Fizzy Raspberry Lemon Cooler

When God gives you lemons, don't just make lemonade. Get on your feet and go hunting for raspberries. Oh and yes, on your way back make a pit-stop at the grocery store and pick up a bottle of lemon-y soda/Seltzer water. What next? Oh come on, make yourself this fizzy raspberry lemon cooler, kick up your feet and chill on your patio.

Would you believe where I got the inspiration to make this drink? The radio! Hum Desi radio, a popular radio station that caters to Indians in the US has show where they give out recipes. How cool is that? I happened to listen to a portion of this recipe just before I pulled up at the parking lot to pick up my son after his school. I just built upon whatever I heard and came up with this super cool beverage. You just gotta try it!





Ingredients
- 10 to 12 Raspberries, washed
- Juice of two lemons (about 1/2 Cup)
- 1 Cup Simple Syrup (Method to make it follows)
- 2 large cans of Lemon flavored soda OR Seltzer water (about 24 fl. oz.)

Method
- In order to make the Simple Syrup combine about 3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of sugar in a saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring continuously until the sugar dissolves. Cool completely before use.
- Once the simple syrup has cooled down to room temperature, add lemon juice to it and stir
- Crush washed raspberries and add this to the lemony simple syrup. (The original recipe called for pureeing the raspberries and straining them to remove the seeds and the pulp. That's just when I reached my destination and so I decided to shake things up a little with this drink)
- Refrigerate this mixture until ready to serve. This can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator
- To serve, pour about 1/4 Cup of the pulpy raspberry lemon-y syrup in a glass. Top off with chilled lemon flavored soda or seltzer water/club soda/soda water/carbonated water (Woah! So many names for one thing, eh?!). I used lemon flavored soda to enhance the taste of the cooler. Do your own thing!
- Garnish with mint and serve with a slice of lemon. Glug! What follows is a dive into what one may call a crisp, refreshing adventure into the raspberry fields!

Makes about three to four ~8 fl. oz. coolers