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The summer heat is sneaking in and so are the sugary drinks. It's been hard for me to stay strictly to water and I'd like to make social drinks for small get togethers or just to keep in a pitcher for me and my boyfriend to share when we get home to our hot apartment, but I don't want to just drink lemonade or sodas or crazy caloric punches all the time.

Does anyone have any recipes for healthy refreshing drinks that have a lot of flavor but not a lot of sugar? I'm not talking smoothies....I'm not the biggest fan of the little ice chunks in them. Just drinks.

I had a cucumber lime Gatorade the other day and I thought it would probably be nice in home-made drink form. How would I make that?

Any other great ideas? Strawberry green tea? Something else? I want to make something that looks fancy in like, mason jars, something like a mocktail, but I have no idea what I can make without TONS of sugar. I can't make any sangria recipes either, because neither of us are old enough to purchase alcohol.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. ^^

Demonic Businessman

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Well, of course you can make drinks that avoid sugar completely... but come on, a little sweetness in a drink during summer just makes it that much more refreshing.

I tend to really like iced teas and there is an endless variety you can make. Fruity ones are alright, but I'm a sucker for the classic lemon-flavored iced tea....which is simply a pot of really strongly brewed black tea with a squeeze of a lemon and sugar to taste. (But it has to be iced and cold!)

I also like making iced ginger green tea. Steep green tea with a tbsp of chopped/slice ginger and then add honey for sweetness. Chill it and then serve over ice~

You can also make fruit slushes, which takes care of the need for sweetness. What you do is blend fruit, ice and sparkling water until it forms a slush, then you can garnish it with another chunk or two of fruit~ It works well with berries and I enjoy pineapple. Also....summer is great for watermelon. >> I like watermelon slushes...and just plain chilled watermelon juice.
Cucumber water: thinly slice 1/2 a cucumber + mint leaves leave in large pitcher or individual mason jars. serve it supper chilled. soo good
puppetonrye
Cucumber water: thinly slice 1/2 a cucumber + mint leaves leave in large pitcher or individual mason jars. serve it supper chilled. soo good


All about the cucumber water. Or lemon water, for that matter.
Yum

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I currently work at a Starbucks part-time between jobs so I know a thing or two about summer and sugary drinks.

Easy ways of making creamy, sweet delicious drinks without sugar-based cream syrups include blending ice with coconut milk/cream, avocados, aloe vera, honeydew, and other things to contrast tart fruit like raspberries, blackberries, dried cranberries, and lime. The sweet creamy base with the tart taste suits cold beverages well and gives your throat a nice bite and is full of raw vitamins.

If you want to stretch the smoothy-type base get sparkling red orange or sparkling pink lemonade and dilute the fruit slurry with the soda and vodka/vermouth/gin or tequila to fashion yourself a 'healthy' margarita.

Dapper Dabbler

Fruit water.

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Blend some yogurt, coconut milk, and fruits for a delicious drink. Add honey/sugar if necessary. Or remove the yogurt for a thin drink.

Headstrong Senshi

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My absolute favorite is taking a whole watermelon and making a watermelon slushie out of it. Just remove the seeds from it if it's seedless but it's really good. I bought a watermelon slushie at a shop and loved it so I recreated it at home for the summer when it's in season.

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Coconut water. Great summer drink there biggrin

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A non-alcoholic Shirley Temple! heart

Tetsuzansen's Queen

Excitable Strawberry

This is a classic, similar to as suggested above, but with a bit more bite.

Watermelon Coolers


4 c peeled, seeded, cubed watermelon
1/2 c tequila*
1/4 c orange liqueur*
1T lime juice
1T sugar

Garnishes: lime wedges, watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew melon balls on skewers

*1/2c lemonade may be substituted for tequila and liqueur

Freeze cubs in ziploc bags or shallow pan for at least 6 hours. Position knife blade in food processor bowl. Add frozen watermelon cubes and the rest of the ingredients besides garnishes. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Pour into glasses and garnish, if desired.
I'm a fiend for iced teas in the summer. Iced green, peppermint, Lavender or hibiscus is great. I just brew them and chill them. No sugars or milk.

Also check out kombucha. I'm obsessed with it - it's hard to make yourself but you can buy some online probably.

One of my favourites is making iced caramel macchiatos.
I fill a mason jar half full with almond milk, or other non dairy milk.
Then mix in homemade caramel sauce ( it's easy - look for a recipe thats just sugar and water, maybe a little coconut cream will do. )
Next, add in a couple cubes of ice
And pour a shot of espresso ( or strong coffee ) over the ice.
And top with more caramel sauce, if you'd fancy it sweeter. (:

OG Gaian

Lemon water...warm lemon water. Good stuff!

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