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Imbiber: Cool-off cocktails

By Dan Dunn | Special to amNewYork

3:25 PM EDT, June 10, 2008

Man, this heat is making me crazy. It isn't merely, as they say, Africa hot. It's so hot around these parts that most New Yorkers have spent the past few days sweating harder than beleaguered Mets manager Willie Randolph. When it's this sweltering, we've got little choice but to remain indoors watching TV with the AC on full blast. Problem with that is, this summer's network offerings have the potential to fry most viewers' brains faster than the sun ever could.

Sure, I'll admit to being mildly intrigued by MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew 2," if for no other reason than it portends a day when my own reality show idea, "Naked Baking with Philip Seymour Hoffman," might be considered commercially viable. But I'd rather spend a steamy afternoon locked inside a sealed glass box on the roof of the Empire State Building than endure a single minute of "Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods" or, worse, "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett's latest effort, "Jingles," in which amateur songsmiths compete to dream up melodies on behalf of real products. And you thought "Viva Viagra" was the nadir of televised shilling!

It's enough to drive sane folks to drink, and with that in mind, here are a few cool suggestions for beating the heat:

"Tall Water" I first encountered this concoction in the backwoods of Kentucky, where the locals prefer whiskied-up water to watered-down whiskey any day and twice on Sundays. Fill a highball glass with ice and water, add a shot of Old Granddad or Wild Turkey.

"Natorade" This rejuvenating elixir tastes very much like the popular sports drink for which it's named. In a shaker, combine equal parts vodka, DeKuyper's Apple, raspberry schnapps and 7-Up. Add a splash of sour mix, shake, pour into a shot glass, and shoot it.

And the "cool de gras""Around the World" Refreshing, clean, and crisp; created by Anthony Alba of Liquidity Global in Las Vegas, where they know or thing or two about combating extreme temps.

3/4 oz Hendricks's Gin
1oz PAMA
6 muddled, skinned cucumber slices
1/2 oz yuzu juice
1/2 oz elderflower liqueur
1/2 oz Partida Agave Nectar

Muddle cucumber in a Boston shaker, add ingredients, shake with ice and strain in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cucumber slice, edible orchid and pomegranate seeds dusted with easy leaf edible silver.

Dan Dunn is the author of the book "Nobody Likes a Quitter (and other reasons to avoid rehab)," available at Amazon.com.