What to Drink Instead of Wine at a Summer Picnic

There comes a point in early June, usually around the first proper heatwave, when even committed wine drinkers go off the idea of a chilled rosé warming up in a tote bag by the time the rug is unrolled. I have had that lukewarm-glass disappointment too many times. The good news is that tea, coffee and a handful of cold infusions do everything wine does at a picnic, refreshing you, cutting through fat, lifting spice, and they do it without leaving anyone fuzzy-headed in the afternoon sun.

This is not the consolation-prize approach to soft drinks, where the non-drinker gets handed a warm cola and told to make do. Treat these brews as pairings in their own right and they earn their place on the cloth.

Iced black tea is the all-rounder

If you only make one thing the night before, make a jug of strong black tea, let it cool, and keep it cold. Brewed properly (slightly stronger than you would drink it hot, because the ice dilutes it) it has tannin and a bit of grip, which is exactly the quality that makes a young red work with cold meats. It does the same job here.

A good Assam or English breakfast cuts through the richness of a pork pie or a wedge of quiche the way a structured white might. Add a few bruised mint leaves and a strip of orange peel and it starts to feel like something you have actually thought about. Unsweetened is more food-friendly than the cloying bottled stuff, though a spoon of honey suits anything with a kick to it.

For a spread leaning on Indian food, brew the tea with a crushed cardamom pod and a sliver of fresh ginger. That gentle warmth shadows the spices in a samosa or a chickpea salad rather than fighting them, in much the same way an off-dry Riesling would. It is the principle behind half the spicy pairings I rely on, just without the bottle.

Green tea and cold brew for delicate things

Black tea can bully subtle food. When the picnic turns towards Japanese flavours, cold-brewed green tea (genmaicha is lovely, with its toasty note of popped rice) is the one to reach for. Steep the leaves in cold water in the fridge overnight and you get something soft and grassy with no bitterness at all. It sits beautifully alongside cold salmon, sushi rolls, a cucumber and sesame salad, anything where you want to refresh the palate rather than scrub it.

Cold brew coffee deserves a mention too, and not just as a caffeine fix for the drive home. Brewed slow and cold, coffee loses most of its acidity and turns smooth and almost chocolatey. That makes it a genuinely good partner for the sweeter end of a picnic: a slice of flapjack, a square of dark chocolate, ripe summer berries. Think of it the way you might think of a glass of something dark and sweet with pudding, only without the headache.

Herbal infusions, where the real fun is

This is the bit I get carried away with. Steep almost any aromatic in hot water, chill it, and you have a tailored drink for a specific cuisine.

• Hibiscus steeped and chilled gives you a tart, cranberry-pink cooler that is brilliant with Mexican food. It does what a crisp dry rosé does for tacos and lime-dressed salads.
• Lemongrass and ginger infused together echo the aromatics of a Thai salad or cold noodles. Bright, a little sweet, very cooling.
• Mint on its own, strong and barely sweetened, is the classic North African answer to grilled lamb and herby flatbreads.
• Rooibos, naturally caffeine-free and slightly sweet, is the gentle option for late afternoon when nobody wants more stimulation but the food is still out.

The trick with all of them is to brew stronger than seems sensible and chill hard, because warmth and dilution flatten the flavour fast.

A few things worth getting right

Sweetness matters more than you would think. A drink with a touch of sugar will tame chilli and salt, while a bone-dry infusion can taste harsh next to spicy food. Match your sweetness to the heat on the plate.

Temperature does half the work. Carry your drinks in an insulated flask or a bottle that has been in the freezer, and they will hold their edge for hours. A picnic drink that has gone tepid loses the very thing that made it refreshing.

Brew it like you mean it, chill it like you mean it, and a pot of tea will outclass a warm bottle of plonk on a hot day every time.

And do not feel you need a different drink for every guest. One big jug of properly made iced tea, a flask of cold brew for the sweet course, and maybe a hibiscus cooler for the children covers a remarkably wide table.

So next time the forecast promises a scorcher and you are tempted to lug yet another bottle that will be undrinkable by one o'clock, brew a jug instead. A bit of tannin, a little aromatic lift, a hard chill, and you have a picnic drink that earns its keep alongside the food, with everyone clear-headed enough to enjoy the walk home.