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Endless argument: shake, float, or frappe?
Feel free to order a “mocktail’’ at The Roof, a three-season rooftop taco bar newly opened atop The Hotel Salem. (The Hotel Salem)
By Kathy Shiels Tully
Globe Correspondent

What’s your favorite, nonalcoholic, thirst quencher on sweltering summer days and nights?

Raspberry lime rickeys. Frozen lemonades. Tropical-flavored smoothies. Iced chais. Root beer floats. Sherbet freezes. Frappes. Arnold Palmers (the drink, that is, not the golfer).

“A mojito limeade is popular,’’ said Peter Kaloostian. He owns My Uncommon Grounds, a breakfast/lunch spot in Watertown, with his wife, Lisa.

Made with Moroccan mint tea, it stands out among their iced drinks, which include a dozen flavored iced lattes made with two shots of espresso and cold milk. Arnold Palmers, a mix of iced tea and lemonade, are also popular.

At Soc’s Ice Cream in Saugus, Julia Barresi is scooping homemade ice cream for her third summer. Her coworkers boast that the Boston College-bound freshman makes the best raspberry lime rickeys, maintaining a fine balance between sweet and tart.

Her secret?

“Not using too much syrup,’’ Barresi said with a smile.

Soc’s also sells frothy root beer floats and sherbet freezes in orange, watermelon, and lemon.

“But our customers’ number one favorite is the coffee-Oreo frappe,’’ said owner Sharon Cassiola.

Sharon and her husband, Paul, purchased the longtime ice cream stand in 2016. Today, three of their four children help run it: Stephen, 27, who manages it, Daniel, 21, and daughter, Serena, 15.

In Salem, at The Roof, a newly opened, three-season rooftop taco bar atop The Hotel Salem, a creative cocktail program pours seasonal drinks on tap, plus sangrias, margaritas, craft beer, and wine.

And if you want a drink, sans the alcohol, while overlooking the nearby harbor and scenic downtown? Just ask.

“Our bartending staff can customize nonalcoholic ‘mocktails’ made with juices, herbs, and housemade syrup to accommodate guests of all ages, with special diets, or health conditions,’’ general manager Jessica Brissette wrote in an e-mail. “We want everyone to have a great experience.’’

At the Bubbling Brook Restaurant in Westwood, owner Marie Adams said: “I have customers who come in March, soon as we open, and order a raspberry lime rickey. They’ll say, ‘I’ve been waiting all winter for that!’ ’’

Using seltzer from a soda fountain machine versus cans or bottles,Adams said, makes the difference.

“The freshness and carbonation makes it so much more delicious,’’ said Adams, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband, Brian, and her parents, Ed and Gloria Cortas.

Frappes are also popular. However, she said, her older customers and young staff will sometimes bicker over the wording: “milkshake’’ versus “frappe.’’

A milkshake, Adams explained, is made with milk and syrup; frappes are made with ice cream, milk, and syrup.

Down on the South Shore, you can find “summer in a cup.’’

Susan and Andrew Franklin own a Del’s Frozen Lemonade retail store in Cohasset, churning out eight flavors daily of the all-natural, soft-frozen beverages, including the signature lemon, complete with bits of lemon and lemon rinds.

They imported the iconic Rhode Island frozen treat and its recognizable green-and-yellow-striped cup in 2008.

“Only native Rhode Islanders or people who had gone to college or summered in Newport recognized the brand,’’ said Susan Franklin, who grew up in Rhode Island.

Today, the couple’s Del’s truck appears on Food Truck Tuesdays at the Hanover Mall in Hanover and Union Point Farmers Market in Weymouth. Their Del’s pushcarts attend summer festivals and weekly farmers’ markets in Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate.

At the bustling JJ’s Caffe in Brockton, colorful, healthy smoothies — the fruity Island Breeze and Berry Blast and kale-based Green Monster — help customers refuel after a run at D.W. Field Park, said Nelson Fernandes.

“Even in the dead of winter, people want their Island Breeze,’’Fernandes said.

Together, with his father, Justin (JJ), a former executive chef at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, and brother Nick, the father-and-sons team owns the 43-seat breakfast/lunch spot.

JJ’s Caffe also serves Simpson Spring craft sodas. The Easton company, built in 1878, still sources its freshly made drinks from a bubbling, geothermal spring.

But year-round, said Fernandes, the hot coffee —a $3 bottomless cup of Scituate-based Harmon coffee — is the number-one seller.

“Even if it’s 90 degrees out.’’

Kathy Shiels Tully can be reached at kathy@kathyshielstully.com.