G-rated Summer Drinks
 

What are your favorite non-alcoholic summer drinks?
Do you have any beverage traditions for family barbecues?

I'm a big fan of citrus, so variations on lemonade and limeade are common.
Two years ago I started on a mint lemonade kick (Lemon juice, mint, and honey)
Then there was strawberry lemonade (chopped strawberries tossed into a pitcher of Countrytime)
Blueberry limeade is pretty nifty, too (similar recipe)

But this summer it's sugar-free Vanilla Lemonade.
Truly the nectar of the gods.

1/2 Hawaiian fruit punch
1/2 7-up
small tablespoon scoop of lime sherbet floating on top

something my aunt used to serve at parties.

I like mixing Santa Cruz mango lemonade with club soda, or any lemonade with club soda, to make a sparkling lemonade. The mango is my favorite, though.

For me, I often drink mojitos without rum (heresy to some, I know); I just like the combination of club soda, mint, lime, and a bit of sugar.

Suffice it to say, club soda is a mainstay of our fridge.

One of our favorite places to eat in town serves a variety of mocktails that I've been meaning to attempt at home:
Frutta della Vallee: peach puree, cranberry juice, and tonic
Life's a Beach: Pineapple juice, OJ, orgeat (almond syrup), lime juice, club soda
Lime Ricardo: ginger ale, cranberry, and lime

They also make "dry" sodas with rhubarb and cucumber. If you like cucumber water, it's good :)

I am seriously going to have to try some of these recipes.

I am a fan of strawberry lemonade. I also enjoy watering down juices with either ice water or club soda, since usually straight juice is too sweet for me.

Personally, I love summer smoothies as a morning semi-meal. I like to use frozen strawberries instead of ice cubes and add avocado or a little bit of greens to my fruit and yogurt. They're yum.

Not just summertime for me, but certainly summer-appropriate: I keep a pitcher of unsweetened decaf iced tea in the fridge. I fill a glass with 3/4 of this iced tea, plus something else: lemonade, cranberry juice, OJ, mango juice, or whatever else happens to be in the fridge and complementary to iced tea.

Oh, and no ice cubes. But that's a different thread. (http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-...ike-yours.html)

This last weekend I drank a lot of sliced cucumber muddled with ice and club soda. Delicious. So when I came across this just now, poking around my food blogs, I thought I'd post it here.

Cucumber Punch
Cucumber Punch Recipe | Taste of Home

Ingredients
2 medium cucumbers
3 cups water
1 can (12 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 liters diet ginger ale, chilled
4-1/2 cups diet grapefruit or citrus soda, chilled
Directions
With a zester or fork, score cucumbers lengthwise; cut widthwise into
thin slices. In a large pitcher, combine water and lemonade
concentrate; add cucumbers. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Just before serving, transfer cucumber mixture to a punch bowl; stir
in ginger ale and grapefruit soda. Yield: 25 servings (4-3/4
quarts).

I like mixing a can of frozen lemonade with a can of limeade (the limeade can is smaller, maybe half the size), then topping the pitcher off with water. It's stronger than either of the cans alone, but the flavors balance each other nicely, I think.

I love flavored lemonade. The current favorite is kiwi, but I'm also a huge fan of strawberry, raspberry, cranberry, and watermelon. Yum. Straight up lemonade is my default fallback. I've made two pitchers of Country Time in the last two days...it's yummy, but I actually prefer mine to be a little more tart.

Sweet tea is definitely a must. And every once in a while, I'll go on a smoothie kick. No real recipes, I just throw ice & yogurt into a blender, plus whatever fruit I have around.


....now I'm thirsty.

Mostly just iced tea, but I do it the right way - my way.

The usual amount of bagged tea (Not lipton), in a jug of cold water in the fridge overnight. Take out the bags in the morning. Since the water is cold, and stays cold, the tea infuses slowly, but is much better than most of the crap iced tea served everywhere. No bitterness, just tea.

Found this on the Kitchn today:

Refreshing Summer Recipe: Aguas Frescas | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn

Watermelon-Lime Agua Fresca
serves 4 (fills one blender)

2 pounds seedless watermelon (1/8th of a good-size watermelon)
1 cup cold water
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup or agave nectar

Honeydew-Basil Agua Fresca
serves 4

1 honeydew
2 cups cold water
4 teaspoons lime juice
2 tablespoons basil-infused simple syrup or agave nectar

For the simple syrup: Mix 1/4 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar. Bring to boil over medium-low heat and simmer, without stirring, until all sugar is dissolved (about three minutes). Remove from heat, add 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (I used lemon basil for its fantastic citrus scent, but you could also use regular basil or mint). Let steep for 15 minutes until flavor has infused the syrup.

Blend all ingredients, adjusting sweetness as needed. Strain through a mesh strainer or cheesecloth (optional). Serve over ice.

Wow! Yum.
All of you have great ideas. Way better than this...

Peach & almond-milk smoothie:
- 1 peach, skinned and pitted
- 1/2 Litre almond milk
Blend with ice & serve.

Spiced Citrus Iced Tea
Recipe Rehab: Spiced Citrus Iced Tea - That's Fit

4 tea bags (green tea or orange pekoe)
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
4 cups boiling water
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
3 cups cold water


Instructions:
1. Bring four cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the tea bags, spices and honey. Cover and let steep for five to six minutes.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a two-quart pitcher.
3. Remove the tea bags and spices from the tea mixture and add to the pitcher. Stir and chill. Serve over ice.

Serves: 8

1.5 ounces of rum (Don't worry, it's not going in your drink - check out his step 1.)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 of one lime, cut into pieces (This is more lime than a normal mojito to make up for the lack of rum.)
6 good size mint leaves
ice
club soda

1) Give the rum to someone who drinks.
2) Put the lime, mint, and sugar in a glass and muddle.
3) Fill cup with ice about 3/4 full.
4) Top off with club soda.
5) Stir with a spoon.
6) Garnish with fresh sugar cane if you can get some.

Source
:thumbsup:

There's still some rhubarb out there, so how about this one:

Rhubarb Honey Drink
Polish Rhubarb Honey Drink Recipe - Recipe for Polish Napoj z Rabarbaru Rzewienia z Miodem or Rhubarb Honey Drink

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
4 cups water
1/2 cup honey
1 pound rhubarb, peeled if necessary, chopped
3 cups hot water
Orange slice or mint for garnish
Preparation:
Bring water to boil, remove from heat, stir in honey and let cool.

Whiz chopped rhubarb in a food processor. Place pulp in medium bowl, pour hot water over pulp and cover. When bowl is cool enough to handle, place in refrigerator for 2 hours or until cold.

Strain pulp through a sieve into honey-water mixture. Stir. Place ice cubes in 4 tall glasses and pour drink over. Garnish with an orange slice or sprig of mint.

Every time I see this thread title, I crave a Shirley Temple (Grenadine Lemonade):

According to Wikipedia, there are variations:

Original:
Two parts ginger ale, one part orange juice, and a small quantity of grenadine.

Nowadays:
Made with either seltzer or lemon-lime soda, and mixed with grenadine syrup garnished with maraschino cherries and a slice of orange.

Orange juice is often added, especially in Canada.

Try it with about 1 oz of grenadine with 8 oz. of liquid.

Ahh, the Shirley Temple and its cousin, the Roy Rogers, are classics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Rogers_(cocktail)

Nice: in looking up the wiki for the Roy Rogers, I came across an article that includes a long list of non-alcoholic cocktails.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-alcoholic_mixed_drink