SIP OF THE WEEK

This week's choice for my favorite "sip" is something that has been hiding in my liquor cabinet for a few weeks, waiting patiently for its moment.  Saturday that moment arrives.

I attend my son's alumni lacrosse game, and I've been instructed to bring "a drink for the girls."  I don't feel like bringing beer and the red solo cups, so I branch out by reaching deep into the cabinet.  Suddenly, I have my "aha" moment.

What is better on a sunny, warm (but not hot) fall day than lemonade and iced tea?  And what could be better than both of them together?

Newman's Own lemonade is a great base (pink and regular for a wider selection of mixers), but the iced tea is not for the feint of heart.  As a matter of fact, it's not iced tea at all.  I'm using Lazy Eight Black Tea Flavored vodka.  This vodka tastes so much like a great cup of tea that it goes down just as easily by the shot as it does mixed into a drink.

Lazy Eight is a New England product, created by bartenders and chefs, so buying it also supports local businesses, which is simply a bonus.  The black tea flavored vodka, which is all-natural, by the way, mixes perfectly with the lemonade to produce a late-summer early-fall drink that complements perfectly the casual mood of the alumni crowd.

I discover while doing impromptu bartending that it's not just "a drink for the girls."  This is a gender-neutral beverage, and the entire tall bottle, along with both containers of lemonade, disappear before the event is over.  Best of all, the old fogeys win, which makes the after-barbecue even sweeter, as if anything could top the black tea vodka lemonade concoctions. 

This week's recommendation: Lazy Eight Black Tea Flavored Vodka (under $20 a bottle).