What will they think of next? (August edition)

For this month's selection of cocktail recipes, I did a little globetrotting to find offerings off the beaten path. Among the criteria for selection was the insistence that each recipe be simple to follow, considering we're in the lazy part of the year above the equator.

• BLUE HEAVEN

From the cocktail recipes at The Drinks Show, held each summer in Toronto, comes this cooling, colorful offering (shown here) that's summery looking and a snap to put together. Its main ingredient, Alizé Bleu, is a ready-made French drink composed of vodka, cognac, passion fruit, cherry, ginger and other flavors.

1½ ounces Alizé Bleu
Fresh lemonade
Fresh ice
Handful of blueberries

Fill a tall glass with fresh ice, pour in the Alizé, top with lemonade and in sprinkle a few berries that will slowly drift down through the drink as you serve it.

• BANANA BATIDA

Celebrity mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim presented this simple treat at the "Tales of the Cocktail" event in New Orleans recently.

8 ounces cachaça
2 small ripe bananas
4 ounces sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Put all the ingredients in a blender with crushed, fresh ice. Blend thoroughly and pour into large wine goblets, Makes two drinks.

• THE BASIL 8

This multi-flavored treat comes from chef Govind Armstrong at Table 8 on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, FL:

4 white grapes
3 basil leaves
2 ounces vodka
2 ounces lime juice
3 olives
1 ounce simple syrup
Ginger ale

Muddle the grapes in the bottom of a cocktail shaker , then add basil leaves. Fill shaker with ice. Add vodka, lime juice and simple syrup. Shake vigorously. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Top off with ginger ale and garnish with three olives on a pick.

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