You will want to try this! Make yourself a menthe à l'eau (pronounced roughly MON-ta-low). It means literally "mint water."We found it in the book Joie de Vivre by Robert Arbor & Katherine Whiteside (a thoroughly delightful book, subtitled "Simple French Style for Everyday Living").
The version we serve here at the Presbytère Hollywood is bubbly. But this drink has neither the "high fructose corn syrup" that is ubiquitous in American soft drinks, nor the chemicals (such as sucralose or aspartame) used in diet drinks. No indeed, this has real, honest, all natural sugar.
The recipe is so simple it will blow you away:
Mix one part mint syrup (such as Torani, which can be bought at World Market or from your local coffee bar) with five parts sparkling mineral water (we use the 365 brand that comes from Whole Foods). Stir. Add ice. Obviously, adjust the ratio if the drink is too strong or too weak for your tastes.
That's it!
It's bubbly like a Coke, but has the clean, cool, exhilarating flavor of mint. Perfect for hot summer days.
There are other Torani flavors you can experiment with if you want the eau without the menthe (the cherry is actually pretty good). But I think nothing delivers refreshment and unbridled joie de vivre like a crisp, cold menthe à l'eau.
You may never want to drink commercial soft drinks again.
I'll have to try that - we often enjoy mint juleps with syrup made from fresh mint from the garden. Growing the mint is a snap, too, what with it being a weed and all.
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Dear Heath:
ReplyDeleteMagnifique! If you make your own syrup, you don't even need the Torani. If you get a chance, please e-mail me the formula for the mint syrup.
The fresh mint is also good for mojitos.