Paleo Cucumber-Basil Salty Mint Lemonade Soda
This sparkling drink is the kind of thing you make once and immediately want to serve at every warm-weather gathering. Fresh cucumber is muddled and strained for pure, clean juice, then layered with a homemade honey-and-herb syrup that steeps basil and mint together into something genuinely fragrant and beautiful. A squeeze of real lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt round everything out, giving it that satisfying salty-sweet balance that makes it taste far more complex than the ingredient list suggests. Honey stands in for refined sugar here, keeping the whole thing grain-free and in line with whole-food principles without sacrificing any of the sweetness you want in a cold drink. Topped with chilled sparkling water, it has all the fizzy refreshment of a fancy soda without any of the artificial flavors or sweeteners hiding in store-bought options. It's elegant enough to feel like a treat and simple enough to pull together on a weeknight.
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Learn more →Ingredients
2 servings
For the honey syrup
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp water
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
For the drink
- ½ cup cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1 ½ lemons)
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 2 cups sparkling water, chilled
- 1 cup ice cubes
For serving
- 2 thin cucumber slices, for garnish (optional)
- 2 small fresh basil or mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the honey and water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until the honey fully dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the basil and mint leaves, and stir to submerge them.
- 2
Let the herb syrup steep off the heat for 10 minutes, until fragrant and lightly tinted green.
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