I had my first panache of the season last night.
I discovered the drink in 1976, when I was a student in Aix-en-Provence. The last week of school I stopped for one on my way to class. The bartender took a glass and filled it half with beer and half with a carbonated soda similar to 7-Up (perhaps it was 7-Up). I took it to a table and wondered what I was going to do for the summer.
I ended up getting a job on a farm in Alsace. There the panaches were made in milk canisters and brought out to the fields where we toiled. (1976 was an unusually hot and dry summer in France). They kept us going.
When I returned to the States I improved the drink, first using Minute Maid lemonade, then limeade. I'd offer it to guests, who usually balked at the idea of beer and limeade, and then became converts upon taking a sip. There is something about the bitterness of beer, and the sweet and sourness of limeade, that makes the drink incredibly refreshing.
Last night I made my own limeade, squeezing four Persian limes and adding water and sugar. (I am trying to follow Michael Pollan's advice to avoid foods that advertise.) Then I took a cold bottle of Harpoon Summer Beer - I draw the line at brewing (besides, I haven't seen an ad for Harpoon; Hania found it at Total Wine). Then I filled a glass half and half. It wasn't half bad. But I need to work on the limeade.
