Carrageenan Free Peppermint Cocoa Lemonade
This drink sounds like it shouldn't work — chocolate, peppermint, and lemon in the same glass — but somehow it absolutely does. The homemade peppermint cocoa syrup is the secret weapon here, built from maple syrup, unsweetened cocoa powder, and a touch of peppermint extract, then strained smooth and chilled before it ever meets the lemonade. That means every single ingredient is something you chose and added yourself, with no stabilizers or thickeners hiding in a store-bought mix. Fresh lemon juice and sparkling water keep things bright and fizzy, cutting right through the richness of the cocoa syrup in the most refreshing way. The instructions call for stirring it just enough to leave the drink lightly streaked, which makes it as gorgeous to look at as it is to drink. Garnish with a mint sprig and a lemon slice and you've got something that feels genuinely special without much effort at all.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the peppermint cocoa syrup
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp peppermint extract
- 1 pinch fine salt
For the lemonade
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)
- 3 cups sparkling water, chilled
- 2 cups ice
For serving
- 4 fresh mint sprigs (optional)
- 4 lemon slices (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the water, maple syrup, and cocoa powder in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the cocoa is fully dissolved and the mixture comes to a gentle simmer, about 3–4 minutes.
- 2
Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the peppermint extract and salt. Pour the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a heatproof container to remove any undissolved cocoa solids.
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