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Years ago, my college roommates and I had a “Mocktail Party.” We made up non-alcoholic, fruity drinks and enjoyed them in cute cocktail dresses with some of our friends. It was a blast. Here we’ve come up with several that we think your taste buds will enjoy this summer. And they are pretty too! Who says you have to have alcohol to have a beautiful, delicious drink?
Besides, nothing says summer like a tall, cold, fruity drink. My mom always told me “never drink your calories,” but how could I resist taking a few sips of the thirst-quenchers we concocted in our test kitchen last week? They were delightfully satisfying.
We aimed for a variety of flavors to satisfy both herb-lovers and those who enjoy more fruity flavors. Below you’ll find recipes for these drinks: Ginger Peach, Huckleberry Lemon, Mango Mint, Blackberry Lime and Rosemary Blood Orange. Yum.
Ginger Peach
This is my favorite drink that we created. Probably because I love gingerand peaches. It was the perfect blend of flavors and the ginger added a nice zing that was balanced with the sweet taste of peach flavor.
Makes 6-8 drinks
Ingredients
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
cup ginger, peeled and grated
club soda
Peach for garnish (optional)
Ice (optional)
Directions
1.In a medium saucepan combine the water, sugar and ginger. Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove the pot from the heat. Allow to cool to room temperature.
2.Strain the liquid to remove the pieces of ginger. Chill the mixture.
3.For each drink serving, pour cup of the ginger syrup created above, 8 oz of club soda and cup of the peach syrup. Garnish the glass with a slice of peach.
Huckleberry Lemon
Huckleberry flavor is all the rage right now, and it is excellent paired with fresh lemon. Kelli, our test kitchen cook, picked the huckleberries you see in these pictures in-the mountains and they were a great addition to the drink.
Makes 1-2 servings
Ingredients
1 cups lemon-lime soda
1 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon and huckleberries for garnish
Directions
1.In each serving glass, add 1 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, cup huckleberry syrup and cups lemon lime soda.
2.Garnish with huckleberries and lemon slices.
Mango Mint
Makes 1 serving
This was my other favorite drink, and it was one of the most simple to make. Mint makes such a great addition to a variety of sparkling drinks. If I had to describe this drink in one word, it would be “refreshing.”
Ingredients
3 mint leaves (plus more for garnish)
8 oz club soda
Ice (optional)
Directions
1.In each serving glass, place 3 crushed mint leaves in the bottom.
2.Pour the mango syrup, club soda and additional mint leaves for garnish in each glass. Stir and serve.
Baker’s Note: For a fancier look, sugar the rim of the glass. To do this wet the rim of the empty glass and rub it upside down on a plate of granulated sugar. Let it dry and be careful when pouring in the beverage, not to wash the sugar off.
Blackberry Lime Margaritas
This drink is a little different from the others we included in this article. It is a little more frozen and smoothie-like, but not as lumpy. The lime and the blackberry flavors worked together seamlessly.
Makes 2-3 servings
Ingredients
cup blackberries
cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup ice cubes
2/3 cup <a href="https://www.
<hr class=’system-pagebreak’ /><hr class=’system-pagebreak’ /><hr class=’system-pagebreak’ /><hr class=’system-pagebreak’ />preparedpantry.com/Torani-blackberry-syrup.aspx”>Torani Blackberry Syrup
1 cup lemon-lime soda
granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon lime zest
Directions
1.Mix the lime zest with enough sugar to rim each glass. Then wet the rims of the glasses and rim them with the lime zest/sugar mixture.
2.In a blender, puree the blackberries. Strain out the seeds, then pour the liquid back into the blender and discard. Blend in the lime juice, ice and the blackberry syrup.
3.Add the lemon lime soda into the blackberry mixture then pour into the prepared glasses. If desired, add a lime wedge and some blackberries to each glass.
Rosemary Citrus Spritzer
This is the most versatile drink on our list. You can add any kind of citrus flavor you want. Torani has everything from tangerine to lemon. We chose the blood orange flavor for ours. You can also adjust the sweetness of the drink. Kelli, our test kitchen cook, was making the drinks. She preferred the drink to be mixed with lemon lime soda so it was a little sweeter. I preferred mine to be tart; I liked it mixed with club soda.
Makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients
cup lemon juice
cup water
1 cup sugar
lemon zest
5 sprigs rosemary
club soda or lemon lime soda
Toraini flavor, lemon, blood orange, tangerine or orange
Directions
1.In a saucepan, boil the lemon juice, water, sugar, lemon zest and rosemary and stir until the sugar dissolves (about 1 minute). Strain out all the solids. Cool in an ice bath to speed things up.
2.To serve, add 3 Tablespoons of the chilled rosemary syrup from the first step and cup blood orange, tangerine, lemon or orange flavored syrup to 1 cups club soda or lemon lime soda. 
Author Biography
Casey is a journalist who has experience working in the newspaper industry. She was trained in English and journalism at Brigham Young University-Idaho. She has works in marketing and loves writing about cooking and baking at The Prepared Pantry. Cooking has been a hobby of Casey’s since she was a little girl. She also enjoys cooking for her husband and trying new recipes.
She enjoys food photography and graphic design as she works as the editor of the “Country Home Kitchen“ magazine at The Prepared Pantry.
Casey lives in Rigby, Idaho with her husband, David. Not to mention an energetic but adorable chocolate lab, Copper.
To learn more about The Prepared Pantry, visit our website at www.preparedpantry.com.
