While hot coffee and tea are comforting, soothing ways to wake up, socialize, or take a break during the fall, winter, and spring, they aren’t as pleasant during hot summer months. However, you likely still have a craving to drink something comforting, caffeinated, and refreshing.
Luckily, there are a huge range of healthy and creative beverages you can drink in the summer months that also cater to whatever you have in the fridge. These drinks will inspire you to enliven your spice cabinet, diversify the herbs you have on hand, and get creative yourself.
Smoothies are one of the most versatile, fun, and tasty ways to cool down in the summer. Start by filling your blender with ice, then use one of the thousands of recipes available for green smoothies that pack in kale, spinach, lemons, apples, nut butters, chia seeds, and more. Take it to the next level by adding whatever tasty veggies or fruits are in your cupboards, from carrots to bananas to avocados. Just remember to adapt your recipe to whatever power blender you have available. You may need to turn off the power, stir your smoothie, then blend again to get all the larger vegetables and leaves down to a drinkable size.
Adding herbs to ice water is a great way to stay hydrated with flair. Add herbs like basil, rosemary, lemongrass, mint or thyme. Chop up cucumbers, slice strawberries, or add lemon and lime wedges. An added bonus? Your water will also be infused with some of the nutrients from the plants!
Teas help our immune system and can even prevent some diseases, studies have found. While iced tea takes some extra preparation, it pays off when we need a refreshing boost. You can make iced tea with tea bags or with whole leaves, just make sure you have a filter on hand when you’re ready to serve. Bon Appetit recommends brewing leaves in cold or room temperature water on the counter for one hour, before adding the tea to the fridge. This helps you avoid the bitter taste that can come from brewing tea in hot water for too long.
Looking for something lighter, but just as healthy, as a smoothie? Try crafting your own juice beverages. You don’t necessarily need a juicer to do this, depending on the type you want to make. Squeeze fresh oranges or grapefruits using a citrus squeezer. Using a blender, you can make juice from watermelon or a cucumber by blending with ice and straining out the larger particles.
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