My husband is a big beverage fan. He loves liquid and I often find him surrounded by multiple drinks. The majority of which are usually NOT healthy choices. However, over time he has been a convert to a few of my better concoctions. These are really what I consider summertime drinks, but since it’s citrus season I thought I’d share them now.

I have often taken my cue from Starbucks non-coffee drinks that I figured I could make at home for a sliver of the cost. One such drink was raspberry lemonade tea. This was simply Passion Tazo tea chilled and mixed with lemonade over ice. Of course, Starbucks used plenty of lemonade, but to cut down on sugar and calories I just used a splash of lemonade. My husband loved it, my daughter thought it was the perfect princess drink (since it was pink), and my son was pretty sure his mother was really a sugar loving alien in disguise (since his mother would never allow such a splendid drink to touch his lips). Now, just to be clear, I was very careful to get lemonade that was free of high fructose corn syrup. Newman’s Own lemonade, Simply Lemonade, and Trader Joe’s lemonade all fall under that category.

This past summer Limeade was all the rage at my house. Since straight Limeade is about the sugariest juice drink one can find I set out to find a way to cut the sugar. At first I tried to make my own limeade sweetened with stevia. I’ve never liked stevia though and it’s flavor came right through. Plus, it was a lot of work to squeeze all those limes. Heck, if I go to the trouble of squeezing limes it’s going to be for a mojito!  Next, I tried adding plain “Talking Rain” sparkling water to the limeade, and this was good. I wanted to be rid of the sodium though so I settled on Trader Joe’s lime sparkling water. This with a splash of limeade and some fresh mint leaves is a delicious and thirst quenching drink that we all enjoyed. This same concoction is good with lemonade and sparkling lemon water. You can also brew raspberry tea and mix with berry flavored sparkling water. None of these sparkling waters contain real or fake sugar and the brands of lemonade stated above also come in lime.

Good, old fashioned iced tea made with black tea and a touch of honey, agave nectar or brown rice syrup (added while it’s still hot) is always popular, but let your imagination go wild. Again, I took a hint from Starbucks and added a splash of lemonade to unsweetened iced tea. Over crushed ice with a few mint leaves, this is not only an everyday beverage but one you can proudly serve to guest.

Licorice root tea is naturally sweet and is very soothing to a sore throat. However, it is extremely refreshing and light when served cold. Green tea makes a lovely and light iced tea. In fact, just about any tea can be delicious cold, with a twist of lemon, or a splash of lemon or limeade.

Closer to summer I’ll discuss some of the tasty drinks you can make with fresh ginger! I feel like I’m on the porch swing already.