It’s Friday! In honor of our favorite day of the week, we invite you to kick back, pour yourself a drink, and join us in a virtual happy hour as we discuss our favorite adult beverages.

 Marla Cooper

Drinks? Okay! What time? Oh, you want to know my favorite drink? It depends on my mood. If we’re talking cocktails, nothing beats a gin and tonic, which makes me feel chatty, witty and urbane in a Nick-and-Nora-Charles kind of way. Add a splash of St. Germain and it’s even better. Of course, you can’t drink cocktails every night—can you? I guess you can, but they feel more special-occasion to me. So my go-to drink is a nice glass of zinfandel. (I shouldn’t even have to clarify this, but I do mean the red kind; one time at a restaurant in Oklahoma the waitress brought me a glass of white zinfandel and my siblings then made fun of me when I sent it back, despite my protestations that it would be like bringing them chicken when they ordered steak and saying, “Well, it’s still meat.”) Luckily, I live an hour’s drive from the California wine country, where they know the difference. I set the second book in my series there so I have plenty of excuses to go wine tasting in the name of research!

Kellye Garrett

I have a confession to make. When it comes to alcohol, I am like a Mike Tyson opponent circa 1989. I’m lucky if I make it to two rounds. If I do happen to make it to round three, I’m woozy and not sure where I am. Round Four? On the ground. Yes, I am that much of a lightweight. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t give it the old college try, though! I tend to like my drinks sweet—like me. (That laughter you hear is everyone who has ever met me in real life.) In fact, the sweeter the better. My favorites include sweet tea vodka with lemonade and Pina Coladas made with Kahlua. But my all-time favorite drink is Amaretto with pineapple juice. It’s basically an even sweeter Amaretto Sour. I don’t remember the first time I had it (and I’m not just saying that because I was probably underage and there may be cops reading this). But it had to have been in college. I can’t even tell you how many I’ve had in my lifetime. But I can tell you that I enjoyed each and every one. I’m getting drunk just thinking about them.

Lisa Q. Mathews

I don’t always drink beer…but when I do, it’s pumpkin-flavored. The key is to squirt the top third of the pint glass with gooey caramel. Then dunk the rim into a generous pile of sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and reapply as needed. This whole concept really upsets my beer-purist husband, and probably every one of my Irish ancestors. Plus, the pubs in our New England town always overbuy the pumpkin stuff for foliage season, so it clogs the taps from July until St. Paddy’s Day. I do enjoy cocktails, too—but I refuse to drink anything that’s electric blue. Oh, and my absolute favorite beverage? The lowly but refreshing Arnie Palmer (½ iced tea, ½ lemonade)—year round and 24-7.

Ellen Byron

Oh, where do I begin? In New Orleans, of course! Where I always seem to begin when it comes to food and beverage. When I was in college, I loved going to the Napoleon House for a Pimm’s Cup. Or having a Brandy Milk Punch when I indulged in Breakfast at Brennan’s. Then there was the Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s, the Chocolate Soldier at Nick’s, the Ramos Gin Fizz anywhere. However, all those drinks have now been usurped by the Mojito. I love that drink so much that I actually bought a juicer and Muddler to try making a pitcher of my own. It stank. So you know what my favorite drink is now? A nice, chilled glass of Chardonnay.

What’s your favorite drink? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll be sure to raise an imaginary glass in your honor!