Everyone needs to know basic life skills no matter what gender we tend to associate with them. Sooner or later, one has to leave the nest, and mommy or daddy won’t be around to do your laundry or fix your flat tire.
Likewise, your spouse won’t always be around to make sure you have a home-cooked meal or help you turn off the water when there’s a leaky faucet. Knowing how to fix things or handle basic domestic tasks also makes economic sense. Most people can’t afford to eat out every night, and plumbers are expensive.
A wonderful sense of freedom comes with being self-sufficient and not having to depend on anyone to get through the day.
A Reddit user named Key_Effective_2260 thought he was doing the right thing by teaching his stepdaughter how to mow the lawn, a chore typically associated with men, but was taken aback when his wife called him a “jerk” for doing so.
He took the question to the Reddit AITA subforum to determine if he was right, and the responses were all in his favor. Key_Effective_2260 is the father of four stepchildren, ages 8 to 15, and their biological father is out of the picture. So the kids now call him “dad.”
“The two oldest are guys, and I taught both of them stereotypical guy chores, fixing cars, cutting grass… etc. I started both of them when they were about 10,” he wrote. “My daughter Annie just turned 11. When she did turn ten I did start teaching her her more hands-off stuff since she was small. She is bigger now and stronger so we had our first lesson on cutting the grass and how a lawnmower works. She did really well ( little worried she would lose control of the mower since she is still short but my fears were unfounded). She did the whole yard and I’m quite proud of her.”
The dad seemed to be a good parent by teaching his stepdaughter how to mow the lawn. It’s a skill she’ll likely need if she ever owns a house, and it’s an excellent way for her to help her parents as she grows older.
“My wife had a fit though, she got in an argument about teaching her guy chores,” he said. “That she is too young ( the other two kids started before her age). I told her that she needs to stop babying her and that she needs to know how s**t works. She called me a jerk and left.”
The post received over 2,000 comments, and they unanimously supported the dad in the argument.
“Neither feminism nor misogyny will help you cook when you’re hungry, nor change a tire when you’re stranded. These are just general life skills everyone should know. I, too, wish my dad taught me ‘guy chores,'” Hellhoundsatemybaby wrote.
“Chores are chores. There aren’t guy or gal chores. Every skill is important in life,” 000-Hontaru_Tomoe responded. “You are teaching her how to manage her own household. I don’t mow these days…but I absolutely can. And that matters,” PracticalPimrose added. “Just like boys need to be taught laundry and cooking because they need the skills. Full stop.”
In the end, equality is all about ensuring everyone has the same opportunity to care for themselves and those they love in this world without being held back by prejudice and arbitrary rules. It’s comforting to see that a large group of people agree that teaching young girls to do chores, usually associated with men, is a great way to help them become independent women.
When my oldest daughter was in the deepest throes of a clinical phobia, her fear overtook everything. She practically became a hermit at 16, afraid to go anywhere. Thankfully, we found an excellent therapist who taught her how to tame her fear, to gently manage it, to approach it in such a way that allowed it to dissipate instead of continuing to dominate her every thought.
People who struggle with anxiety or fear, whether it stems from trauma or wonky brain wiring, understand how overwhelming it can be. Fear and anxiety can feel incapacitating at times, making you want to run far away or curl into the tiniest ball and disappear. But neither of those things actually helps. In fact, the first thing my daughter’s therapist told her is that avoidance always make anxiety worse.
Instead, she taught my daughter to approach that fearful voice in her head. After all, that voice was hers, and it desperately wanted to be heard and understood. Ignoring it, avoiding it, trying to distract it way simply made it yell louder. “Maybe you’re right,” she would say to that voice, even though it terrified her to do so. “Maybe you’re right, and maybe you’re wrong. Let’s just wait and see what happens”—that became her mantra to her own brain, and as counterintuitive as it seemed, it worked.
I could explain the science of the amygdala—the fight-or-flight center of the brain that acts on instinct—and why the “Maybe you’re right” approach helped retrain it not to overreact. But an artist has created a visual series that describes it in different terms that may resonate more with people who have experienced embracing fear.
Cécile Carre posted her series of paintings about fear on Facebook and they’ve been shared more than 12,000 times. As with any art, interpretations will naturally vary, but judging from the comments, people dealing with anxiety, fear, or unhealed trauma may find some truth in it.
The first image shows a girl curled in a fetal position with her back to a big, scary monster bearing down on her, with a word painted beneath it.
“Everyday…”
As the girl turns and faces the monster, it immediately looks less scary. Still big, still towering over her, but not terrifying.
“…Trying…”
As the girl walks toward the monster, she starts looking bigger. The monster transforms into a mirror image of herself, the terror of it literally melting away.
“…to watch…”
And then it becomes a child looking for comfort rushing into her arms. Even its color begins to blend with her own.
“…and embrace…”
And then a baby, purely in need of nurturing, wrapped lovingly in her arms.
“…my fear…”
And then…nothing. Just a simple, calm little diamond where the girl was.
“…until it disappears completely…”
The work of turning toward what you fear is not simple or easy, and it may take therapy, medication, or other methods to treat mental illness effectively. But this series of paintings shows what many experience when they stop avoiding and start approaching the roaring voice that tells them to be afraid. Though it’s thoroughly terrifying to make that initial turn—I saw it in my own daughter, and it took a lot of effort—seeing the beast shrink down and eventually disappear is an incredible gift.
Thank you, Cécile Carre, for illustrating that so beautifully. You can order her prints here.
Imagine retiring early and spending the rest of your life on a cruise ship visiting exotic locations, meeting interesting people and eating delectable food. It sounds fantastic, but surely it’s a billionaire’s fantasy, right?
Not according to Angelyn Burk, 53, and her husband Richard. They’re living their best life hopping from ship to ship for around $100 a night, depending on the cruise. “Cruise costs vary quite a bit, our goal is to average about $100 per night, for the couple, or less across and entire calendar year,” Richard told Upworthy.
The Burks have called cruise ships their home since May 2021 and have no plans to go back to their lives as landlubbers. Angelyn took her first cruise in 1992 and it changed her goals in life forever.
“Our original plan was to stay in different countries for a month at a time and eventually retire to cruise ships as we got older,” Angelyn told 7 News. But a few years back, Angelyn crunched the numbers and realized they could start much sooner than expected.
“We love to travel and we were searching for a way to continuously travel in our retirement that made financial sense,” she said. They looked into deals they could find through loyalty memberships and then factored in the potential sale price of their home and realized their dream was totally affordable.
The rough math makes sense. If the couple hits their goal of spending $100 per night to live on a cruise ship, that’s $36,500 a year. Currently, the average price of a home in Tukwila, Washington—where the couple has a house—is about $607,000. Let’s say you moved there today, put down 20% and financed the rest, the mortgage would cost you around $44,000 a year.
Plus, on a cruise ship, the couple doesn’t have to pay for groceries.
The Burks are able to live their dream because they’ve spent a lifetime being responsible. “We have been frugal all our lives to save and invest in order to achieve our goal,” she says. “We are not into materialistic things but experiences.”
Angelyn says that cruising takes the stress out of travel. “It is leisurely travel without the complications of booking hotels, restaurants, and transportation while staying within our budget,” she told 7 News. The couple travels lightly with just two suitcases between them and if they need anything, they just buy it on the ship or in the next port.
The one thing to consider before embarking on a never-ending cruise is COVID-19. The coronavirus is easily spread in close quarters and a cruise ship that recently docked in Seattle had 100 people on board who tested positive for the virus. The CDC recommends that people get vaccinated before going on a cruise and that immunocompromised people should consult with their physicians before traveling.
Richard told Upworthy that he believes COVID-19 safety is still very important and has had both his shots and a booster. “I would suggest wearing a mask at all times when out in public no matter whether on a ship, in a movie theater, at a restaurant or even meeting with friends inside or outside,” he said.
After leaving their jobs and the mainland behind, the Burks completed a 21-day cruise via the Panama canal. They look forward to a 50-day cruise around the Adriatic Sea, taking in the sights of Europe, as well as a 51-day cruise from Seattle to Sydney, Australia.
The Burks’ favorite destinations, no matter how they get there, are Italy, Canada, Iceland and the Bahamas, but their ultimate favorite is Singapore.
Looking to give it all up and go on a permanent vacation just like the Burks? Angelyn has some advice for those wanting to get started.
This article was updated on May 17, 2022, after a conversation with Richard Burk.
Writer and illustrator Aubrey Hirsch jokingly asked her followers on Twitter what’s a “universal thing that most men like?” because she was writing a comic and “just realized I don’t actually know any men in real life.” The tweet inspired an avalanche of funny responses.
Hirsch is the author of “Why We Never Talk About Sugar,” a collection of short stories, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Child, American Short Fiction and Time.
The interesting thing about the responses is that they weren’t the typical stereotypes about men. She didn’t get a ton of people talking about sex, sports or toxic masculinity. Instead, there were a lot of folks that mentioned very specific male behaviors as if they were talking about a bizarre species they discovered in the wild.
There were two things that got the most comments on her post. First, men enjoy throwing heavy objects into bodies of water. Preferably, the larger the rock, the deeper the body of water and from the highest vantage point possible.
The other is watching construction sites. Evidently, the phenomenon is so popular in Italy that there is a specific word for this type of person in Italian.
Here are 19 of the best responses to the question, “What’s a universal thing that most men like?”
Whatu2019s a universal thing that most men like? Iu2019m making a comic but I just realized I donu2019t actually know any men in real life.
When asked why men enjoy watching construction sites so much, a poster on Reddit named justdaps had the perfect response. “I just find it really satisfying and interesting to see the process behind things being built,” he wrote.
Me: Thinking intently trying to come up with a good answer.nAlso me seeing this tweet: Ooh, yeah, this is a good one. A good deep sounding sploosh with a big splash. Yeah, this is a good one.nWe aren’t complicated.
I have seen dudes do this and I have done it plenty of times myself. I usually stand while watching TV when I want to really focus on what’s happening and do not want to be distracted. This usually happens while watching sporting events or the news. It’s also a great way to use your body language to let other people know that there is something very important happening on the television.
When we do this 99% of the time we’re pretending that the sign is 10 feet high and that we have the ability to dunk a basketball. There are two types of men, those that can dunk and mere mortals.
10.
Memorizing favorite lines from their favorite movies, then reciting them with their friends (or even strangers) who’ve also memorized them, doing entire scenes. Extra points for using accents. A true source of unparalleled amusement & male bonding.
— cautiously optimistic 🙏🏼✌🏻 (@BethCal84918882) March 22, 2022
As a man, this one is near and dear to my heart. I can’t tell you the number of hours I have spent with my friends just throwing lines from “The Big Lebowski” back and forth.
“Nice marmot.”
“The Dude abides.”
“Say what you want about the tenets of national socialism, Dude. At least it’s an ethos.”
A movie that’s running up the ranks of being among the most quotable is another dude buddy pic, “Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood.”
“All right, that’s too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?” … “Rick, it’s a flamethrower.”
When my dad had to chainsaw branches off a dead tree, neighbor men just gathered with various saws from all corners of the subdivision. It was like a siren song.
Given a wood fire and a long branch, 100 of 100 men will find a reason to poke the fire every few minutes. Just, you know, to make sure things are burning evenly.
Evidently, after reading the responses, Hirsch knew what was going to happen next. No need to feel ashamed about going viral. It just means you created something that people love.
I really feel for the poor Buzzfeed intern currently searching for the perfect gifs to turn this into an article that will support 8 ad spots.
One the more mysterious aspects of being human is our sense of intuition. This “sixth sense” isn’t something we can see or measure, but many people have experienced it in some form or fashion. Maybe it comes as a strong feeling that something isn’t right, or that we or someone else should or shouldn’t do something. It can be hard to read—not every feeling we get is truly our intuition—but there are plenty of examples of people trusting their instincts and being glad they did.
One such story has gone viral on TikTok. Jessica Higgs, a mom who works as an Instacart grocery delivery person, shared a story in an emotional video that illustrates the importance of listening to that inner voice when it prompts you to make sure someone is OK.
“I just want to start this off by saying if you see something, say something,” Higgs said.
She explained how she had done an Instacart order the previous day for a daughter who was ordering for her older dad who couldn’t shop for himself. She said she was going the extra mile like she always does for her customers, and that the daughter told her to just drop the groceries on the porch and he’d get them. That’s what Higgs would usually do.
“I get there and something was telling me no, you gotta help this man out,” she said. “He came out, and I was like OK let me help you, and I got the groceries. You’re not supposed to go into someone’s house, but I used my judgment and I brought the groceries inside and put them down wherever he wanted me to put them down. You’re not supposed to, but I did. And you’re supposed to just take a picture and leave, and I could not just leave.”
Higgs noticed that the man looked really sick and she was really concerned. A voice in her head said, “You gotta say something. You gotta say something, Jess.” Rather than mark the order as complete, she messaged the man’s daughter and told her that it was really unprofessional to say something like this, but she felt like her dad wasn’t doing well. “There’s a propane tank in there,” she told the woman. “I was in there maybe five feet and I got dizzy. There’s got to be a leak. He might not be doing good because of this leak.”
The woman said she would send her son over to check it out and Higgs left. The woman changed her tip from $14 to $100, which Higgs appreciated, but the message she sent her the next morning was a much greater reward for her going the extra mile.
“Thank you so much, once my son went to check on my dad it turned out it was definitely leaking,” she wrote. “You definitely saved my dad and my younger son’s life!!!”
Through tears, Higgs said, “I’m just an Instacart worker, but if you see something, say something. I did and I’m so happy I did.”
Higgs’ TikTok has been viewed more than 15 million times and has been shared widely on social media. It has also attracted the attention of big companies.
Royal Caribbean Cruises shared a TikTok video of its own praising Higgs for her heroic act and offering her and her family a seven-day cruise anywhere in the world. “Cause even heroes need a vacation,” the company wrote.
Stitch with @jessicahiggs3 – cause even heroes need a vacation. Thanks @captaincruiseguy
Old Navy connected with her and arranged a shopping spree where she got to model several new outfits. People Magazine commented, “You’re literally a HERO! Good job trusting your instincts. 💕” Even TikTok itself wrote, “You are amazing ❤️thank you for sharing this with all of us.”
Lots of commenters also pointed out that she’s not “just an Instacart worker.” Her work is important, she’s providing a needed service and any job done in a spirit of helping others should not be minimized. If she hadn’t been there doing her job well, that man may not be here. Never underestimate the difference each of us can make by the simple act of looking out for one another, friend and stranger alike.
Higgs’ heartfelt story touched millions, and she’s being rightly rewarded for listening to her heart and going out of her way to help someone. Gotta love seeing good things come to people doing good. Well done, Jessica Higgs.
Animals can be far cleverer than we give them credit for, especially creatures we don’t think of as having distinct personalities. Most of us expect cats and dogs to do show us their unique quirks, but what about a flying squirrel?
A video is making its way around the internet that has people giggling over the dramatic antics of a large pet flying squirrel. It includes no narration explaining what’s happening and no context—it just shows a flying squirrel repeatedly faking its own death by broom.
That’s right. Death by broom. And from the way it looks, the little bugger came up with the idea on its own and made multiple attempts to create a convincing crime scene.
This is one you just have to see.
Twitter user @Birrellebee wrote that the squirrel “faked his own death, and created a whole crime scene…for attention. I think I’m in love.”
Whether the squirrel really did this just for attention or for some other reason isn’t clear, but no one seems to offering a more plausible explanation for it.
Watch:
u201cThis flying squirrel faked his own death, and created a whole crime sceneu2026for attention. I think Iu2019m in love. u201d
— Sarah Beeud83dudc1d (@Sarah Beeud83dudc1d) 1685808791
While some people have expressed understandable concern over flying squirrels living indoors as pets, we don’t know what the living situation here really is. Maybe the squirrel was injured and rescued. Maybe it can’t survive in the wild. We simply don’t know.
What we do know is that this adorable rodent deserves an Oscar for its performance. The way it gracefully somersaults right into position. The placing of the broomstick on its neck and splaying itself out flat on its back. The checking to see if anyone is looking. The repositioning of the murder weapon multiple times to figure out which one seems more believable.
Was that really what it was doing? Who knows. But it was a genuinely incredible performance nonetheless.
And of course, the people of the internet didn’t disappoint in the comments.
u201c@pimlius @nycsouthpaw Well, maybe he shouldu2019ve thought of that, befor being such a wee drama queen. Nobody likes an attention whore.u201d
— Sarah Beeud83dudc1d (@Sarah Beeud83dudc1d) 1685808791
u201c@RIDICULO_pathy @BirrelleBee I love this squirrel ud83dude02ud83eudd70u201d
— Sarah Beeud83dudc1d (@Sarah Beeud83dudc1d) 1685808791
“@GreigBeck @BirrelleBee @MAllanScott It’s an insurance scam.”
u201c@GreigBeck @BirrelleBee @MAllanScott Itu2019s an insurance scam.u201d
— Sarah Beeud83dudc1d (@Sarah Beeud83dudc1d) 1685808791
u201c@Marx_Bros_Thing @BirrelleBee Sameu201d
— Sarah Beeud83dudc1d (@Sarah Beeud83dudc1d) 1685808791
Kids, man. I’m not sure of the scientific way audacity is distributed, but kids have a lot of it and somehow make it cute. That audacity overload is especially interesting when you’re the default parent—you know, the parent kids go to for literally everything as if there’s not another fully capable adult in the house. Chances are if your children haven’t sought you out while you were taking a shower so you could open up a pack of fruit snacks, then you’re not the default parental unit.
One parent captured exactly what it’s like to be the default parent and shared it to TikTok, where the video has over 4 million views. Toniann Marchese went on a quick grocery run and *gasp* did not inform her children. Don’t you fret, they’re modern kids who know how to use modern means to get much-needed answers when mom is nowhere to be found. They went outside and rang the doorbell.
Back when we were children, this would’ve done nothing but make the dogs bark, but for Marchese’s kids, who are 3 and 6 years old, it’s as good as a phone call.
You may be questioning why this mom left her two young children home alone. She didn’t. Their father was home, likely wondering why the children were playing so quietly. But. He. Was. Right. There. And the kids still bypassed him to talk to their mom through the Ring doorbell camera. It was pressing business, after all.
“My tablet is dead,” the 3-year-old said.
The kids ignored Marchese’s questions about where their dad was and continued to complain about their tablets. The entire situation is enough to make any default parent chuckle and maybe sob a little.
I was born on the tail end of Gen X. Too young to be considered Gen X and too old to be considered a Millennial, which means I grew up in between the forgotten generation and the one people still think are in their early 20s. I was a latch key kid with minimal supervision and a teen with unrestricted access to AOL chatrooms sending random people my A/S/L, because that’s not dangerous at all.
My older brother was five years older than me, so when that string of teen angst movies came to televisions across America, I had a front row seat. “The Breakfast Club” and “Dirty Dancing” were two of my all time favorite movies. I had no idea why Baby’s dad was treating her like a child when she was clearly an adult. As an adult, I now see that Baby absolutely needed to be in the corner.
People get very excited, not in a good way, about what’s appropriate and inappropriate for children to be exposed to on television. After my kids hit elementary school, it was time to introduce them to the classic 80s movies I watched as a kid. Honestly, the stuff in the Brat Pack movies were pretty PG. Sure there are some adult themes, but the movies were for teenagers, not adults so the themes were juvenile enough for the kids to understand. The things that were a bit more adult minded went over their heads.
They could and likely still can recite every single one of Bender’s lines from “The Breakfast Club” and all of Duckie’s lines from “Pretty in Pink.” But it was “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” that my boys had on repeat for nearly six months straight and yet, they’ve never once skipped school. Never got Saturday detention or smoked the devil’s lettuce in the library.
This makes me curious what some people think happens when parents ignore the rating on movies, or kids are exposed to media some people think they’re not ready for. Typically when kids see things outside of their comprehension, they ask questions or they ignore it. Most of the time when a question is asked, kids are happy with a simple answer and aren’t really interested in digging much deeper than what was provided.
When my kids inevitably asked when the teens in “The Breakfast Club” were smoking, I answered, “a drug called marijuana. Its not for kids.” They didn’t ask anything further. In fact, the only thing they had to say about the explanation was that the kids were going to get into more trouble if they got caught. My daughter wanted a jean jacket and my son wanted leather biker gloves but that seemed to be the only influence the movie had over them.
“Pretty in Pink” inspired my daughter to learn how to sew her own dresses and she’s gotten pretty good over the years. Instead of picking up any sort of bad habits, the movies showed them empathy, how to be a good friend, and that sometimes adults don’t know everything but most of them are trying their best.
Many mothers today grapple with the pressure to be a “supermom”—a force of nature who can handle her role in her family while heading various community organizations such as Girl Scouts, church groups, or their kid’s athletic teams.
This idealized version of motherhood can lead to two big problems, moms that fall short of these momentous expectations can suffer feelings of inadequacy. While those who are relied upon as supermoms can become stressed and burnt out.
Educator and podcast host Laura Danger is getting a lot of love on TikTok for a recent post where she rejects the idea that mothers should feel the need to be a supermom. She even goes further by saying that any organization that needs one isn’t fit to survive.
“I will fight anyone in the street who calls me a supermom,” she begins her video. “I am not a supermom. I never want a be a supermom. I never want anyone to refer to me as so strong. Jack of all trades. We literally couldn’t do it without her. If you weren’t here, everything would fall apart.”
She then explains that when people need supermoms in their families or organizations, it’s a sign that things are out of balance.
Im okay. I contribute. I am valued. But not as the only thing keeping it all together.
Im okay. I contribute. I am valued. But not as the only thing keeping it all together.
“I never want to be so essential to an organization or a group or even my family that everything relies on me,” she continued. “I want to be important enough that I matter. I want to bring something to the table. But I do not want to be the one sustaining anything.”
If a woman is the supermom in a family, it could mean that their spouse isn’t pulling their weight. In an organization, if everything relies on one person, other members need to step up.
“I do not want to be so strong,” she said. “I want to live a life of ease. I want to be empowered to rest. I am not a supermom. I will never be a super mom.”
Danger believes that if an organization needs a supermom to exist, it probably shouldn’t.
“If you were to match the energy and effort being put in by other people and give just as much as them, and the whole thing would fall apart, you are overcompensating to a point that it was unsustainable,” she concluded. “If you are the thing keeping it all together, it was never sustainable.”
The post was a relief to many mothers who feel pressured to be supermoms and never considered the idea that the entire concept is toxic.
“It’s like those job postings asking for a ‘rockstar’ they just mean they want someone to overwork,” janisthwpdc commented on the post. “So absolutely true. It’s like telling someone they do the work of three people,” Seema added.
“I love this. Women in our situation need respect to feel balance—to be able to thrive and be our best which is why we were made moms to begin with,” Megs wrote.
The pressure for people to be supermoms creates a lot of stress and zaps the joy out of parenting. The fundamental job of a mother is to love and support their child, not to be a pillar that props up their entire family and community. Given all the stress of being a parent in the modern world, it’s time we start embracing “Balanced Mom” over everything else because finding a balance between work, parenting, and community is a true superpower.
Summer is almost over. We understand that statement might be jarring for some people. Fear not, you still have plenty of time to enjoy classic, summery cocktails. In fact, while it might seem like the end of August means the end of summer, you actually have until September 21st to guarantee you’ll never get scurvy from ingesting more lime juice than you could possibly ever need while sipping gin gimlets and more sodium than your doctor is comfortable with while enjoying margaritas adorned with salted rims.
Javier Pastrana, food and beverage director at YOTEL in Miami has a pretty good idea of where to start. And it’s much simpler than you’d think.
“The best cocktail for summer months is one that is refreshing, cold, and helps beat the heat,” he says.
To find the mixed drinks that fit this criterion, we asked the folks who bide their time behind the bar for help. We turned to a few well-known bartenders for their thoughts on the best classic cocktails to drink as summer finally winds down. Keep reading to see all of their picks and even a simple recipe for each.
Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of the Last Six Months
Alex Barbatsis, bartender at The Whistler in Chicago
In my opinion, it’s a Tom Collins. Sure, you can have a margarita and it will be great. But to me having a Tom Collins during the summer makes everything come together. The combination of lemon and gin just feels right in the summertime, and it’s packed with flavor. It’s also a great one to make a lighter version of by adding more club soda to it.
Ingredients:
2 oz. gin
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
.5 oz. simple syrup
Ice
Top with club soda
Lemon wheel
Preparation:
In an ice-filled Collins glass, add gin, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup. Add more ice and top with club soda. Stir and add a lemon wheel garnish.
Jared Bailey, Bar Manager at Soho Cigar Bar in New York City
A Whiskey Sour — made with strong rye — cannot be beaten when the heat is getting to you. It’s boozy, sweet, slightly tart, and highly refreshing. What’s not to love during the summer months?
Ingredients:
2 oz. rye whiskey
.75 oz. fresh lemon juice
.5 oz. simple syrup
1 oz. egg white (some say this is optional)
Ice
Preparation:
Add whiskey, lemon juice, egg white, and simple syrup to an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass.
Gin Rickey
iStockphoto
Deke Dunn, Bar and Creative Director at Allegory in Washington, DC
You can’t beat the Gin Rickey. The Gin Rickey is the official cocktail of Washington, DC, and we like to call it “air conditioning in a glass.” It’s super simple, light, refreshing, and low in sugar. Gin, lime, and soda — that’s it!
Ingredients:
2 oz. gin
.5 ounces lime juice
Ice
Soda water topper
Lime wheel
Preparation:
Stir gin and lime juice in an ice-filled highball glass. Top with soda water. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Cristhian Rodriguez, Bar Director at elNico’s in Brooklyn, New York
The Paloma is tough to beat during the summer months. It’s bright, effervescent, thirst-quenching, and easy to pair with fresh fruit juices and/or combinations of any agave spirits. I have fun playing with different recipes.
Ingredients:
2 oz. blanco tequila
2 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
.5 oz simple syrup
Ice
Soda water topper
Preparation:
Add tequila, simple syrup, and grapefruit juice to an ice-filled glass. Stir. Top with soda water. Garnish with a slice of grapefruit.
Simon Sebbah, Beverage Director at Saint Theo’s in New York City
If you want something classic, a refreshing whiskey highball is what you should aim for. It can be made with any spirit really (but whiskey works best) with soda water combined with citrus and herbs such as lemon, orange, mandarin, rosemary, sage, or mint. Or keep it simple with just whiskey and soda water.
Ingredients:
2 oz. whiskey of choice
4 oz. soda water
Ice
Lemon wedge
Preparation:
Add whiskey and soda water to an ice-filled highball glass. Stir and garnish with a lemon wedge.
The best classic cocktail for the summer months is a Daiquiri. It’s a classic cocktail that has been around forever and you can never go wrong with it. It’s simple to make with white rum, lime, and simple syrup. Not only is it easy to make, but it tastes great when done right.
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. white rum
1 oz. lime juice
.5 oz. simple syrup
Ice
Preparation:
Add rum, lime juice, and simple syrup to an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain in a cocktail glass and enjoy.
Pedro Pozo, Beverage Director of Grupo Bakan in Miami
In the heat of summer, the margarita is queen. The versatility and variety of flavors in different agaves allow for a very fresh and balanced cocktail. The addition of Cointreau keeps the citrus balance between orange and fresh lime while allowing the vegetable earthy notes of agave to still shine.
Ingredients:
2 oz. blanco tequila
.5 oz. triple sec
1 oz. fresh lime juice
Ice
Pinch of salt
Lime wheel garnish
Preparation:
Add tequila, triple sec, a pinch of salt, and lime juice to an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel. The salted rim is optional but unnecessary if you add a pinch to the actual cocktail.
Jimmy Hleihil, Culinary and Beverage Director at Branja in Miami
My personal favorite summer cocktail is a classic well-made Negroni. The citrusy aromas and the lightness of the gin make this cocktail the perfect way to cool off on a hot day. It is technically a very classic cocktail. The flavor profile makes it explode on the taste buds while being cool enough without compromising the buzz.
Ingredients:
1 oz. gin
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet red vermouth
Ice
Orange peel garnish
Preparation:
Add gin, Campari, and vermouth to an ice-filled glass. Stir to combine. Add an orange peel garnish.
Mercedes Cowper, Certified Sommelier and Bar Manager at Round Robin Bar in Washington, DC
A Corpse Reviver #2 is a beautiful cocktail on a hot (humid) summer day. The blend of gin, Lillet Blanc, orange liqueur, and lemon gives it a fresh and zesty aroma, while the gin helps ground the flavor profile with herbs and botanicals. Serve very well chilled and double strained for the perfect summer go-to.
Ingredients:
1 oz. London dry gin
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
1 oz. triple sec
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
Dash of absinthe
Ice
Lemon peel garnish
Preparation:
Add gin, Lillet, triple sec, lemon juice, and absinthe to an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a lemon peel for garnish.
Last Word
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Megan Anderson, General Manager at Lazia in Kansas City
The best classic cocktail for the summer is the Last Word, which is a gin-based cocktail that is light and refreshing. The Maraschino Liqueur gives it a nice sweetness without making it overly sweet and sour.
Ingredients:
1 oz. London dry gin
.75 oz. fresh lime juice
.75 oz. Maraschino Liqueur
.75 oz. Green Chartreuse
Ice
Cherry garnish
Preparation:
Add gin, lime juice, Maraschino Liqueur, and Chartreuse to an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.
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