Summery Fruity Slush Mocktails!

It’s supposed to be Spring in most parts of the world, including ours….but warm temperature is far, far away from arriving here in Dublin! It was around 6 degree C here today, and it was a good day for us by Ireland’s weather standards.

All my friends and family back in India are making me incredibly jealous by posting summery updates of sweltering heat in my home-town and other cities, not to forget the titillating pictures of divine Indian mangoes. It may be the mere beginning of Mango season in India, but already I am seeing rich, fleshy orange-colored mangoes all over my Instagram and Facebook. Friends, write this down- if you haven’t tasted Mangoes from Indian summer yet, you haven’t lived! They are insanely tasty and so so sweet. That is one thing that drives us crazy throughout the summer season- being away from India and the Indian mangoes.

Anyway.

I might be sitting in 6 degree C here, but my Indian heart is already celebrating the imaginary arrival of summer. Seeing all the summery posts, even I have started craving for a variety of chilled, fruity Summery drinks.

Is there anything better than slushy beverages made of fresh fruit juices in summer? I am sharing with you today, two types of fruity slush Mocktails which your kids, family and friends will absolutely love. They are tasty, refreshing and so much more healthier than the store-bought fruit juices and squashes.

I have made –

• A Blackberry & Green apple Mocktail 
• Orange & Raspberry Mocktail

 

Please note that the pictures that you see of the Blackberry & Green-Apple Mocktail in this post are looking more like crushed Ice lollies than beverages. That is because I had a little bit of a mishap with it. I had anticipated that I’d freeze the two fruit syrups, pulse them into slushes and when I pour them in a glass one after the other, they will melt into this beautiful fusion of two colors. However, instead of blending them with soda before hand to a liquid consistency, I decided to let them be a bit coarse as seen in the pic, thinking that they will melt rapidly and liquify. What I didn’t anticipate was the temperature that day was -1 and the icy mixture refused to melt even after sitting out for an hour. What followed and how I tried to fix it was a messy affair and not important, but what matters is that I followed a different approach in today’s Mocktail and it worked like a charm!

Therefore learning from my experience and rectifying the process, I am sharing both the recipes exactly as you should, but kindly forgive the pictures of the first Mocktail here. This tasted too delicious to not share with your guys immediately! I will update the pictures whenever I make this Mocktail again in future.

So, give these beautiful summer drinks a go friends, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

For Blackberry & Green-Apple Slush Mocktail:

• 1 cup fresh Blackberries
• 1-1.5 cups Juice of fresh Green-Apples
• 1/4 cup fresh Mint leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 tbsn sugar
• 2 cups Soda/Carbonated water

For Orange and Raspberry Slush Mocktail:

• 1-1.5 cups of fresh Orange juice
• 1 cup fresh Raspberries
• 3 tbsn sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups Soda/Carbonated water

Method:

To make your Blackberry & Green Apple Slush Mocktail-

• Firstly, prepare your home-made Blackberry syrup! In a pan, combine your washed blackberries and sugar. Put on low heat. After the fruit turns mushy, add a squeeze of lemon juice and if needed, some water if the syrup looks too thick. Turn off the gas when you get the syrupy consistency and let cool. Set aside.
• Next, prepare your Mint and Green-Apple concoction. Mint gives a fragrant flavor to any cool drink as well as gives a lovely green color to this particular slush. In a blender, combine your Green-Apple juice, mint leaves and fresh lemon juice to a uniform liquid. Set aside. Add sugar if needed.
• Next, freeze both of your home-made liquids in separate ice trays for 5-6 hours.
• When you are ready to prepare your Mocktail, blend each of your flavored ice-cubes separately with equal quantities of Soda. You will get separate jars of 2 flavors of icy slushes- Blackberry slush and The Green-Apple & Mint Slush.
• To assemble your Slush Mocktail,  carefully pour both your slushes one after the other into wine-glasses or regular glasses. Insert a straw and serve immediately without mixing! Enjoy!

To make your Orange and Raspberry Mocktail- 

• Prepare the home-made Raspberry syrup the same way as we prepared the Blackberry syrup in the previous Mocktail. Freeze it for 5-6 hours.
• In a blender, combine the Orange juice and lemon juice. Blend to a uniform liquid. Freeze for 5-6 hours.
• When you are ready to make the Mocktail, blend each of your flavored ice-cubes separately with equal quantities of Soda. You will get separate jars of 2 flavors of icy slushes- Raspberry slush and Citrus Orange & Lemon Slush.
• To assemble your Slush Mocktail,  carefully pour both your slushes one after the other into wine-glasses or regular glasses. Insert a straw and serve immediately without mixing! Enjoy!

*Notes–

• In the first Mocktail, you can substitute Green Apple juice with Kiwi juice for the same green coloured slush!
• You can use store-bought fruit juices instead of fresh juices in your mocktails, but fresh ones are highly recommended.