In Michigan, “patio” is its own season. At the first sign of 65-degree weather, we open the back door, sweep off the remaining dead leaves (and sometimes snow) and break out the camp chairs. Really, does anything beat drinking a cold beer on the back porch with a cool breeze cutting the humidity, listening to your favorite summer jams? Probably not.
It’s biergarten season at the Sovengard again. Longer days, later nights, and spicier cocktails, like the Surf Mother, the Sovengard’s warm weather take on a margarita.
On a recent weeknight at Little Bird, smack-dab in the heart of Monroe Center, I had the place virtually to myself.
Ask Andy Sietsema what makes a good cider, and he’ll tell you it comes down to selecting the best fruit and yeast before fermentation.
Desserts may not be synonymous with summer in West Michigan, but they should be. True dessert devotees have long considered summer the peak sweets season. Why? The Midwest is in bloom once again and you can taste the difference. Fresh, locally sourced berries can once again top our ice cream and froyo. Of course, if you’d rather blanket your ice cream in graham cracker dust and rainbow sprinkles, we won’t judge.
The Green Well’s Dexy’s Midnight Runners is a fresh take on a classic English summer cocktail.
Earth is a vast and wildly varied place, yet every culture we’ve ever come across has something in common: delicious food.
Fun fact: Cider and mead are both classified as wine, technically. On one hand, some classifications are nonsense — bell peppers are a fruit, according to “scientists,” but we all know that’s ridiculous.
Jason Lummen, owner of The Peoples Cider Co., is a man who wears many hats: proprietor, bartender, van driver and cider wizard, to name a few. He looks like a guy who’s lifted a thousand kegs, because he has. Lummen told me about a recent excursion to the junkyard where he and his son spent the morning ripping door handles off old G-Vans to replace his own. Hard-working and resourceful, his cider company reflects that.
Whiskey may be a vice, but patience is a virtue — if you’re drinking bourbon, it all evens out.
