Artificial Food Coloring Free Lemon Ginger Mocktail Spritz
Bright, zingy, and endlessly refreshing, this lemon ginger mocktail spritz is the kind of drink that makes you feel like you're sitting on a sun-drenched patio even on an ordinary Tuesday. The star of the show is a homemade ginger-maple syrup — fresh ginger steeped in warm maple syrup until deeply fragrant — which gives the drink a natural warmth and sweetness that no bottled mixer can replicate. That matters a lot when you're avoiding artificial dyes, because so many store-bought syrups, flavored sparkling waters, and cocktail mixers sneak in synthetic colorants to achieve that pretty pink or golden hue. Here, every drop of color comes from real lemon juice and the gentle amber of maple syrup, so what you see in the glass is exactly what went into it. Squeezing your own lemons and straining the ginger syrup takes only a few extra minutes, and the payoff — a clean, vibrant spritz with zero mystery ingredients — is absolutely worth it. Topped with a lemon slice and a sprig of fresh mint, it looks stunning without a single artificial shortcut. Make a big batch of the syrup ahead of time and you can have glasses ready in minutes whenever the mood strikes.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the ginger-maple syrup
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 oz fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (about ¼ cup)
For the spritz
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)
- 3 cups sparkling water, chilled
- 2 cups ice
For serving
- 4 lemon slices, for garnish (optional)
- 4 sprigs fresh mint, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the water, maple syrup, and sliced ginger in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the maple syrup dissolves. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes, until the syrup is fragrant and the ginger flavor is pronounced.
- 2
Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the syrup steep for 20 minutes, until cooled to room temperature and deeply ginger-flavored.
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