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Best drinks for long trips

12K views 54 replies 45 participants last post by  milehighassassin 
#1 ·
Going down Deso-Grays in May and wanted to know what people preffered for drinks on a longer type trip. Seems like beer takes up a lot of room, and i know water and hydration is a must, but any fun drink suggestions would be great. Whiskey seems good. Let me know of your favorites on the river. Thanks!
 
#5 ·
This is going to sound really wierd but its great for hot days

On a really hot day once I discovered something called a "Lager Shandy" by our friends in the Commonwealth ("I've lived among them....") or a "Panache" by our French friends. On hot days, beer just seems like its too heavy on the tongue and if you pound them like you're really thirsty you'll get to shore and lurch into the face down position in the sand when you get to camp. At the same time Lemon-lime soda (Sprite or 7-Up) seems sickly sweet on a hot day, and gets really old after a you've had a few of them.

Until I had one, the thought of mixing beer but a boilermaker seemed sacreligious, but I promise that the heavens will not be rent asunder and lightning bolts flash fry the hypalon to your flesh if you try this.

Pour a cup half full of some kind of utility pilsner or lager (regular old American beer) and the other half with the lemon-lime soda. Give it a slight stir with your finger, and you'll find its really refreshing, not heavy like beer, not sickly sweet like the soda.

Enjoy,

-AH
 
#9 ·
Pour a cup half full of some kind of utility pilsner or lager (regular old American beer) and the other half with the lemon-lime soda. Give it a slight stir with your finger, and you'll find its really refreshing, not heavy like beer, not sickly sweet like the soda.

Enjoy,

-AH
This is my favorite- only with whiskey instead of beer... I guess that might make it a totally different drink... but, whatever- the whiskey takes the sweet out of the lemon-lime drink and the lemon-lime takes the bitter out of the whiskey- perfect combo.

Of course, on a late July Deso trip a couple years ago, on Day 8, we had run out of everything to drink- well, almost everything- but amazingly we still had ice. We discovered we also had a bottle of vodka that had hot peppers soaking in it all week and a bottle of Ruby Red grapefruit juice. It was better than you'd think. We dubbed it Groover Fruit.
 
#8 ·
Last august on Cat we had someone mixing Moscow Mules for the group. That was a nice mixed drink.

I'm really a straight up beer person though. It does take space though. You might consider doing kegs. Cuts down on space on the front end of the trip and you don't have to carry the nasty empty's.
 
#11 ·
Beer... and i'm not talking about tecate or bud light.. there are really good canned craft beers now.

1 Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial IPA = 4 tecates, which A) takes up less room, B) tastes a HELL of a lot better, and C) less trash

good canned beers:
all Oskar Blues (momma's pils, Dales, chub, tenfiddy, Gubna)
Ska products (true blonde, modus hopurandi, Special ESB, Utopia)
New belgium... well, if you have to!

lastly... buy from these companies and you keep your dollars local! (and out of the hands of the AB's of the world, that already own a 50% market share)

oh yeah - 5 gallon kegs make for a great boating option... just keep them out of the sun to prevent foaming.. temp. regulation is key!
 
#16 ·
hey lets hear it for everclear and coolaid or wylers or smuckers or whatever your favorite punch mix. Can't get a lighter more concentrated mixture (assuming you have water and ice avail). Can't taste the alcohol. You can mix light for the day and heavy once done rowing. Yeah and can start a fire in a pinch ...
 
#17 ·
Beer always seems to make the most sense to me, I at least know my limits with beer in case something unexpected comes at me. As far as storage, I have a question: Does it make sense to tow your beer in a secured, strong, mesh bag and let the river keep 'em cool or will I be S*&#ing my brains out two days in?
 
#20 ·
pre made mojitos. can be a shot or mixed with soda water.

1 handel rum,
3 mint leaf pks.
4 to 5 tbsp. sugar
1 plastic lime bottle

mix everything in the handel and let sit. great for passing around thr fire, or adding to soda water for the real thing. the longer the trip, the better it gets.
 
#21 ·
River Keg Fridge

Haven't built the prototype yet, but here's the idea: A quarter barrel (small skinny keg--full kegs are called half barrels :confused:) fits on it's side, on a bed of ice blocks, in my 85 qt cooler. Newly found by SimpleMan online is an adaptor that allows one to use a little 2lb C02 tank like used in paintball, to power the keg. The fittings, hoses, and C02 tank fit INSIDE the cooler, while the little dispenser hose comes out the drain plug. Hose is long enough to hand to a kayaker or pass to another raft. It's fully self contained; you never have to open the cooler. I imagine that the ice blocks would last three to 5 days....it's on. If you see an old school gray Riken 14 sporting a half lit FoCo hippie out on the river this summer, come over and ask for the hose. Password is "beer please." Pictures of the prototype and schematics will be available on the buzz shortly.
 
#24 ·
Ooo...bloody mary's do sound great!

We did the pop kegs with home brew on the Dolores last year. It's nice to have good beer. We used some of the little CO2 cartridge dispensers. They worked great except we found the keg running once. We had three though.

On that note...I'm headed to the pub.
 
#26 ·
If we've learned anything from this rant, it is that Simply Lemonade is the shit....
The simply susans, so far, have gone down as the best drink we've come across. Invision a pint glass: Good vodka a quarter to third, club soda to one inch below the top (if you're lucky and need the bubbly on your tongue - water will do just fine if you're not), and fill the rest with simply lemonade.

The secret is that you really don't need a bunch of sugar-filled shit to make your drink taste perfect. Just enough to taste and equate all the flavors..trust
 
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