Toast PGA Championship and waning days of summer with Mount Gay Eclipse Gold Rum

Well, the PGA Championship is half-over, and summer is all but done as well, what with kids heading back to school in a week or so and football season just a touch-pass away.

Sigh…

It makes one sit and ponder the inevitable march of time, the inexorable pull of the bracing current that carries us all, eventually, over the falls.

And it makes me thirsty.

What better way to rage, rage against the dying of summer’s light than by mixing up a few quintessential seasonal cocktails?

The best summery drink I know of is the mojito, but these have recently become almost passé in their sudden popularity. One of my favorite twists on the classic is a strawberry-basil mojito:

2 oz Mount Gay Eclipse Gold Rum
5 oz soda water
fresh strawberries
fresh basil
cane sugar
1 oz fresh lime juice

Muddle the sugar, strawberries, and several leaves of basil (amounts will depend on your tastes) together in a mortar or tall cocktail glass. Mix in the lime juice and give one last muddle. Fill glass with ice, then add rum and top with soda water. Garnish with basil leaf and cut strawberry on rim of glass.

For the even more adventurous, try a Summer Scentsation (from the folks at Mount Gay Rum):

1.5 oz. Mount Gay Eclipse Gold Rum
3-4 chunks of fresh watermelon
3/4 oz. Lavender Syrup*
¾ oz. fresh lemon juice

Glass: Cocktail or Martini
Garnish: Small wedge of watermelon (with rind)

In mixing glass, muddle watermelon well. Add remaining ingredients and ice. Shake vigorously, then double strain (strain through Hawthorne into julep strainer) into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with wedge of watermelon on cocktail pick.

*Lavender Syrup: Boil 2 cups water and add 2 cups sugar and 1⁄4 cup dried lavender. Let Steep until cool. Drain and refrigerate.

After a few of these, you’ll think you can play like Tiger at Hazeltine.