Raspberry Sparkling Water with Raspberry Simple Syrup

This summer I’ve been making more of my own drinks at home instead of simply purchasing them. I’ve had fun trying new things, one of them being making fruit flavored simple syrups. If you aren’t familiar with simple syrup, it is water and sugar heated together in equal amounts to create a syrup. But if you add fresh fruit in and strain it out after, you can create wonderfully flavored syrups to really kick your drinks up a notch. Yesterday I created this simple Raspberry Sparkling Water using club soda, fresh raspberries and raspberry simple syrup. It was wonderfully refreshing and I didn’t have to wonder what was in my drink! By having the simple syrup on hand in my fridge, I can make a single drink for just me or more when entertaining guests. You can easily add more or less of the simple syrup, depending upon how sweet you like it.

If you prefer a more infused flavor, you can crush the raspberries for garnish a bit, releasing their flavor into the sparkling water as well.

Raspberry Simple Syrup

Ingredients

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup fresh raspberries

Directions

Mix  sugar and water in a small sauce pan. Add berries to the pot. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to low and simmer a minimum of 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Be sure it is a low simmer or syrup may harden when cooled.) Remove from the heat and cool completely. Using a fine strainer, strain/pour the syrup into an airtight container.  (I like to use a mason jar.) Discard berries.

If you love making homemade drinks, try these other tasty options!

Fresh Basil and Blueberry Lemonade

Patriotic Tonic: Fruit Infused Sparkling Water