As the heat drops its hammer, my personal quest for the cool drinks of summer cranks up again, a sure sign that the season has turned. On a recent 90-degree Sunday, I found a new favorite: the puckishly named Kernel of Truth cocktail at Coltivare in the Heights, 3320 White Oak.

The drink resembles an elegant, subtropical species of milk punch — except that we’re talking freshly juiced corn milk here, shaken with corn whiskey (aka bourbon) and a little pineapple rum, so that the lightly frothed result tastes beachy and sophisticated at once. That alone is a neat trick.

So is the fire-singed corn husk twisted into a garnish for the cocktail. You can use it to swirl the pale golden liquid around its big square ice cube if you want to add a subtle dusky, smoky note.

At 11 bucks, the Kernel of Truth is lovely, creative stuff from one of the rare Houston restaurant bars that can hold its own with the finest craft-cocktail joints in the city. Have it while looking over the very summery menu now in effect, which includes a refreshing duck salad with pickled sweet peppers and Texas peaches; or hand-folded shells hiding a stuffing of chard-flecked ricotta and pureed corn, with blistered pole beans, tomato, corn kernels and tarragon leaves skittering across the top.

See? Summer in Houston is not so bad after all.

Alison Cook is the Chronicle's James Beard Award-winning restaurant critic. Follow her on Twitter, and keep up with Houston's latest dining and drinking news and reviews by subscribing to our free Flavor newsletter.