21st century highballs: coolers, lemonades, sangrias and slings--these are not your father's summer drinks.

Maybe global warming is the only thing that can stop the onslaught of Alternatinis, the up-glass beverages that are driving the cocktail revolution.

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But not the greenhouse gas-caused type of temperature rise; we're talking the annual warming that comes to the northern hemisphere each June and stays through September, the kind of heat that builds powerful thirsts, creating a customer demand for long, tall and quaffable drinks, instead of those brightly colored modern Martinis packed with alcohol.

You don't have to be a genius, of course, to recognize what many restaurant and bar operators have known since the first weary wanderer stepped into the cool, dark confines of a roadside inn: iced spirits, made slightly sweet or bubbly, can cap a customer's day, and embolden them to order one or two more, especially those that are relatively low in total alcohol content.

Operators have long witnessed the annual summer sales spike in beer, fountain drinks and iced teas. In the 1980s and 1990s, bottled waters and frozen drinks also took great leaps forward, too. Now, operators are witnessing growth in what are classically known as a group as long drinks.

REAL THIRST

"The fact is, when the weather gets hotter we like to gulp instead of sip, so longer drinks, with a lower percentage of alcohol, make sense," says Cheers columnist and spirits writer Gary Regan. "However, we are seeing homemade versions of long drinks just as much as we're seeing the same in cocktails. Bartenders are returning to their roots."

Until the cocktail revolution of the 1990s, summer restaurant drinking in the spirit sector mostly meant Vodka Tonics, Gin and Tonics, Fuzzy Navels and Sea Breezes--simple drinks that were really just contemporary variations of the Screwdriver and Highball. Still serviceable, these beverages are the default order for an older generation, but not necessarily the sort of beverage that can attract the 21st century cocktail consumer and keep them away from trendy craft beers in the summer.

Eben Klemm, master mixologist for B. R. Guest Restaurants (operations total 16, including two Dos Caminos in NYC, Blue Water Grills in NYC and Chicago and Fiammas in NYC and Las Vegas) says that customer response to long drinks in the warm months may signal a return to classics like the Sling, the Rickey and the Collins.

"We shift over our emphasis in the summer to long drinks, mostly because it makes sense--they're more refreshing." Klemm's version of long drinks includes popular creations for the Blue Water Grill like the Persa, made with mango- and rhubarb-infused vodka topped with Moscato d'Asti sparkling wine. "I'm a big fan of Moscato, especially the way its low alcohol and melon and strawberry flavors work with spirits, but I couldn't believe how well the Persa was going at first."

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"It's sort of an evolution from the Martini-type drinks to long drinks, which you can adapt by adding some soda to the basic recipe," Klemm says. For instance, he suggests that Margarita lovers might be inclined to switch to the Paloma, made with tequila, grapefruit soda, lime and a pinch of salt, in the hotter months.

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IF LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS ...

The most popular long drinks today are variations of three kinds: those made with lemonade; those topped with sparkling wine or soda; and variations on Sangrias.

As David Nepove, aka Mister Mojito and bar manager at San Francisco's Enrico's says, "Take any great spirit and put it into fresh lemonade and you have a great cocktail." In NYC, a summer favorite is the 'Lectric Lemonade, a tangy summer potion created by Great Performances, a catering and events company which manages Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

At the 250-plus Lonestar Steakhouse and Saloons, this is the summer of lemonade and Long Island Tea variations, with the company promoting them served in 16 oz. mini-pitchers. The promotion includes Mango Lemonade (Bacardi O Rum, Cointreau and Island Oasis Mango), Green Shade Melonade (Stolichnaya Vodka, Midori, sweet and sour, orange juice and Sprite) and Just Peachy Lemonade (Jim Beam Bourbon and DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps), as well as three others--Razzberry Tea (Stolichnaya, Beefeater, Bacardi Razz Rum and Chambord), Texas Tea (Stolichnaya, Sauza Gold Tequila, Bacardi Superior Rum and Coca-Cola) and Red Passion Tea (Absolut Vodka, Bacardi Superior Rum, Remy Red Cognac and Cointreau).

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Other chains are introducing and promoting hot weather beverages this summer. Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville units launch this month their Cruzin' to Margaritaville Cruzan Rum-Coca-Cola program which promotes six new drinks and ties it Carnival Cruise Line prizes. The drinks, like the Ocho Rios Rum Rita and the Key West Colada, are long, fruit juice variations on well-established beverages.

KEEPING COOL

In regions where the summer is long, hot and humid, long drinks are a tradition. At Adelaide's Swizzle Stick, a new New Orleans operation in the Loews New Orleans Hotel directed by the Commander's Palace Family of Restaurants, the summer menu is filled with such drinks as the Adelaide Swizzle, made with New Orleans Amber Rum, lime juice, bitters, soda and a secret ingredient; and the Belladonna, made with Charbay Blood Orange Vodka, orange cordial, sour mix, lime juice and cranberry juice.

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In another part of New Orleans, at Cobalt in the Kimpton Hotel's Hotel Monaco, this summer's menu means tall drinks like the Blue Bayou, made with Bacardi O, Bacardi 151, blue curacao, ginger ale and sour mix; and the Streetcar Float, made with Bacardi Gold Rum, local favorite Abita Root Beer and two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Even in areas not normally associated with sweltering weather, refreshing and creative long drinks are more important than in the past. Bob Brunner, beverage director at Portland's Paragon Restaurant and Bar, changes his beverage menu twice a year, and this year's spring/summer menu takes the weather into consideration just the way a chef might.

"We're trying to take things to another level with our cocktails, and with our infusion program, I try to think in terms of usability and profitability, so using them in all types of cocktails makes sense."

INFUSED WITH FLAVOR

Brunner infuses vodkas and rums with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and other fruits, and has used them successfully in many different cocktails. For this year's warm weather menu, he's using them in drinks such as the Wild Blackcap Cooler (black raspberry-infused Bacardi Light Rum and house made lemonade) and the Cadillac Cooler (blackberry- and raspberry-infused Smirnoff Vodka and house made lemonade).

Brunner has also created a host of cocktails based on classic recipes, like the Negroni-like Industrial Tea (Campari, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Pearl Vodka and San Pellegrino Aranciata soda) and Fever (Domaine Ste. Michelle Sparkling wine, Pallini Limoncello and pomegranate juice).

Pomegranate juice shows up in a number of Brunner's summery long drinks, and he says he finds its tart and sweet flavor profile a useful balance to sweeter ingredients that can overwhelm and limit beverage reorders. Some of the drinks, like the Cadillac Cooler, are based on successful cocktail creations routinely listed on Paragon's menu that he extends with lemonade, soda or sparkling wine. In fact, nearly every currently popular Alternatini today, with a little care, can be turned into a winning long drink with the careful addition of non-alcohol ingredients.

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For the Helix Lounge in Washington, DC, the summer menu features long drinks served in pitchers, like at Lone Star, but in this case Sangrias. "The pitchers allow people to sit outside and relax among friends with a couple of pitchers and cool off in the hot and humid Washington evenings," says bar manager Morgan Taylor. Helix lightens up the classic Sangria recipe, removing spirits and going with chardonnay, sparkling wine, mangoes, peaches and fruit juice for their White Sangria, swapping merlot in for the Red Sangria.

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Taylor says other long drinks at Helix Lounge, like the S'up Peaaach (Stolichnaya Persik, peach schnapps, soda, Sprite and sour), while served up, are still lighter in alcohol and easier to drink in the summer.

INTERNATIONALLY LONG

Brunner and others say that creative bartenders are now approaching long drinks with the same verve that reestablished cocktail creativity in the 1990s. David Nepove says a recent visit to London caused him to rethink the possibilities in long drinks.

"I have on my cocktail list a whole section of what I call 'stolen cocktails,' and it's filled with long drinks I found there, where they serve really elaborate things with ornate garnishes." One of his favorites is a variation of the Lonsdale Lemonade from the Lonsdale in London, made with Maker's Mark Bourbon, honey simple syrup and lemonade.

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Adding sparkling water or wine to many standard cocktails will make them into fine signature long drinks, says Nepove, but he also favors simply lengthening popular cocktails with water. "I do a Watermelon Cocktail that's very simple--muddled watermelon, vodka and simple syrup--and by the time it's shaken well and then poured over lots of ice, it becomes a longer, easily drinkable version of a short drink, something that people can sip longer."

For a recent bartender competition in San Francisco, Nepove came up with what he calls the Retropolitan, made with Hennessey Cognac, maraschino liqueur, falernum and lemon juice shaken and poured over lots of ice. And he advises that the best thirst quenching long drinks are those made without too many ingredients and crafted with an eye to flavor and proportionality of ingredients.

In fact, some of Nepove's favorite long drinks are created simply by the addition of lots of ice, a low cost ingredient if there ever was one. Since he is known as Mister Mojito, Nepove likes muddling any fresh fruit--he favors kiwis, kumquats, strawberries and watermelon--as a flavoring agent in a Lemon Drop recipe variation. He then shakes it hard and long, and pours the cocktail over lots of fresh, crushed ice. Simple, cold and tasty--the perfect summer long drink.