I need an idea for a refreshing drink to serve to my book club. I’ll have wine but need a fun non alcoholic or even an alcoholic drink. It just has to be fairly easy to make and tasty! Any ideas?
What book?
Sangria. You can have an alcohol version…and a non-alcohol version.
I Will Betray You by Ruta Sepetys. A young adult book about a teen living during the Romanian revolution.
Order this traditional Romanian summer drink.
I think an Aperol Spritz is always a great answer!
I have to say, I LOVE the idea of a drink in some way related to the book you’ll be discussing. Chef’s kiss.
I like to do sangria when getting people together like this as it can be made ahead and people can help themselves. Since it is spring I do a sangria with white or rose wine and add tons of fruit, some elderflower liqueur and Cointreau.
Whenever my wife hosts her book club at our house, she will set up a long folding table that we have, stock it with red wine and white wine, along with vodka, gin, and rum, plus seltzer and tonic water as well as soft drinks in a cooler; and get me to act as the bartender to pour/mix drinks for the book club members. (Which I am, of course, happy to do. )
We’ve been drinking Seedlip non-alcoholic mixers with soda water/seltzer and a splash of lemon or lime and sometimes some flavored syrup. Our local grocery stores now stock a large variety of interesting non-alcoholic mixers and I’m pretty sure they have elderberry syrup. (I picked up our elderberrry at the New York Botanical Garden store!)
I’ve been in love with this stuff lately: Lavender Lemon Organic Simple Syrup – Royal Rose Syrups
I originally purchased it to make a lavender Tom Collins, but since I’ve been abstaining from alcohol recently, I’m finding that it is pretty darn good just mixed with lemon juice and seltzer. You could mix a batch of that and have a bottle of gin nearby and people can spike as they like (or not).
Cranberry and club soda. You probably want 60-70% club soda. Otherwise, it’ll be really sweet.
LaCroix Sparkling water—many flavors!
Adding to this, I’m not a big drinker besides water, lol, but I like to buy assorted drinks like Lacroix or San Pellagrino flavors and put them chilled on ice in a beverage bucket and let people chose. Buy a few six packs and then you’ll have an assortment ready to go for a few get togethers !
I am making Romanian desserts but I’ll never find this in time but I do have elderberry cordial in the house that I have been waiting to use!
If you have a Total Wine store nearby, you might be able to find some Romanian wine!
Agree with the recommendation of having an assortment of canned or bottled sparkling waters.
Thank you all! @GKUnion - I knew I would never find that soda out here but I had elderflower cordial in the house ( I had plans to make a cake with it …sometime) and found a cocktail online that used lemon juice, tonic water and bitters. It wasn’t bad and the group liked the tie in to the book’s country. I stored some of the other suggestions away for another time.
Fun ideas. Makes me realize that our zoom book club (started during Covid, wide spread participants) has some advantage for never having to sweat the food/drink hosting component.