The news? It鈥檚 hot. In my neck of the woods (Los Angeles), we鈥檝e been staring down heat advisories for weeks now, with temperatures reaching the triple digits in some neighborhoods. And Southern California is no exception 鈥� all over the country (and the world) record-breaking heat is bearing down on people, .
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And given swirling around these past few weeks, I thought it might be helpful to write about something that could bring the temperature down a little 鈥� both metaphorically and literally. So here it is: For months, I鈥檝e been researching the drinks that people in hot places use to cool down. And while there are to put in this newsletter 鈥� after all, the world is vast, and a lot of it is pretty toasty 鈥� I鈥檓 going to share five of my favorites that have been getting me through the warmer days .
- Limonana, aka Egyptian Mint Lemonade 馃崑 I鈥檝e rarely seen a lemonade that I didn鈥檛 want to get my hands on, but this one is next-level. , from two Egyptian American sisters, is simple, luxurious, and easy to make vegan (subbing coconut milk for whole). If you鈥檙e a fan of caipirinhas or mojitos, this drink is their tart, bittersweet, workday-friendly cousin.
- Fresco de Ensalada Salvadore帽a 馃崓Half drink, half fruit salad, this Salvadoran punch full of pineapple, Pink Ladies, mara帽on, and more proves you can have your drink and eat it, too. I used the recipe from (with some substitutions 鈥� not everything is easy to get), but . (And the video is easy to follow even if you don鈥檛 speak Spanish.)
- Mango Lassi 馃キ Am I going to lie and tell you that I鈥檝e made a mango lassi in my dingy blender that can barely turn ice cream into milkshake? No. I haven鈥檛. What I have done is driven down the street and purchased a crate of them from one of my favorite restaurants. But if I were going to attempt these, I鈥檇 probably (by a Pakistani American food blogger whose recipes rarely miss.)
- Mint tea 馃嵉 Haters will say a hot drink doesn鈥檛 belong on this list. To those people, I say: . In all seriousness, folks in some of the hottest parts of the world have been drinking hot tea to cool down for millennia. And while the particular type of tea varies from culture to culture, mint tea 鈥� 鈥� has been my saving grace this summer.
- Red drink 馃崏 There are versions of this (with different names) everywhere from Dakar to Bridgetown to Galveston. And while Red Drink is , it鈥檚 versatile and cooling enough to be consumed all season long. I鈥檓 a Rooibos-girly, so the version I turn to again and again is . But the possibilities for this drink are endless, and .
Remember: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Or as I like to say, is worth . So drink up, my friends. And keep following our coverage 鈥� across NPR, we鈥檒l continue to follow this extreme heat, , and the consequences it鈥檚 had for people鈥檚 ability to , , and .
Until then, try to stay cool any way you can. And in the immortal words of my colleague B.A. Parker: HYDRATE.
This story was written by Leah Donnella and edited by Courtney Stein.
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