Books with fresh ideas for summer refreshment

It’s easy to grab a beer or pour yourself a glass of wine, but sometimes you want a little something more. And if you’re like many people, you probably need a few suggestions for participating in the cocktail revival.

“Old Man Drinks” by Robert Schankenberg is your back-to-basics starting point, a quirky little tome with more than 60 recipes for vintage cocktails. Yes, you’ll find the gimlet (gin and Rose’s Lime Juice), the Harvey Wallbanger (your basic screwdriver with a dash of Galliano), and the sazerac, the absinthe and rye tipple worshipped by retro-cocktail devotees.

But the book’s real charm lies in its humor and black-and-white photos of actual old men delivering life lessons, such as the hilariously random, “Tacos make me very angry,” from Paul, 65, supposedly a museum curator. The men and their mottos are commemorated in a drink called the grumpy old man, a mixture of bourbon, lime juice and ginger ale that promises to be both sweet and sour.

“How to Booze” by Jordan Kaye and Marshall Altier offers a younger man’s narrative on drinking that is one part bar guide, two parts liquor love sonnet. The book serves up classic cocktails and delightfully witty reasons to drink them: an unbearable date, the return of a friend to whom you have nothing to say, the sudden realization that you are an old married guy. With riffs on bad sex and beer goggles, this is very much a guy’s book, right down to the detailed discussion of appropriate glassware and how to set things on fire (like orange peels).

For lighter, summer-appropriate imbibing, “101 Blender Drinks” by Kim Haasarud offers ideas that go beyond sickly sweet strawberry margaritas and tired old pina coladas. Those drinks are in there – in fresh, updated guises – but the book’s gourmet appeal comes from frothy, icy cocktails often inspired by the local food movement.

The Brazilian pepper crush – with cachaca, fresh sour mix, jalapeno-orange marmalade and kumquats – promises a sweet-spicy take on the now-passe caipirinha. A yuzu cucumber freeze with citrus vodka, cucumber, sake and yuzu could slide down pretty easily on a hot day. With no table of contents or discernable order to the drinks you’ll be forced to read through every one to find those that appeal, which may not be a bad thing.

“Super-Charged Smoothies” by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford may be the book you need after all that drinking. More than 60 recipes aim to help you pack healthy foods into your daily routine. A smoothie called green energy blends avocado, frozen grapes and jasmine tea with macha, a supplement said to boost energy and metabolic rate.

The super-C – with mango, strawberry, orange juice and banana – might help revive you after a night on the town.

Watermelon coolers will help you serve it up Southern style in Denise Gee’s “Porch Parties,” a compact guide to antebellum hospitality. Standards like refreshing hibiscus punch and herby mint juleps mingle with smooth-sounding cocktails like the Concord grape martini, a deep-purple drink that could hit the spot when it’s hotter than a pig on a spit.

“Old Man Drinks” by Robert Schankenberg (Quirk Books, 2010)

“How to Booze: Exquisite Cocktails and Unsound Advice” by Jordan Kaye and Marshall Altier (Harper, 2010)

“101 Blender Drinks” by Kim Haasarud (Wiley, 2010)

“Super-Charged Smoothies” by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford (Chronicle Books, 2010)

“Porch Parties: Cocktail Recipes and Easy Ideas for Outdoor Entertaining” by Denise Gee (Chronicle Books, 2010)

Hibiscus Punch

Start to finish: 10 minutes active (4 to 6 hours steeping, cooling)

Servings: 12 to 14

Ingredients:

1 gallon water

2 cups dried hibiscus flower pods

2 cups superfine sugar

Fresh hibiscus pods or flowers, for garnish

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven, combine the water and dried hibiscus pods. Cover and let stand for at least 2 hours.

Remove cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 6 to 8 minutes.

Strain through a mesh strainer, discarding the solids. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Refrigerate until chilled.

Pour into small cocktail glasses filled with ice and garnish.

(Recipe from Denise Gee’s “Porch Parties,” Chronicle, 2010)