Summer can be a finicky time for those of us who need our daily caffeine fix. Who wants a hot drink during a heat wave? Iced coffee is a perfect solution. If you have a sweet tooth, vanilla iced coffee takes things to the next level. More often than not, vanilla iced coffee is simply iced coffee with the additions of vanilla simple syrup and a bit of cream or milk. This is different than, say, a vanilla frappe, which adds vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. At that point you're getting more into dessert territory. Vanilla iced coffee is simple, sweet, caffeinated deliciousness.

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Things You\’ll Need

• 1 cup coffee, freshly brewed and chilled or cold brewed (see step 1)

• Cream, half & half or milk to taste

• Option A: 1 to 2 tablespoons good quality vanilla syrup, such as Torani

• Option B: 1 to 2 tablespoons homemade vanilla simple syrup (see step 1)

• Ice

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients

There are many ways to prepare iced coffee. You can use a French press or a regular drip machine, and then pour the coffee over ice. You can also use espresso for a stronger drink. Another option is cold brewed coffee.

Bottled vanilla syrup is fine to use. That's what many cafes put in your vanilla coffee drinks. But since it's very easy, let's go over how to make a homemade vanilla simple syrup. It will keep for months so you can make vanilla iced coffee all summer long. For this recipe you will need:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)

(Note: if using bottled syrup, skip to the end).

Step 2: Scrape the Vanilla Bean

Using a small paring knife, slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, leaving one end attached. Using the flat, non-sharp side of the blade, scrape out the seeds from both sides.

Step 3: Cook the Simple Syrup

Place the water, sugar, seeds, and scraped vanilla bean in a medium saucepan (if using vanilla extract, add it here instead of the bean/seeds). Place over medium-heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until the sugar has dissolved, and then give it an extra minute or two before removing from the heat.

Step 4: Cool the Syrup

Allow the syrup to cool. Once the syrup has cooled, gently whisk any clumps of seeds to help separate them.

Step 5: Strain the Syrup

Pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer to remove the bean and any larger clumps of vanilla that still remain.

Step 6: Prepare the Coffee

Fill a large cup with ice. Stir in the coffee, cream, and vanilla syrup. Serve immediately.

White sangria is a refreshing cocktail anytime. Image Credit: Julia Mueller

White sangria is a crisp and refreshing wine-based cocktail you can enjoy year-round. This drink is often prepared ahead of time in a large batch so the fruit can absorb some of the alcohol flavor and in turn provide flavor to the cocktail. The longer the sangria sits in the refrigerator before serving, the more flavorful it becomes.

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Basic White Wine Sangria Recipe

Things You\’ll Need

• 1 750-milliliter bottle of white wine, such as chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, or pinot grigio

• 1 to 2 cups peeled and chopped fresh fruit

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup brandy, triple sec or rum

• 1/2 to 1 cup juice, such as orange, pineapple, blueberry, pomegranate, apple

• 2 to 4 tablespoons sweetener of choice, such as agave, honey, maple syrup or sugar

Method: Stir together all ingredients in a large pitcher, preferably glass. Cover the mouth of the pitcher with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 2 to 12 hours before serving. When ready to serve, fill glasses with ice and pour the sangria over the ice. Be sure to add some of the fruit to each glass.

Tip

You can also add herbs and spices such as cinnamon, fresh mint, basil or rosemary.

For the best result, be sure to use seasonal fresh fruit and 100 percent fruit juice in your white sangria recipe.

Pineapple Kiwi Sangria

Pineapple kiwi sangria is a colorful summery cocktail. Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Things You\’ll Need

• 1 750-milliliter bottle of white wine

• 1/4 cup white rum

• 1 cup pineapple juice

• 1 1/2 cups pineapple (fresh or canned)

• 1/2 cup kiwi, peeled and sliced

• 2 tablespoons agave nectar

Method: Combine all of the ingredients in a large pitcher and stir well. Cover the mouth of the pitcher with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Serve with ice, and make sure some of the fruit gets into each glass.

Pomegranate Citrus Sangria

Pomegranate citrus sangria has a hint of cinnamon. Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Things You\’ll Need

• 1 750-milliliter bottle of white wine

• 1/4 cup brandy

• 1 cup pure pomegranate juice

• 1 cup apple juice

• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 1 navel orange, peeled and chopped

• 1 honey crisp apple, peeled, cored and chopped

Method: Combine all of the ingredients in a large pitcher and stir vigorously. Cover the mouth of the pitcher with plastic wrap, and allow it to sit at least 6 hours before serving in order to ensure the cinnamon sticks infuse the cocktail with flavor. When ready to serve, pour the liquid and some of the fruit into glasses filled with ice.

Tropical White Sangria

Enjoy tropical white sangria with a variety of fruit. Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Things You\’ll Need

• 1 750-milliliter bottle of white wine

• 1 1/2 cups orange juice

• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier or Cointreau

• 1/4 cup white rum

• 1 cup prosecco

• 3 tablespoons agave nectar

• 2/3 cup pineapple chunks

• 2/3 cup fresh mango, peeled and chopped

• 2/3 cup fresh strawberries, chopped

Method: Combine all of the ingredients in a large pitcher and stir well. Cover the mouth of the pitcher with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. To serve, fill glasses with ice and pour the sangria over the ice, including some of the fruit.

Things You\’ll Need

• Vise

• Phillips-head screwdriver or ice pick

• Hammer

Open a beer can from the bottom to display it.

A beer can collector will quickly tell you that bottom-opened cans are the best cans for display. By opening beer cans from the bottom, you preserve the top of the can and it appears unopened. An empty beer can is desirable as opposed to a full beer can because empty cans will withstand bumps and dents much more readily than full beer cans. Open a beer can from the bottom to create a beer can display—you can enjoy the process of emptying the beer cans as well.

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Step 1

Place the beer can gently into the vise and tighten the vise to secure the beer can. If you do not have a vise, sit with the upside-down beer can between your knees to hold it.

Step 2

Position the point of the screwdriver or ice pick on the bottom of the beer can directly inside the side rim of the bottom of the can.

Step 3

Tap the end of the screwdriver or ice pick with the hammer to pierce through the aluminum. When the point of the screwdriver or ice pick pierces through the metal, continue tapping until the hole is approximately one-quarter inch in diameter. Remove the implement from the hole.

Step 4

Reposition the point of the screwdriver or ice pick on the opposite side of the bottom of the beer can, again directly inside the side rim of the bottom of the can.

Step 5

Tap the end of the screwdriver or ice pick with the hammer again to make the second hole the same size as the first hole.

Step 6

Pour the beer out of the can through one of the holes. The second hole will serve as an air hole that will enable you to pour the beer faster through the small hole.

Step 7

Rinse the can out before putting it on display.

The Difference Between a Stout & an Extra Stout Guinness Image Credit: LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages

Arguably Ireland's most famous export, Guinness beer is a malty delight on tap at great pubs. When pub draft is hard to find, bottled Guinness is a beer shop staple, but its various styles may make you want to better understand Guinness Extra Stout vs. Stout beer.

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Understanding Stout Beer

Modern craft variations on stout aside, the one trouble with Guinness is that it seems to taste best because of how it's poured. A "real" pint of Guinness takes as long as five minutes to properly pour for its famously creamy texture, which is what makes it different from that sold in shops. While beers like pale ales and many lagers are hop-forward, it's the malts and barley that define a stout's flavor.

As beer reviewer Kate Bernot explains, "Classic Guinness has always been dry, roasty, clean, not at all syrupy. Its flavors of light chocolate, espresso, and dry almond shell derive from the specialty malts used, not from additions of chocolate powder or coffee beans."

Guinness: What’s in a Name?

Since 1759, Guinness has been brewed in Dublin but now is brewed in over 50 countries. "I'll have a Guinness" used to be a straight-up order, but now Guinness has a whole slate of beer styles, and only a few are stouts. The stout you may know best is Guinness Draught, or what most people consider "Guinness Stout," the variety consumed around the world since 1959. It's nitrogenated and not carbonated like most beers, and that's why it has the creamy head.

Some variations of Guinness include a couple porters, an IPA, two lagers, a golden ale, and the Guinness Africa Special, a malt and sorghum beer brewed in Nigeria. However, what you're really after are the four main stouts: the Guinness Draught, Guinness Extra Stout, Guinness Special Export Stout and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.

There's also Guinness Smooth, another stout made since 2003, possibly as a response to when Guinness sales began dropping off in 2000. Guinness Smooth is considered a "beginner" stout — lighter, less bitter and not favored by diehard stout fans.

Guinness Draught Beer

Despite what people think, the classic stout you'll find on tap and in bottles worldwide is not the original Guinness Stout. It was born in 1959, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Arthur Guinness signing his 9,000-year lease for the brewery at St. James's Gate in Dublin. It boasts a dark, creamy head and is a balance of sweet meets bitter at 4.2 percent ABV (alcohol by volume).

Guinness Extra Stout Beer

In 1821, Arthur Guinness II conjured this recipe — sharp and crisp, still packing those Guinness flavors you love but without the same mouthfeel. That's partly where the "extra" stout comes from.

However, if you really want to understand the "extra stout" meaning, you need to go way back to colonial Britain, when Empire Brits in India and the Caribbean wanted their Guinness too. The beer maker explains that these "extra" stouts were "brewed with more hops to preserve the beer in the ships' holds during voyages of four-to-five weeks in tropical climes."

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout Beer

This beer began life as a "West India Porter," hopped-up for its cross-ocean journey. These days, this Guinness extra stout's ABV is 7.5 percent. Harder to find, this version is available throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas, and it's considered the closest tasting to the original recipe of Guinness Stout.

Guinness Special Export Stout Beer

This version has a big mouthfeel, complex flavors with toffee, butterscotch and blackcurrant notes and it's notable for having been created in 1944 by expat John Martin for the Belgian market. It's a whopping 8 percent ABV, but the strong body still delivers the creamy, rich taste people have come to love in Guinness. As the brewer says, it's a Irish stout with a continental edge.