LCBO Food & Drink Summer 2017

SEASONAL  COOL IT!

Tropical

Be warmed by island-inspired flavours this summer, including this suite of tropically inspired drinks that helps set the mood for lolling in the sun. Beer and cider take on atypically tropical fruit flavours. A classic island cocktail gets captured in a can and a tiki-standard cocktail gets a lightened-up makeover from thirst-quenching coconut water. Each drink conjures an exotic getaway.

Seal Rum ( LCBO 367672, 750mL, $27.85); the Bermuda brand trademarked the drink! This blend of Gosling’s own rum and Stormy Ginger Beer toasted the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda in June. Try it with a squeeze of fresh lime. LIQUID BULLION SAUVIGNON BLANC LCBO 493296, 250 mL, $4.95 With a name that’s worthy of an overflowing chest full of pirate’s booty, this Australian white wine has a typically Sauvignon Blanc flavour profile, rich with tropical fruitiness like passion fruit and citrus. Plucking one of these cans from an icy cooler is the equivalent of finding bur- ied underwater treasure.

REFINED FOOL ILLITERATE LIBRARIANS GRAPEFRUIT IPA LCBO 464834, 650 mL, $6.95 It’s possible to imagine, in the earliest days of India Pale Ale, a grateful British imbiber in the Asian subcontinent squeezing a shot of native grapefruit juice into a long-journeyed brew. The Sarnia-based Refined Fool brewery that produces this creative IPA brings as much innovation to the clever names and labels as it does to the beer. GOSLING’S

DARK ’N STORMY LCBO 491209, 4 pk, $10.95

A real Dark & Stormy can only be made with Gosling’s Black

Light Pina Colada Skip the heaviness (and calories) of this drink’s traditional inclusion of coconut cream. Mix 1 1 ⁄ 2 cups (375 mL) pineapple juice with 6 oz white rum and 6 oz coconut water in a 750-mL glass bottle. Chill. To serve, shake and pour 4 oz over ice; garnish with fresh pineapple and/ or a maraschino cherry. Makes 6 drinks.

BRICKWORKS STADIUM ISLAND PEACH CIDER LCBO 478495, 473 mL, $3.40

Named for another island (Toronto Island, home to Hanlan’s Point Stadium), this dry, super-refreshing cider has a peachy taste bal- anced by apple-tartness. It was at Hanlan’s that baseball legend Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run, knocking the never- recovered ball into Lake Ontario: something to dive for on your next excursion.

138  FOOD & DRI NK SUMMER 2017