Homemade fresh-lime soda

In the summer, I crave acid beverages. Limes were 10 for a dollar the other day....

This is an easy, glass-at-time recipe that I find fast and refreshing.

2 medium limes
Superfine sugar
12-ounce can plain seltzer, chilled

Juice the limes by your favorite method. Combine the lime juice with an equal amount of sugar by volume and stir vigorously till it dissolves. Add the soda. Pour over ice if you like.

Obviously you can adjust the proportions of everything to your own taste. I usually just dump in sugar without measuring until it looks right. If you want to make more than one glassful at a time you should probably measure. I suggest not adding the seltzer till just before serving, though.

Superfine sugar is sometimes called "bar sugar" and sometimes "bakers' sugar" (in England, "castor sugar"). It dissolves faster than regular granulated sugar.

LAZ,

You may want to give my way a try if you want something truly bracing that will banish the heat. Liquify whole limes (skin and all) in a blender. Sweeten with sugar and add the soda. I sometimes add a splash of grenadine. Must be consumed immediately or it will turn bitter.

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:something truly bracing

Thanks, Bill! "Bracing" is a good word. Not sure I'd care for quite so much peel oil.

That much peel oil sounds almost enough to me I can't wait to try it!

I generally offer guests a jug of simple syrup with limes & lemons to mix their own sodas. Much faster to the payoff of ready to drink soda.

That said, being Indian, its de rigueur to also offer dishes of salt & freshly cracked black pepper for those who prefer the salty version.

I've made something similar for a long time. My only recs: sometimes I use part cold tap water in lieu of all seltzer. And I find adding a couple spoonfuls of plain yogurt is also wonderful.

LAZ wrote:

Bill/SFNM wrote:something truly bracing

Thanks, Bill! "Bracing" is a good word. Not sure I'd care for quite so much peel oil.

Oh, forgot to add this: I agree with Bill. I occasionally add bottled lemon oil (if there's no fresh citrus handy). I think, even if you prefer the oil of the fresh fruit, you'll be pleasantly surprised with Bill's whole-fruit method.

Liquify whole limes (skin and all) in a blender. Sweeten with sugar and add the soda.

Tried this.....and yeccccchhh!
The color was pretty- almost like a 1960's Jello Chiffon Mold.....but my blender yielded way too many unmanageable
"bits" and "pieces" to be consider drinkable.
I wanted it to be good.
I was looking for some HEAT relief (yesterdays "Heat Index" was at 105 degrees >it's amazing, that we live in a City of Extremes,
where we need to measure the "feel" of the "pure" temperature, by either throwing in the Humidity or the Winds speed to The Raw Number,
to make it "really" severe!

Anyway- cool concept.
Horrible bitter and foul beverage.

Sorry you didn't like it. I should have mentioned that I use thin-skinned Mexican "key" limes. What kind did you use? I've never tried it with Persian limes.

We just had some the other day and really enjoyed it.

Hombre de Acero wrote:

Liquify whole limes (skin and all) in a blender. Sweeten with sugar and add the soda.

Tried this.....and yeccccchhh!
The color was pretty- almost like a 1960's Jello Chiffon Mold.....but my blender yielded way too many unmanageable
"bits" and "pieces" to be consider drinkable.
I wanted it to be good.
I was looking for some HEAT relief (yesterdays "Heat Index" was at 105 degrees >it's amazing, that we live in a City of Extremes,
where we need to measure the "feel" of the "pure" temperature, by either throwing in the Humidity or the Winds speed to The Raw Number,
to make it "really" severe!

Anyway- cool concept.
Horrible bitter and foul beverage.

Thank for reporting before the rest of us tried it! The peel-free recipe I gave is definitely refreshing. If you wanted more lime-oil flavor you could add a few twists of peel.

I did some research a few years back and only Siberia has more weather extremes from hot to cold than Chicago.

Bill/SFNM wrote:I should have mentioned that I use thin-skinned Mexican "key" limes.

That would certainly make a difference!

Since it appears there are many ways for my approach using whole limes to go wrong, here is a little video showing how I make it. I'd suggest starting with 2 small limes to see how you like it and adjust the amount of (sparkling) water. Very important to drink immediately.

Bill/SFNM wrote:Since it appears there are many ways for my approach using whole limes to go wrong, here is a little video showing how I make it. I'd suggest starting with 2 small limes to see how you like it and adjust the amount of (sparkling) water. Very important to drink immediately.

I made this last night using 2 "key" limes from a large bag I got at a ridiculously low price from Devon Market. I quartered the limes before tossing them in, because my blender's a bit old. It turned out to be a good plan, as there were several seeds that I could take out in advance (not sure my blender would have done a good job on them). Also, since my blender apparently sucks even more than I thought, it left more chunks in the drink than I would like, but a quick pour through a strainer right into the glass made it just perfect.

I used 1/2 c. sugar and 1/2 c. water - it was a bit on the sweet side for me, so next time I think I'll go with a scantier 1/2 c. Even slightly oversweet, it was still absolutely delicious and so simple to make. I plan to buy some mint and make a super-easy batch of faux-jitos using this as a base over the weekend. Thanks, Bill!

Add some chia seeds to the recipe and you have Chia Fresca (Iskiate)

8 oz water
1 lime
2 tsp chia seeds
2-3 tsp sugar

Mix water, sugar, and juice from the lime until dissolved. Add Chia Seeds and shake or stir.

Like the Blues, thought this recipe may be of interest

Cloudy Lemonade For A Summer Day - Nigella Lawson via NPR link

I have made a limeade all summer after finding that a 28oz bottle of Del Alpe lime juice concentrate was only $1.59 .
I use: 1 1/2 cups lime juice
3/4 cup sugar
8 cups water
Simple,yet very thirst quenching !!!

I've been using the recipe at http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/66/Limeade
as a guide and sometimes using Splenda in place os sugar (for diabetic guest). I then add sparkling Nateczowianka water. Makes a refreshing drink.
Jim

It's such a gray, cold, drizzly-ick day, I decided to bring back a large number of Meyer lemons from my visit to the store. And I got to wondering: any reason I can't whiz them up--as Bill/SFNM suggested upthread and as I have also done many times--rind and all and then add sugar and soda? I have to think that this should work, but thought I'd solicit input.

Where did you get you Meyer lemons? I bought a bag last week and when I went back to buy more they were gone and I'd like some more.

The Whole Foods on North Avenue had a large display this morning.

Thank you

I love fresh lime soda. In India, it is called 'sweet lime soda' and is made with tonic water. Purportedly with the quinine in the tonic it helps offset malaria. I do not think that tonic is still made with quinine but I could be wrong. The tonic provided an after swallow bitterness and seemed to quench one's thirst more than than a soft drink with tons of sugar. Oh I miss these.

Trader Joe's on Clybourn had Meyer Lemons on Sunday.