BHA & BHT Free Ginger Pear Sparkling Cooler
This sparkling cooler is the kind of drink that feels fancy without requiring any effort beyond a saucepan and a strainer. Ripe pears and fresh ginger are simmered together until soft and fragrant, then strained into a silky concentrate that gets sweetened with honey and topped off with chilled sparkling water. The result is floral, lightly spicy, and refreshing in a way that store-bought sodas and flavored waters simply can't match. Avoiding BHA and BHT can be genuinely tricky with packaged beverages, since those preservatives show up in countless bottled drinks and flavored syrups — but here, every single ingredient is whole and recognizable. Making your own concentrate from scratch means you control exactly what goes into the glass. It's elegant enough to serve at a dinner party but easy enough to throw together on a weekday afternoon, and the optional mint and pear garnish make it look like something from a café menu.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the ginger-pear syrup
- 3 medium ripe pears (such as bartlett or anjou), peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp honey
To assemble
- 3 cups sparkling water, chilled
- ice cubes, for serving
For serving
- fresh mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)
- thin pear slices, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the chopped pears, water, and sliced ginger in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 12–15 minutes, until the pears are completely soft and beginning to break down.
- 2
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the honey until fully dissolved. Let the mixture cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
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