4 great fruit and herb infused mocktails for spring

Spring is just about coming to an end and we are coming up on Summer. The weather is nice and although most of us are at home we can still pull out creative drinks. Let’s face it now is the time to get creative. Below are 4 great Mocktails (cocktails) you can make in the comfort of your home. For those that want something a little stronger, no worries just add alcohol. Rosemary and mint are my best friends because they are so easy to grow. You can have a nice size container and they will grow like crazy, so why not get creative with them.

Grapefruit rosemary lemonade

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 5 cups water divided
• 2 large sprigs rosemary or a handful of smaller pieces
• 1 1/4 cups freshly squeezed grapefruit juice about 2 large grapefruits
• 1 1/4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice about 8 small lemons

Instructions

• Heat sugar with 1 cup water in a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Add rosemary and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let the rosemary steep for about 20 minutes as the syrup cools. Discard rosemary.
• Combine rosemary syrup with remaining water, grapefruit juice, and lemon juice. Chill and serve!

Notes

Use rosemary syrup for other mixed drinks as well! Recipe is from https://www.pinchmeimeating.com/grapefruit-rosemary-lemonade/

Peach melba cooler

Recipe:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 medium, ripe peach (about 6 ounces)
1/2 pint fresh raspberries (about 6 ounces)
1 bunch fresh lemon thyme (about 30 sprigs), rinsed and woody ends trimmed
1 liter cold club soda
Ice

Recipe from http://www.chowhound.com

Ginger beer mojito from “Gimme some oven”

Ingredients:

• fresh lime juice
• fresh mint leaves
• rum (optional)
• Ginger beer
• icecubes

Lavender lemonade from “Against all grains”

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 cups water
• ½ cup light-colored honey
• ⅓ cup dried lavender
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice, strained

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Bring water and honey to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Gently crush the lavender in a mortar and pestle or in a bowl with a meat tenderizer. Add the crushed lavender to the pot then remove it from the heat.
3. Cover, refrigerate, and steep for 2 hours.
4. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve. Stir in the lemon juice and serve over ice.