Freshly juiced garden cucumbers are mixed with lemon basil, lemon juice, maple syrup, and sparkling water for a deliciously hydrating soda. This vegan and gluten free drink is perfect for enjoying on hot summer days or anytime you need to use up a glut of cucumbers!
Summer is officially here, and it is suffocating levels of humid and hot in Houston as per usual. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s sort of like an armpit here during the summer. I’ll wait while you enjoy that imagery in your mind for a few seconds… Since I can’t change the weather, I try to make do with cooling and refreshing foods and drinks. Enter: this verdant cucumber basil soda!
This tipple was born out of a glut of cucumbers from the garden and the need for something a little more exciting than water to provide some summer hydration. I decided to throw the cucumbers into my juicer with a handful of highly fragrant lemon basil from the garden. I added lemon juice for brightness, maple syrup for sweetness, and sparkling water for some fizz. It’s simple yet delicious and is all I want to sip on at the moment!
Looking for more refreshing summer sips? Try some cold brewed herbal tea, sparkling sage lemonade, a cooling summer tisane, or a papaya coconut water slush with lime and mint.
Refreshing Cucumber Basil Soda
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Freshly juiced garden cucumbers are mixed with lemon basil, lemon juice, maple syrup, and sparkling water for a deliciously hydrating soda. This vegan and gluten free drink is perfect for enjoying on hot summer days or anytime you need to use up a glut of cucumbers!
Ingredients
- 1 large (or 2 small/medium) cucumbers
- 1 large handful of fresh basil leaves (I used lemon basil)
- 1–2 lemons
- maple syrup to sweeten (you’ll need .5 oz per serving)
- ice
- plain sparkling water (you’ll need 2-3 oz per serving)
Instructions
Juice together 1 large cucumber and a large handful of basil. Alternately, you can blend these together in a high speed blender until completely liquefied, then strain it through a sieve to remove the pulp and solids.
For each drink, you’ll mix 3 oz of the juice with .5 oz of maple syrup and the juice of half of a lemon. You can shake these in a cocktail shaker if you like or mix them together right in your glass.
Add ice and top with sparkling water. You can garnish with a lemon wedge and fresh basil if you like.
Notes
You can use agave syrup or simple syrup in place of the maple syrup if you like. You can also make a big batch ahead of time, just leave out the sparkling water until right before serving.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: drink
This is so refreshing! Can’t wait to make this later today!
Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
This was so incredibly refreshing! I loved the combination of cucumber and basil, and the sparkling water makes it feel extra special. This was the perfect sipping drink on the patio this afternoon.
So happy to hear that you enjoyed it! It’s definitely perfect as a patio sipper.