Raspberry Lemonade

Heat 150 grams of sugar with 150 milliliters of water until it runs clear, take it off the stove, stir in 200 grams of frozen raspberries and leave them twenty minutes. Strain gently. Pressing the pulp through gives you more syrup and a cloudier, duller one.

Usually overcooked syrup or tired berries. Raspberry color is fragile and a hard boil turns it brownish. Lemon juice pulls it the other way, so add the lemon before you judge anything, and it should snap back toward a clearer red in the glass.

You can, but strain afterward or the seeds end up in every mouthful. Crush six or seven berries with the plain syrup, add the lemon, pour it through a fine sieve into the ice-filled glass and top with soda. Fresher, and a little more work.

It gets you the color and none of the perfume. Pomegranate is tart and slightly tannic where raspberry is floral and soft, so the drink turns sharper and less fragrant. Closer substitutes are strawberry syrup, or a spoonful of good raspberry jam thinned with hot water.

A classic Raspberry Lemonade calls for 30 ml (1 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Raspberry syrup, 8 ml (0.25 oz) Simple syrup, 90 ml (3 oz) Soda water. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

Nothing — the Raspberry Lemonade is completely alcohol-free, which makes it a great mocktail for drivers, kids and anyone skipping alcohol.

A Raspberry Lemonade is built directly in the glass over ice — no shaker required. Add the ingredients in order and give it a brief, gentle stir.