Relief pitchers

Make sure you have these winners in your summer punch rotation

We’re into the sweet season, these months when much of the fruit coming out of the ground and out of the trees is so good it should be carried on a gilded litter and polished gently with silken scarves — prior to being eaten, of course. In fact, these warm months mean that it’s smart to double up on fruit purchases.

With several months ahead to read lazily under shade trees or picnic with friends at beaches and parks, it’s the right time to be turning to fruit-at-its-best as a ready-made cocktail ingredient. And it’s the wrong time for sweating fussily over drinks.

Whether you’re in your own back yard or toting something sweet and boozy to a barbecue across town, fruit-centered punches bring the season’s ripest offerings to the fore in an over-and-done-with format; as in, your work is finished for the afternoon. Pick your fruit and then think about what booze would deepen or brighten it.

Stone fruits such as nectarines, cherries and peaches marry beautifully with bourbon; lime, ripe melons and mezcal can make for glorious margaritas; strawberries and Campari match up in color and complement each other’s flavors perfectly. Vodka, of course, is a blank page waiting for a dozen fruity hues.

Citrus fruits’ intense juiciness makes

incorporation easy. The fruits require nothing more complex than a reamer to reap their bounty. Other less-liquidy fruits, or those with a lot of seeds, are more of a chore to work with.

But there are so many ways to get at their flavors: Drop slices of them into your chosen alcohol overnight, using the booze to draw out their flavor. Blend them with spirits and juicier fruits, then strain out solids and seeds as needed. Cook them gently with vinegar and sugar to make a shrub, adjusting sweetness and tartness as you please. And remember that preserves can play a role, too — they need a strong shake and strain to break up the jellied pectins, but when that’s done right, preserves add a nice, silky quality to a drink.

The accompanying five pitcher-friendly fruit punches will get you started. Several of these are flexible in terms of the spirit you can use, and some also can be stretched with the addition of something nonalcoholic, in case you’re serving a crowd or just drinking a whole lazy afternoon away. If you’re drinking a batch over time, you’ll want to make sure you have a long spoon at hand, to stir it up in case any ingredients settle or separate, and if you’re going to be hanging around outdoors, the more you can chill the drinks in advance, the better, so the ice doesn’t melt too quickly as you and the pitcher sweat in the sun.

DEB LINDSEY/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST Blue curacao punches up the tropical appearance of Swamp Water Punch; if you don’t have it, skip it.

Freshly squeezed juice is best in Ruby’s Arms, but if you use bottled, make sure it’s unsweetened.

DEB LINDSEY/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST Bramble On Punch uses summer blackberries for both flavor and show. You can use a good silver tequila for this drink, but a mezcal works fine.

Sweet fig preserves mixes with the spice of chai tea and citrus for a bright, lightly spicy This Little Figgy Went to Kashmir.