5 Super Easy and Refreshing Summer Drinks

Do you want to learn how to make a refreshing drink in time for summer? This article shares five easy-to- make summer drink recipes.

Aside from hitting the beach, my favorite way to cool down during summer is to serve and enjoy refreshing drinks.

My ideal summer drink is something that everyone in the family can enjoy—from the kids all the way to the adults. It should also be easy to do.

Since summer is just around the corner, I have listed five easy recipes to make refreshing summer drinks. These recipes are so easy to do that even kids should be able to prepare them.

5 Refreshing Summer Drink Recipes

1. Peach-Thyme Iced Tea

This sweet and refreshing iced tea will need about 8 medium fresh peaches. You will also need the following ingredients:

• ½ cup of honey
• 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, chopped
• 8 cups of water
• 6 cups of fresh peaches, sliced
• 10 black tea bags
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
• Thyme sprigs and lemon slices
• 9 ounces of bourbon (optional)

Step by step guide:

1. Mix the honey chopped thyme, about two cups of water  and four cups of peaches in a pot . Cover the pot and put it over medium high heat. Let it simmer.
2. Lower  the heat. Stir occasionally for 30 minutes. Keep the pot covered.
3. Let it cool completely before transferring the mixture through a wire mesh strainer. Squash the solids to extract juices.
4. Place the tea bags and 2 cups peaches in a heatproof pitcher. Add 6 cups of boiling water and let steep for 15 minutes.
5. Discard the tea bags then add the lemon juice, peach syrup, and bourbon. Add  ice and garnish with lemon slices and thyme sprigs.

2. Ginger Peach Drink

This is so easy that you can do it in less than 5 minutes. It should be good enough to cool down four people.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of ginger ale
• ½ cup of peach nectar
• 2 peaches, sliced
• 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger

How do you prepare this drink? Simple—combine all the ingredients in a pitcher. Then serve over ice.

Yes, that’s it!

3. Iced Fruit Punch

This is one of my favorite summer drinks. This requires freezing fruit juices first in ice-tray molds. The juice cubes would melt in the punch and their flavors will later combine for one refreshing drink. I usually include pineapple, orange, lemon and cranberry for this drink.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of assorted fruit juices
• 3 cups of ginger ale
• 3 cups of Seltzer water

Step by step guide:

1. Place the fruit juices in an ice tray and then freeze them overnight. You can also store these in sealable freezer bags. These are usable for up to 1 month.
2. To make the punch, fill an 8-ounce glass with a ½ cup of flavored ice cubes. Add ¼ cup of Seltzer water and ¼ cup of ginger ale. Serve immediately.

3. Watermelon lemonade

This is a light and refreshing summer drink that kids will absolutely love. You can garnish it with watermelon slice. You can even turn it into an adult cocktail by adding some vodka.

This recipe is fairly easy to prepare that you can finish it in 15 minutes or less. It can make 12 servings—good enough to refresh one big family during a hot summer afternoon.

Ingredients:

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

4 cubs of cubed watermelon

½ cup lemon juice

3 cups of cold water

Step by step guide:

1. Put the watermelon in a blender. Cover and puree until it becomes smooth. Strain it through a fine-mesh sieve.
2. Put a saucepan over medium heat and put the sugar and ½ cup of water into it. Bring this to a boil or until the sugar dissolves. This should not take more than 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from heat.
3. Stir in the lemon juice and 3 cups of cold water. Divide the ice into 12 glasses. Add 2-3 tablespoons of the watermelon puree then top with lemonade. Stir before serving.

5. Orangeade

Instead of serving your family lemonade, why don’t you change things a bit by giving them this refreshing orangeade? This can be done in less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of water
• 1 ½ cups of white sugar
• 1 ½ cups of orange juice
• 1/3 cup of lemon juice

Step by step guide

1. Put 2 cups of water and the sugar in a small saucepan placed over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes. Stir to dissolve sugar and make a simple syrup.
2. Combine this with 6 cups of water, lemon juice and orange juice in a large pitcher. Place the pitcher in the refrigerator and serve once it is cold.

Conclusion

These drinks should keep you cool even during those afternoons when the mercury hits 100 degrees!

What do you think of these drinks? Let me know by writing in the comments section below.

About the guest author:

Hola, I’m Susan from http://www.cookthestone.com. I really enjoy while staying in the kitchen to make tasty meals for my family. The time when I got started my own blog is really memorable. Hope my cooking experience can help you in your daily life. I will very appreciate if you can encourage me by leaving comments and advice below. Thank you & Happy cooking!