Poolside: Drinks to Enjoy

A woman sips a drink by the pool

It’s time for the sixth installment in our series on how to best enjoy your swimming pool, from reading choices to cuisine, to furniture and gadgets. This time our experts look at savory drinks to enjoy at the side of the swimming pool. Not all of them have umbrellas and not all of them have fruit in them, but they’re all very appropriate for the warm weather and lounging.

Sunshine Smoothie
It wasn’t until the 1970s that the word “smoothie” started to be prevalent in American culture, but the drink itself had been around since at least the 1930s and originated in Brazil. Smoothies today come in many forms: some are fruit based, some are ice cream based, and some are based in yogurt. The “Sunshine Smoothie” not only sounds wonderful, it tastes great. A dollop of yogurt is added to a blend of pineapple, banana, orange juice, coconut, and mango. Yum.  

Copycat Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade
Everyone loves lemonade, but why stick with just regular lemonade when you can add a big splash of flavor? A big splash, get it? This lemonade is inspired by Starbucks’ popular passion tea lemonade, a refreshing drink packed with flavor. This drink will be a big hit.

Strawberry Mango Coolers
A mix of strawberries, mangos, orange juice, Sprite, and ice topped with fruit. Punch it up with vodka if you want go that route.

Peach Sangria
As long as we’re knee-deep in fruit let’s mix up a batch of sangria with peach (or substitute your favorite). This is a popular summer drink that’s easy to make: white wine, white rum, schnapps, fruiot, and soda. Sip these drinks because they pack a punch.

Detox Water
We all need to hydrate when we’re out in the sun and nothing does that better than water. But plain old water can be boring so why not spice it up with fruits and vegetables to produce a detox drink? This is all the trend and it has real health benefits, such as making your skin healthy, boosting your metabolism and even helping to keep you trim. Try strawberry/lime cinnamon water, it’s delicious and the kids will even like it.

Raspberry Limoncello Prosecco
From the Damn Delicious website description: “amazingly refreshing, bubbly, and sweet” — how can you resists that? This drink is tasty for sure, but it’s also easy to make, it takes less than five minutes.

Boozy Strawberry Lemonade Vodka Slushies
One too many of these and you won’t be able to say “Boozy Strawberry Lemonade Vodka Slushies” without it sounding like this: “Bruuzzeee Drawbury Elemenod Vrdddka Shhhhllllllllusheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”

Sparkling Pearl Tropical Cocktail
Just one look at this drink and you’ll fall in love. It looks so good you almost don’t want to drink it.