Rose Lemonade

The first whiff of this drink will put you somewhere in the middle east that too in the times when kings and queens prevailed and they often enjoyed exotic drinks from ornate cups. At least that where it put me. Yes, exotic is the right word for this drink. To bring you back to modern times, thaw out of winter and welcome spring while you enjoy your favorite TV show at the end of an exhausting day - it is guaranteed to put a spring in your step - no pun intended. I already spoke enough about the smell and yes that is the best part and what's more, that fragrance makes the crisp bubbly lemonade - the kind that you have had several times before - just that extra special.

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Sparkling Iced Tea Basil Limeade

The world drinks tea hot or at least I thought until I came to the United States. Hot tea was a mystery here up until a couple of years ago when Starbucks introduced the chai latte, which by-the-way is no where close to the hot steaming 'elaichi-adrak' desi chai that I knew growing up. I will be honest here, I have tried the iced tea several times, tried hard to build a liking for it, even tried to convince myself that it might be an acquired taste - did not work (hubs is sitting here nodding his head, he didn't care for it much either). Alright, so much about what I do not like. I sat back and in my head tried to extract the good from the iced tea and compensate for the part that was not so much. My conclusion was that iced tea needed some citrus and some fizz. So that is exactly what I did - some lime and sparkling water and voila it worked great - both as a refreshing crisp citrusy drink made exotic with the goodness of leaf tea and also to revive a tired hubs just back from work - an awake hubs is much more useful than a tired sleepy one *wink*.

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Mango Lime Cooler

ot sure if its the summer doing it or its just me but lately I have been enjoying making different kinds of lemonades and summer coolers. Takes few ingredients, minimum effort and the result is a tasty drink that everyone enjoys and you get to additionally enjoy the compliments as they come back from school or work and feel the need to cool down. This is one such in the series that I made lately. With the fabulous taste and sweetness from the ripe mangoes and the fresh citrusy lime flavor, it has a feel of a sophisticated mocktail with a tropical twist. Something you would want to sit sipping on the beach on a hot summer afternoon (yes you can put an umbrella in your glass :) A refreshing taste that you will remember and will want to come back often to.

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Sparkling Blueberry Basil Limeade (Skinny)

hill out in style this summer with this bright, lively and very refreshing berry-lime drink. I am a big fan of lemonades/limeades myself but the big problem I have with them is they are loaded with sugar. So here's a recipe that lets you chill by the pool in style without having to load up on sugar. Hubs was a little skeptical when he heard of a blueberry drink. He likes most all berries except these and raspberries. I had it ready for him when he got back from work. Back home from the hot Florida sun. He took a sip and I could see his face light up. Of course he followed the sip with a detailed description of how good was it and why, how it was crisp and cool and tasted like lime and blueberries in the best way possible, but for me I had gotten my feedback even before he started talking. That was enough.

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