Three Summer Drinks to End Your Summer Right

To celebrate the end of summer, we decided to try out three different kinds of lemonade that I found on Pinterest.  All three were relatively easy to make, and full of fresh ingredients.  We had a little

taste test for each one, and what follows is our findings!

The first lemonade we tried was the Lavender Basil Lemonade by Half Baked Harvest

This lemonade was refreshing and nicely sweet, even without sugar.  This drink is sweetened only with honey which was an interesting spin, and the basil and lavender flavors really made it a refreshing beverage.  The basil came forward in the taste, and then you came away with a more sharp citrusy aftertaste.  Really quite delightful!

 

The second drink we made was the Strawberry Honey Smash by PBS Food

This was also very refreshing and bright tasting, due to that really sweet delicious strawberry flavor.  Additionally, the honey liqueur and vodka really was a nice combination of liquors.  We used the Wild Turkey American Honey for our honey liqueur.  I loved the sugared rim on this drink, and also it should be noted that this drink was quite smooth, despite being the only alcoholic one in our array.  We probably should have strained the strawberries out a little bit better, it would be one thing I would do differently if I made this again (though through no fault of the recipe.  My martini shaker wouldn't strain very well so I ended up just dumping the whole thing in the cup! >.<).

The last drink we tried was the Blackberry Mint Lemonade from Lauren's Latest.

This one had a deep flavor, coming from the blackberries themselves, but also rounded out and enhanced by the mint undertone.  The mint flavor really cuts the citrus from the lemon juice and makes it a drink you could just gulp down a whole pitcher of.  I think that this one was our favorite of the three.  We ended up making a pitcher for everybody at the Labor Day gathering we attended, and it was a big hit!

So if you still have some summer barbecuing to do before the fall leaves come, you should try out one of these lemonade recipes!  They were all quite delicious and would be great for an end of summer bash!

- The Lovely Red Fox