It’s on beautiful sunny Fridays like this, that I contemplate what my first drink will be, come the time that it is socially acceptable to drink alcohol. The phrase, ‘well, it must be 12 o’clock somewhere in the world’, comes to mind.

Unlike our parents’ generation – and I generalise here – we don’t have one specific drink that we consume all the time. We have our favourites, sure, but we like to juggle. Unlike, say, auntie Pam, who used to only drink gin and Diet Coke, with a dash of soda on top.

So when I kick off, I am often at a loss. Is it a G&T? Is it a Campari soda? Is it an ice-cold Sol? Is it a glass of Cape of Good Hope Altima? Or maybe a spritzer – some soda with that Altima?

It’s nice to kick off light, so a spritzer would work. But then my mind trotted off to beer shandies. You know – beer and lemonade.

I started Googling around, and whilst shandies do have a rich history, they don’t always roll in the same way – region to region.

According to Merriam-Webster:

Whereas, nowadays, a shandy is considered a blend of beer with any nonalcoholic beverage, the original specifically was beer mixed with ginger beer or ginger ale.

Both ginger beer and ginger ale are believed to have originated as alcoholic brews but were then processed as soft drinks, making their names misnomers as early as mid-19th century. Typically, ginger beer has a stronger gingery flavor.

Were you aware of that? Of the ginger beer thing? I certainly was not. But noticing that we have ticked past midday, I think I need to try it out.

Moments later…

I’ve just had my first ever beer shandy with ginger beer, instead of lemonade. I can report that it is nothing short of sensational. It probably helped that Fitch & Leedes have a delicately carbonated and superbly balanced ‘Spicy’ Ginger Beer, which provides a lovely little kick.

They also have a Ginger Ale, in case you plan on having a second toot.

Also important is that I keep a few mixers in the fridge – for drinks that don’t contain ice.

What a lovely start to a Friday.

Go on, have yourself a great weekend.