Do you know what I’m talking about? This is one of my favorite summer drinks.

These drinks are a refreshing blend of beer and a citrus drink. Depending upon who’s serving it, the citrus component could be lemonade, grapefruit juice, lemon-lime soda (like Sprite or 7-up).

I had my first radler many years ago in Germany. And the story goes that this drink was invented when there wasn’t enough beer to go around for a group of cyclists, so the tavern owner mixed lemon soda with the beer to create this refreshing drink. Radler is the German word for cyclist, and thus the drink got its name! Traditionally, the radler is always a mix of beer with a lemon or grapefruit mixer.

The shandy pre-dates the radler by about 70 years and seems to encompass more mixer options. In the mid-1800s, there was a drink called the shandy-gaff that was a mix of ginger ale and beer. In addition to the lemon, grapefruit, and ginger mixers, shandies may include apple or orange juices.

I always refer to these drinks as a radler, but have come to realize that shandy seems to be the more popular name in the US.