Xanthan Gum Free Cucumber Mint Sparkling Cooler
This sparkling cooler is the kind of drink that makes a regular afternoon feel like a little occasion — cool, bright, and genuinely refreshing in a way that store-bought flavored waters never quite manage. Fresh cucumber is blended and strained into a clean, pale green liquid, then paired with a maple-sweetened mint syrup that brings just enough herbal sweetness without tipping into candy territory. A squeeze of fresh lime ties everything together before chilled sparkling water gets folded in at the last moment to keep every sip lively and effervescent. Every single ingredient here is naturally free of thickeners and stabilizers, so there's nothing to scrutinize on a label — just whole, recognizable foods doing all the work. It's a great reminder that drinks relying on gums and additives for texture are missing the point when real cucumber does the job so much more elegantly. Serve it over a tall glass of ice with a sprig of mint and a lime wheel, and it looks like something you'd pay twelve dollars for at a rooftop bar.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the mint simple syrup
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed, plus more for garnish
For the cucumber base
- 1 medium english cucumber (about 12 oz), peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)
- 1 cup cold water
To finish
- 2 cups sparkling water, chilled
For serving
- ice cubes, for serving
- lime slices, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the maple syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the syrup dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add the mint leaves, and stir to submerge. Let steep for 20 minutes, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl, pressing the leaves to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the spent mint. Let the syrup cool to room temperature.
- 2
Add the chopped cucumber and 1 cup cold water to a blender. Blend on high until completely smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour through the fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher, pressing the solids with the back of a spoon to extract all the liquid. Discard the solids.
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