We drink mostly straight Scotch, Calvados, Armagnac, Cognac, and rums.

But for us, the perfect outdoor summer drink is a Beefeater gin and tonic.

And for the past five or so years, we've experimented with variants of
the classic Sidecar -- Cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon juice, 2-1-1 --
by substituting other liquors, especially Calvados, but also rum or
bourbon, for the Cognac and orange liqueur.

And you can experiment further by using sweet-and-sour mix in place of
the lemon juice, with or without a sugared rim.

A Calvados Sidecar, with 3 parts Calvados to one part s-a-s mix, is
probably our favorite.

-- Larry