Sparkling Cherry Mint Lemon-Limeade

1. Zest and juice your lemons and limes. Place the juice and zest together in a heatproof pitcher. Set a sieve on top of the pitcher so you are ready for the next steps.

2. Pit and smash your cherries, then set aside (I used a potato masher for this). If you don’t have a cherry pitter, just remove the stems and use the flat side of your knife to smash the cherry. It will split open and you can slide the pit right out.

3. Combine sugar, water, cherries and mint in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium high, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved, and it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.

3. Using the sieve that you placed on top of your pitcher, strain the cherry syrup into the pitcher with the lemon and lime juice. Be sure to press on the cherries to extract all of the juice, then discard the remaining cherries and mint. Stir well. Now, this is your cherry lemon limeade drink base. From here, it’s best to assemble the drinks just before you’re going to drink them since we’re using sparkling water.

4. Add 1/4 cup of the cherry syrup to a tall glass. Pour in about 3/4 cup of sparkling water – use cherry, lemon or lime if you want more flavor, but plain is fine. I actually used lemon flavor Perrier and it was just dandy. Give your drink a taste – you can add more syrup if you want it sweeter. Add some ice, a straw, a little mint for garnish and sip away! If you like your drinks slushy, simply whirl the cherry syrup with about 1/2 cup of ice in a blender. Add the sparkling water, give it a stir and enjoy!

Cheers!