The Un-Cola

I am not a saint. I do crave the crispy chicken sandwich at Wendy's, and I have an unhealthy obsession with coca cola. In fact, I love cola so much that sometimes I actually prefer it to having dessert. But, I get kinda loopy on caffeine. Erm, more so than usual, if you dare to imagine that!

Basically, it's a good idea, for more reasons than one, that I don't have regular access to cola. But, sometimes, you just want that sweet carbonated kick. I find my fix in Tessa Kiros' lemonade recipe in Apples for Jam.

Even though the drink is fizzy, I prefer to call it lemonade because as I discovered very shortly after moving to the U.K., 'lemonade' is the name often used for carbonated lemon-lime drinks like Sprite and 7-Up.

The usual ingredients for drinks like these are:

• Carbonated Water
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Caramel Color
• Phosphoric Acid
• Natural Flavors
• Citric Acid
• Sodium Citrate
• Sodium Benzoate

And Tessa's drink:

Lemon and/or lime
Sugar
Water

Brilliant!

This is best when very, very cold. I've gotten into the habit of sticking a glass into the freezer. It gets all cloudy and frosty, like in pubs, and it just makes fridge-cold drinks that much more refreshing!

The other day, I decided to experiment with Tessa's recipe. (Read: I didn't have enough lemons so used limes too.) The last time I made the recipe, I only made the quantity stipulated in the recipe. I found this not enough; this drink is so good and refreshing, you'd want to have it on hand whenever. So, this time, I doubled the recipe, since I had a liter of carbonated water... or as they say in New Yawk, 'seltzah!'

The Lemon/Lime Un-Cola

Makes 1 liter

juice of 2 limes and 2 lemons, with reserved pulp
1 liter sparkling water
150g caster sugar

Combine the sugar and 6 tablespoons of regular water in a small pan. Bring to a boil and let the sugar dissolve completely. Boil for a couple of minutes. Add the juice of the limes and lemon with reserved pulp. Continue to boil for another couple of minutes.

Pour into a pitcher to cool. Once cool, add entire contents of a 1 liter of sparkling water. Mix well in pitcher, and return to the bottle. Chill, and enjoy in a frosted glass.