Refreshing Summer Drinks Made with Berries
You’ll love these refreshing summer drinks made with berries. Strawberry lemonade, berry Italian soda and raspberry iced tea. All so delicious!
During the heat wave last week, I searched for some refreshing summer drink alternatives that would still get a thumbs up from my son and his friends, but weren’t packed with sugar and void of any nutrients. Although I’m a water and lemon girl, I understand that sometimes water just doesn’t cut it (especially for teens). I set out to try some recipes (and create a couple of my own) using fresh organic berries from the farmer’s market.
Photo: Nicole Hill-Gerulat via Chatelaine
Fresh Strawberry Lemonade
- 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries (organic if possible)
- ¼ cup organic cane sugar
- ¼ cup organic raw honey
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 cups purified water
- ice cubes
- Whirl strawberries with sugar, honey, lemon zest and 1 cup water in a blender until puréed.
- Strain through a sieve into a large pitcher.
- Stir in lemon juice and 2 more cups water. If mixture is too thick, stir in more water or lemon juice.
- Pour into glasses and top with ice cubes. Lemonade tastes best the same day it’s made.
Note: This recipe is modified from the original version at Chatelaine to include less sugar.
Berry Italian Soda
- ½ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup purified water
- 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries (organic if possible)
- ½ cup fresh organic raspberries
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Bottle of sparkling water
- Make syrup by mixing sugar with water in a small saucepan. On medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Stir in strawberries and raspberries and remove from heat. Cover and let stand for one hour. Strain, then stir in lemon juice.
- Make soda by adding syrup to sparkling water. Adjust flavour by adding more syrup.
Note: Don’t throw away the berries left in the strainer. Try eating with ice cream for a delicious dessert.
Slightly Sweet Raspberry Iced Tea
- 8 cups almost boiling water
- 3 green tea bags
- 2 herbal tea bags of your choice (such as mixed berry, peach or tangerine)
- ¼ cup organic raw honey
- 4 cups ice cubes
- lemon
- ¼ cup organic raspberries
- Add hot water to a heat-proof pitcher. Place tea bags and honey in water, stir and let steep for one hour.
- Remove tea bags and stir in ice cubes. Cut lemon and add to tea. Stir in raspberries and place in fridge for at least one hour.
Note: Some of our favourites for making iced tea are Swampwater, Goji Pop and Midsummer Night’s Dream from David’s Tea. We also like to add fresh mint once in awhile to change things up.
For a delicious cocktail version of any of these recipes, try adding vodka.
I’d love to know what you think. Our go-to is the slightly sweet iced tea. We keep a pitcher in the fridge throughout the summer and most of my son’s friends have grown accustomed to this healthier alternative to the can of mix packed with sugar.
If you like iced tea too, be sure to try this ginger mint version or blended berry and mint green tea.
We also enjoy mojitos all summer long!
What are some of your favourite refreshing summer drinks?
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Stay cool,
We’re finally getting some sunshine and summertime heat! All of these drinks look super tasty, and the perfect kind of refreshing quencher to try. Thanks for sharing the recipes :-)
These all sound great! I love Italian Soda, thanks for sharing these recipes :-) I’d be thrilled if you want to share this at my Fun In Functional link party going on now!
Yay, thank you so much for sharing this!
Just wanted to let you know I featured these delicious recipes on my blog today! Feel free to check it out and grab a Featured button :-)
Thank you Jessi!