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The Watermelon Alarm Clock from the LoFi Bar & Lounge in Albany takes on the flavors of a slice of the fruit, dusted with tajin spice.

The Saratoga-based Rhea makes the Sesame Smeshame cocktail, with the glass studded in the namesake seeds. 

The jewel-toned Hey Mama cocktail from Quinnie's in Hudson is flavored and colored by a black currant liqueur.

The jewel-toned Hey Mama cocktail from Quinnie's in Hudson is flavored and colored by a black currant liqueur.

This summer, cocktails are turning up the heat in a juicy array of fruit-based cocktails spiked with ingredients from the kitchen. From classic watermelon wedges to fermented black currants and fresh pressed ginger, these cocktails pack a punch but are never too sweet.

Where to find it: Quinnie’s, Hudson; quinniesnewyork.com

This one’s a triple whammy: Juicy, low-ABV, and made with locally grown and fermented black currants, Quinnie’s “Hey, Mama” is the ideal sipper of summer when lounging in Quinnie’s park-like yard. Made in collaboration with NYC mixologist and author Natasha David, this puce beauty is a blend of chilled rosé, orange liqueur, honey simple syrup and Currant Cassis with sparkling water for a light, effervescent cocktail that’s right at home with the spritizes of summer. It gets its vibrant hue from Currant Cassis, a woman-owned, Hudson Valley-made liqueur, that uses valley black currants lightly fermented with cardamom, bay leaf, citrus rind and lemon verbena, infusing the deep purple fruit syrup with botanical notes. Most imbibers know the French cassis common in a Kir Royale, but few are aware that farming black and red currants was banned in New York in 1911 until 2003 (the berries were believed to harbor a mold that posed a risk to local white pine trees) when Greg Quinn, a Staatsburg-based botanist, pushed for the repeal. Quinn's currants are the ones used in the Currant Cassis.

The drink: The Watermelon Alarm Clock

Where to find it: The LoFi Bar & Lounge, Albany; lofialbany.com 

Few things go together better than watermelon and heat so if you’re not already sprinkling chile-lime tajin spice on your fresh summer fruit, now’s the time to start. Elevating that advice, the bright minds behind the shag-carpeted walls of LoFi cocktail bar on Lark Street came up with the Watermelon Alarm Clock that might be the punk rock of cocktails with its kick from habanero chile-infused vodka. Mixed with watermelon juice, cocchi rosa and a squeeze of lime, this is what you need to beat the heat. The LoFi back patio is now covered with a sun sail, but you can curl up in one of the brightly colored papasan chairs on the newly expanded side patio on Spring Street.

Where to find it: Rhea, Saratoga Springs; rhea-saratoga.com

Rhea is the newest addition to Saratoga Springs’ sidewalk dining scene and you will be hard pressed to have a better view whether you sit inside or out. With a fast-moving, experienced team behind the horseshoe-shaped bar, Rhea puts their passion for cocktails front and center on the menu. The cocktail list is an ode to Japanese mixology with yuzu, Thai basil and togarashi spice showing up in drinks built around Japanese gin, whiskey and shochu. The Sesame Smeshame borrows another ingredient from the kitchen by pairing a sesame tincture with pressed ginger juice, tequila and smoky mezcal and adding more dimension with mint and lime. The result is refreshingly light with ginger leading the way and sesame rounding up a savory note. One side of the glass is rolled in sesame seeds, so if you want the sesame to be a little more prominent, nibble a few as you sip. 

Award-winning food and drinks writer and longtime TU dining critic, Susie Davidson Powell, has covered the upstate dining scene for a decade. She writes weekly reviews, a monthly cocktail column and the biweekly e-newsletter The Food Life. Susie has received national awards for food criticism from the Society of Features Journalism and served as a 2020 James Beard Awards judge for New York state. You can reach her at thefoodlifeTU@gmail.com and follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefoodlife.co