Ice the heat!
Hot summer days call for frosty, chilled drinks, and there is nothing more refreshing than a tall glass of lemonade or iced tea to beat the heat!
At this time of the year, a cold glass of the humble lemonade, with its sweet and sour flavour, is an ideal refreshment. This simplest of recipes requires just 3 steps to make. Simply dissolve one cup of sugar in half a cup of hot water, add one cup fresh lemon juice, and keep ready in the refrigerator for those hot, blistering days. When required, dilute with ice and cold water, garnish with a slice of lemon and sprigs of mint, and enjoy the cool respite. Of course, you could also transform this lemonade into the good old nimbu pani by adding chaat masala and kala namak to it. Together, the salt and sugar present in this classic summer drink help replace electrolytes lost in the heat.
Looking for something more radical? Start by playing around with the basic recipe. One easy way to flavour lemonade is to add fruit. Try adding frozen berries whizzed up in your Morphy Richards Food Processor. Berries and lemons make an incredible, refreshing combination. Or, add a floral note by steeping lavender and rosemary in a simple syrup for a sweet, herby lemonade option. Another great trick is to replace the water with cold soda and make any lemonade into a sparkling version!
Frosty glasses of iced tea are also great to cool down with. Tea is rich in antioxidants and nutrients and offers great health benefits! And iced tea makes the perfect summer option to get that daily dose when hot tea is just not doing it for you. We recommend you make your own iced tea at home instead of using ready options loaded with unnecessary sugar and preservatives. Start by making freshly brewed tea with a tea of your choice. Most teas work, so don’t limit yourself to just black teas. Try oolong, green, white and lighter floral teas as well. Another really great option is hibiscus flower tea, which has lovely tangy notes to it.
Steep your tea of choice, then play with how you want to flavour it. One ideal way is to swap out some or all the water in the tea with juices. Use your Morphy Richards Food Processor to juice fresh fruit and use it for your iced teas. Play with flavours too. Trust us, artificial flavourings pale in comparison to fresh options like ginger, mint leaves, vanilla beans, fruit and more to experiment with. Add these aromatics when you steep your tea or infuse them into simple syrup to sweeten it with. Try vanilla with dark oolong, orange with Earl Grey, or pomegranate juice with Hibiscus tea and a twist of lime. And if your kids love apple juice, then try an apple iced tea with sliced crisp apples and a Cinnamon stick!
Another lovely idea for summer beverages are infused juices. Use the blend mode of your Morphy Richards Sauté and Soup to puree large batches of summer fruit such as berries, pineapple, watermelon, grapes and more using. Add a little sugar, spices of your choice, and leave in the refrigerator overnight. The next day strain the mixture through a fine strainer and yo