ah, summer in the city. Tourists descend on Hogtown’s square footage in the masses, and you can hardly walk down Yonge without some corn-fed couple begging you to take their picture. It's time to get out of town, and you wouldn't mind seeing the west coast sun for a change.

But, you’re still here. Toronto’s wall of 40-degree heat is far removed from Vancouver’s chilled ‘tude, temperate weather and beautiful scenery. But you’re here! That’s a good enough reason to drive someone to drink.

Since we’re still soaking in tourist-mode, let’s check out some of our own city’s offerings. First is skylounge at the Hotel InterContinental. (Is it just me or when you call something skylounge isn’t your first impression that the bloody thing is on the ROOF?) Nonetheless, it’s actually in a courtyard behind the dark, antiquated Harmony Lounge. Outside is the complete opposite – stylish and breezy with quite the drink selection, so we’re off to a good start.

Where skylounge excels in its conception, it lacks in its execution and the selection of its ingredients. The mixes that they use seem packaged and processed, and from our vantage point, you can see a Snapple sticker on the fridge behind the outdoor bar. That’s probably why the Sky Lemonade (Gin, Cointreau and Lemonade) tastes barely of Cointreau’s orange essence but distinctly of artificial citric acid. The Sun City Ice [sic] Tea made with Vodka and Rooibos Indian summer tea once again tastes packaged. The Cucumber Lavender Mojito was just plain weird, and I usually like weird.

Another hotel with a great patio, the Radisson on Queen’s Quay, is relatively unknown to locals. (Who goes to a hotel in the city where they live?) The décor is still stuck in the ‘80s, unchanged from when it was called the Admiral and is in need of a major image consultancy. But the 5th floor roof top deck complete with swimming pool is a hidden diamond in the rough. They haven’t yet embraced the South Beach style so many other sprawling roof top patios have.

The food is fair but nothing to fly back about and there is not a cocktail menu in the house. Our waitress tells us that they can make anything we want, but apparently not the Mojito or Mimosa that we order. The waitress suggests a Singapore Sling.

To cleanse our palates we head to burgeoning Wellington Street – one of this city’s most attractive streets. Its wide spance and great street frontage is perfect for restaurants and bars, and a good draw for both locals and tourists.

Nectar seems to be a good choice. With a name like that, here’s hoping for some liquid enlightenment. They have an extensive drink card, with the some of the usual suspects each with their own twist added to them.

Their namesake Nectar Negroni was by far my favourite – Bombay Sapphire Gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth with tangerine juice instead of the usual orange zest. The Caesar was fine, but the only special thing was their own spice mix for the rim instead of the obligatory celery salt. And the promised green Tabasco seems M.I.A. The Mango con Tango (coconut rum, amaretto and mango juice) is a refreshing choice, and the default lemon wedge garnish actually helped lighten up the mango juice, but I doubt that was the intention. Considering the creative cocktail selection, more thought could be put into the garnishes.

Toronto, like many other cities, has its share of hits and misses. Some establishments are blazing trails while others are sticking with the tried and true, perhaps waiting for that 20-year trend to make things new again. If that’s the case, be prepared for the return of the Tequila Sunrise, Fuzzy Navel, and the Zombie. Or the Singapore Sling. Oh joy. - B.S.