Thursday, June 01, 2006

Ginger Mint Lemon Cooler

There's nothing more refreshing on a hot and sticky summer day than an ice-cold refreshing beverage. And no beverage says "summer" more than freshly-made lemonade.

This is a classic lemonade, kicked up with a fresh ginger simple syrup and a hint of mint. It's light and refreshing, and with a touch of club soda, this is a beverage that's perfect for all of your summer get-togethers.

*This is another entry for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging Roundup*

Ginger Mint Lemonade

Ginger Mint Lemon Cooler
Serves 8

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2" piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 tsp mint extract (optional)
2 cups fresh lemon juice
6 cups cold water
Club soda

In a small saucepan, combine water, sugar, and ginger, and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain out ginger slices, and pour into a pitcher. Add mint extract if desired, lemon juice, and cold water. Stir well. Fill glasses with ice cubes. Pour lemon cooler into glasses, filling about 3/4 of the way. Top off with cold club soda, and garnish with ginger slices and lemon peels.

12 comments:

Special Sauce said...

Egads, this sounds wicked tasty, and ever so familiar. If you have access to fresh mint, I'd suggest perhaps steeping it with your ginger when you make it into syrup, or simply pop sprigs into the glasses too. :)

Anonymous said...

yum....It's a hot sticky grossly humid day here in NH and this sounds PERFECT!

I'll be making this tonight!

Catherine said...

that does sound refreshing!

Dr. Melissa West said...

I love lemonade... this is a fantastic new twist! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

SO thirsty...that looks wonderful...and I love the monkey.

Jody from VegChic said...

Weather is the same here, and that looks wonderful. I'll be making some tomorrow!

BTW - I'm popping a link to you on my blog tonight!

Fiber said...

Sauce - of course it does. I knew you'd love it.

Hws - yep, it was hot and sticky here too. Perfect for a day like that.

Catherine - perfect for the hot weather of summer!

Dragonslayer - it's quite a tasty twist. I hope you enjoy it!

Megan - I know. He makes me happy too. I must have about 30 different monkey swizzle sticks in my house.

Jody - thanks for the link! I love your blog too!

Isil Simsek said...

That really looks good! But I just have to wait for the weather to be hotter. It's just 23C here!

Anonymous said...

Wow -- looks delicious, and so simple. Thanks for sharing the recipe, and I love the swizzle stick monkey!

Genie
The Inadvertent Gardener

Anonymous said...

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Deeba PAB said...

Lovely drink...just right for a hot summer's day. We enjoyed it a LOT...even the kids did. I loved the flavour of ginger running through it. Didn't have the soda, so used just water...refreshing to the core!! Am gonna post it in for 'Monthly Blog Patrol'...an event where you basically try bookmarked recipes from other's blogs. Thanks for the really nice post! Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Hey I'm sippin it now and its not bad, surprising since i can't usually make anything that tastes remotely ok lol.

I did a variation without sugar for less calories and added star anise (er, its a subtle flavour lol), and i didn't have lemon juice so i used freshly squeezed lime juice.

And i used fresh mint leaves because my groceries came with mint instead of coriander today (duh!). Steeped the mint leaves as suggested by another commenter.

I wonder how it would taste with cloves added? hmmm...