Have you ever been to a bar at 4:30 in the morning, on purpose? Yeah me either, until this past Saturday. I've never been out that late nor have I been up that early with the explicit purpose of going to a bar. But there was a very, very good reason to be at a bar at 4:30 AM this past Saturday. That's because the English Premier League season opener for Tottenham Hotspur was playing! And like the good wife that I am, I tagged along with Will to see the Spurs surprisingly not get crushed by Manchester United (I had pretty low hopes for the Spurs, tbh). It was actually quite fun and you'd be surprised to know that there's a contingency of Spurs fans in Tacoma, including the owner of said bar, Doyle's, that are willing to get up at that hour and watch games. We rolled in around 4:35 and a handful of people had already staked out seats, clad in many years of Spurs kits, with a cup of coffee in hand. We settled into a booth, got our requisite coffee and prepared for the worst. The Spurs did better than we (I) expected losing only 1-0 to Man U. The Spurs fans were excitable and fun, mostly a younger crowd but inclusive of a guy in his 50s or 60s that was from England - a true, lifelong Spurs fan (the poor soul). We eventually got a proper English breakfast to share and definitely enjoyed an Irish coffee at 6 AM when alcohol was allowed to be served. And by 6:45 AM, the game was over and we were on our way! Talk about an experience.
So what does one do after being awake at o-dark-thirty on a Saturday? Go back to sleep, of course! Take a nice long nap, then do your normal Saturday errands. And then being the go-getters we are, we went into Seattle to have dinner with a friend that was super delish, before getting in what felt like a miles-long line to get into the Alaska Airlines Arena at UW to see Senator Bernie Sanders speak. Well being two of the last 100 or so people who squeezed in, we were way up in the nosebleeds, packed in with 9,998 other folks there to see the presidential candidate speak, with an additional 3,000 outside that didn't make the cut. It was quite the experience and we were very glad we went, despite the lack of air conditioning in the arena, the hard seats and the commute to and from. My only regret from the whole thing was not purchasing a "DemoCATS for Bernie" button. After the whole shebang was over, we sat it out in the parking lot for a bit to let the crowd die, before hittin' the old dusty trail back to Tacoma, where we gratefully fell into our bed again.
You may be wondering what all this has to do with a cocktail?? Well nothing at all, to be quite frank, other than I wish these had somehow been ready and waiting when we returned from Seattle. If anyone ever asks, this drink should always be ready and waiting for you no matter where you are coming from. This cocktail is so good. It is all the good. Inspired by another beverage we prepared and the things in our fridge, we landed on this blackberry mint lemonade combo. We tested it with both gin (pictured, left) and white rum and couldn't determine which we preferred. Therefore we recommend both alcohols (and probably vodka too) as the enhancement to what would already be a pretty darn delightful summer bev. Grab your muddler, pick some berries, and drink up with this phenomenal summer cocktail!
Blackberry Mint Spiked Lemonade (serves 2)
10-12 blackberries
1 cup lemonade, split
1 1/2 shots white rum or gin
Fresh mint
Crushed ice
Muddle 2-3 blackberries and 2-3 mint leaves in the bottom of each glass. Pour in crushed ice, filling glass 2/3 full. Pour over 1 1/2 shots of white rum (or 1 shot gin) and 1/2 cup lemonade, per glass. Stir until well mixed, then top with another 2-3 blackberries and a sprig of fresh mint.
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