Two months simply isn’t enough time to talk about all the summer related things that I love, so I hope you will forgive a bit of spillage into September. This delicious fruity cocktail is based around Pimm’s, a fantastic spiced gin that is very popular across the pond. This lemonade is pretty much the British equivalent of sangria, and it is just delightful whenever the sun is out (or even if it isn’t).

Craig, my charming boyfriend, grew up in Britain, and on one of the few nice days we had in July he insisted we whip up a pitcher of this fruit laced cocktail to go with dinner. It was a brilliant idea. We started by picking up a pound or two of fruit at the store—strawberries, oranges, apples, and cucumbers (I maintain that a nice, crisp pear would be a good addition as well).

Next up, lemon juice and soda water for the lemonade (why buy it when you can make your own?). You are, of course, more than welcome to purchase half a dozen lemons and juice your own, but lemons can be pretty pricey up here and the bottled juice is usually cheaper.

From there all we needed was a bottle of Pimm’s, a sharp knife, a cutting board, and a pitcher. If we’d had the time (or the patience) it probably would have been best to let the whole mixture sit and get extra delicious for a day, but we had neither, and it was still delicious.

Pimm’s Lemonade

5–10 strawberries, sliced
1 apple, thinly sliced
½ a cucumber, thinly sliced
1 orange, peeled and divided into sections, and chopped up a bit

½ cup white sugar
½ cup water

400mL Pimm’s
600mL soda water
Lemon juice, to taste

Bring the sugar and water to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat.

Place all the fruit in a pitcher and toss to mix it up a bit. Pour the Pimm’s and soda water over top. Add lemon juice to taste, and sweeten as needed with the sugar mixture. You should be able to taste the lemon as a nice, brightening note.

Enjoy in a patch of sunshine!