Description
You only need 4 ingredients to make your own homemade Sprite that's packed with fresh citrus flavor! It's super refreshing, bubbly, delicious and easy to make. When it's this easy to make your own soda with fresh ingredients, that trip to the store seems unnecessary!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Sparkling water
Instructions
- Using a microplane, zest roughly 4 limes and 3 lemons, then juice them. Set the juice aside.
- To a medium-sized bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon and lime zest. Use your fingers to massage the sugar into the zest, until there are no white streaks remaining in the sugar.
- To a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the zest and sugar mixture and the juice. Heat to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally until all of the sugar has dissolved, then turn off the heat and let the zest steep in the syrup for at least 20 minutes, ideally until fully cooled.
- Once cooled, strain the syrup through a fine mesh sieve to remove the zest. Transfer the syrup to a mason jar or other storage container (we use this pump top bottle).
- To make your Sprite, add anywhere from 2-4 tablespoons of syrup to an ice-filled glass and then top off with sparkling water. Stir gently and enjoy!
Notes
Once the syrup is fully cooled, keep it stored in an airtight jar like a mason jar. We like to use this pump top bottle for easy dispensing. It should keep for about 1 month in the refrigerator. If you use a sugar substitute, it will not last this long.
Massage the zest and sugar together thoroughly. This will help extract the oils that are inside of the zest, thus adding a lot of flavor to your syrup.
If you have the time, let the syrup cool completely with the zest in it before straining. This is essentially like brewing a tea, and over time the liquid will become infused with the flavor of the zest. If you don't have the time, strain it right away and add an ice cube or two to cool down the syrup.
Ratio of syrup to sparkling water: You can vary this up according to how intense you want your flavor to be, but a ratio of about 1/4 cup of syrup to 1 cup of sparkling water should work well. For less sweet soda, try just 2 tablespoons.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Drinks
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tbsp syrup
- Calories: 49
- Sugar: 10.9 g
- Sodium: 1 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.4 g
- Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 0.2 g