DealDash Cooks: Favorite Cold Drinks
As much as I love hot tea and coffee in the winter the summer has an amazing drink selection as well. Here are a few recipes for delicious drinks your family will love.
Vietnamese Sparkling Limeade – This is definitely my top pick for drink of the summer season. It’s delicious, refreshing, and not very high in calories.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I like the “Sugar in the Raw” type)
- 1/2 cup very hot water
- 1 handful of fresh mint taken off the stems
- 8 limes, halved for easy juicing
- Ice
- Sparkling water (cold)
Directions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and the hot water until the sugar dissolves.
- Place a few mint leaves at the bottom of a pitcher and crush with a wooden spoon.
- Juice the limes into the pitcher, add the sugar water.
- Fill 4 glasses with ice. Pour in the limeade and top with sparkling water.
Alternately, if you’re running short on time, you can add crushed mint, the juice of 1 lime, ice, and fill the rest of the glass with Sprite. It’s not quite as tasty, but it’s quick and easy.
Watermelon Lime Slush – I love slush drinks. This next drink is one of my favorites for the hottest days. You can follow the recipe for kid-friendly slush, or add some vodka, rum, or tequila to appeal to the older but young at heart.
Ingredients
- 5 cups cubed seedless watermelon
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Juice of 1 lime
Directions
- Combine watermelon, sugar, lime juice and 1 cup ice in blender until smooth.
- Serve immediately.
Peach Iced Tea – I have shared my recipe for Southern Sweet Tea before, but here is a delicious and super easy peach iced tea that will be a hit at your summer BBQ!
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 peaches, halved and pitted
- 4 black tea bags
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
- Water
Directions
- Bring 3 cups water and the sugar to a boil in a pot.
- Add the peaches and vanilla bean (including the seeds). Simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes.
- Discard the vanilla bean. Pour the peaches and syrup into a blender and puree until smooth.
- Strain the peach puree through a sieve/fine colander into a pitcher.
- Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, add the tea and steep for 10 minutes.
- Add tea to the pitcher with the peach puree. Stir to combine.
- Refrigerate until cold.
- The pulp from the fruit may have separated from the tea during chilling, so be sure to stir it before serving.
- Pour over ice cubes
If you’re in need of a new blender or food processor to make your summer drinks this year be sure to visit DealDash. They have blenders, food processors, and even margarita machines! You can check out the Kitchen and Dining category at this link right here. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!
