johansen, Culinary Concoctions By Peabody).

[2] For dessert, use more fruit and less rosé (photo © Davio’s).

The exception is top-quality rosé Champagne. A 15-year-old Dom Perignon Rosé, for example, is a joy.
 
 
WHAT IS TERROIR?

The same rootstock that is grown in different locations produces different flavors; for example, depending on where it is grown, Sauvignon Blanc can have grassy or grapefruit notes—or neither.

Terroir, pronounced tur-WAH, is a French agricultural term referring to the unique set of environmental factors in a specific habitat that affect a crop’s qualities. It includes climate, elevation, proximity to a body of water, slant of the land, soil type and amount of sun.

These environmental characteristics gives the wine its character. Terroir is the basis of the French A.O.C. (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) system.
 
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*We first made the drink with a sparkling rosé that was as sweet as a soft drink or sweet iced tea. It was too sweet for us.