What you'll be sipping this summer

There's nothing quite like that earthy smell of rain hitting hot bitumen as a late-afternoon downpour cools a sweltering Sunday.

It's a cliche, sure, but that's what summer in 'Straya is all about: sweaty picnic food, prickles in your toes and those sun-bleached days and sticky nights that blur around the edges. We want seafood, salads and nothing but cold beer and cocktails that let you pretend you're on a three-month-long holiday.

Cold, light and fizzy drinks always work well in the warmer months, but there are also some key trends determining what's in our glasses this sweaty season. We've got the lowdown.

Beer

On days when the heat shimmers, it's hard to beat a crisp lager or tart apple cider. According to Jay Lambert, the co-owner and bar master at Brisbane's Statler & Waldorf Gastronomy Pub, cider will continue to climb in popularity this summer – and it doesn't have to be icy cold to be enjoyable.

"The lighter styles of beer will also be popular, with styles like kolsch, witbeer golden ales and saisons becoming the tipples of choice over the coming months," he says. "The craft beer contingent will put their own spin on lager as well, with things like India pale lagers, and unfiltered and toasted lagers popping up as summer seasonal releases from small brew houses."

For something a bit different, go for an alcoholic ginger beer. "It's great on its own and deadly when mixed into a Turbo Dark 'n' Stormy with rum, lime and a drop of sugar," Lambert says.

Wine

This is the year to explore the intriguing world of white wine that exists beyond savvy‑b. A wine wholesaler and sommelier at Canberra's Parlour Wine Room, Peter Bell, expects to see more Italian and Spanish grapes such as cortese, fiano, vermentino, godello and albarino on wine lists and being poured by the glass.

"These are fresh, aromatic, see no oak and have pleasing refreshing acid so they're great in summer," he says.

Growing numbers of red wine producers are fermenting in cement tanks or stainless steel rather than oak, which Bell says makes for "wonderful, fresh, bright red-fruited wines that are clean on the palate and vibrant on the finish". As with whites, this summer we'll be drinking more Spanish grapes such as mencia, tempranillo and grenache, and Italian varieties including nebbiolo, sangiovese and nero d'avola.

For something a little playful, check out more experimental drops such as skin-contact wines (white wines made with the skins present during fermentation). These exciting, often-orange wines are finding new fans every day, but tend to be limited to venues with sommeliers willing to tread new ground.

Petillant Naturel ("pet nat") is another one to watch out for. This lightly sparkling style follows the old "methode ancestrale" technique of bottling the still wine before it has fermented to dry, and allowing the second ferment to occur in the bottle, which gives it bubbles. "They are always awesome and a little bit cloudy," Bell says.

You'll also notice a growing number of restaurants offering sake – it's a surprisingly great match for the lighter, cleaner food you'll be eating this summer.

Cocktails and spirits

Warm, sunlit evenings and family get-togethers wouldn't be the same without a good strong cocktail or two. In summer, it's all about the fruit. At Sydney's Bulletin Place, co-owner Tim Philips and his team devise their short cocktail list each day based on the best produce available.

"Stone fruits like mango run until the end of January, and are a great canvas for spirits like gin, spiced rum and tequila," Philips says. (Check out Bulletin Place's "Mangoes into a bar" cocktail recipe below.)

"We will make use of cherries, plums, watermelon, nectarines and peaches for the next month or so, then move into cocktails using apricots, passionfruit and grapes.

"On the alcohol side of things, lower alcohol options using fortified wines, vermouths and rosè table wines are easy to use in cocktails and ideal for summer."

Finally, whether you love them or hate them, cocktails on tap are trending this summer. Check out Sydney's Powder Keg and Gazebo, La Condesa in Melbourne and Brisbane's Statler & Waldorf, which does an Aperol Spritz on tap.

And if you're avoiding the booze altogether? "For the tea-totallers we recommend homemade grapefruit sodas, spicy ginger beers and the very low-alcohol kombucha – a fermented fruit tea," Philips says.

COCKTAIL RECIPE - MANGOES INTO A BAR

• 30ml Bundaberg Small Batch Rum
• 20ml Rega Rogue Rosso Vermouth
• A large cube of mango
• 20ml lime juice
• 1 tablespoon castor sugar

Press mango lightly in a cocktail shaker. Add all other ingredients and lots of ice to cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain mix into cocktail glass or chilled coupette.