Summer drinks you can taste anytime

While on a trek south — way south — in December, I stopped by Auckland, New Zealand, and enjoyed a lunch with the sister of one of my former colleagues. Delaney Mes is a lawyer who moonlights as a food writer, and if she's as good an attorney as she is a foodie then New Zealand jurisprudence is in good hands.

It's as cold here as it summery warm in Auckland, which makes one of Delaney's blog posts seemingly nonsensical to Inland Northwest drinkers: She outlines some of her favorite "summer drinks." But hardy Northwest types know that one of the best ways to deal with the cold is by imbibing alcohol, in front of a fire, with or without umbrellas adorning the glass.

So check out Delaney's post. If nothing else, it'll give you something to look forward to.