Why You’ll Love This Cherry Lime Soda
This Cherry Lime Hydration Soda Concentrate is a refreshing way to enjoy real fruit flavor without relying on artificial colors, flavors, or overly sweet syrups. Made with cherries, fresh lime juice, coconut water, raw honey, and a touch of Redmond Real Salt, this concentrate can be mixed with club soda or water for a simple homemade drink that is both flavorful and refreshing.
What Is A Hydration Soda?
A hydration soda is simply a fruit-based drink made with ingredients that contribute both flavor and hydration. In this recipe, cherries provide fruit flavor along with naturally occurring vitamins and antioxidants. Lime juice contributes vitamin C, coconut water provides potassium, Redmond Real Salt supplies sodium and trace minerals, and raw honey adds natural sweetness and quick energy. Mixed with sparkling water, the result is a refreshing drink made from simple ingredients you can recognize.
What Makes This Different From Store-Bought Sports Drinks?
Many commercial sports drinks contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, and large amounts of refined sweeteners. By making your own concentrate at home, you control every ingredient that goes into the glass. This recipe relies on real fruit, fresh citrus, and simple pantry ingredients to create a drink with recognizable ingredients and bright, natural flavor.
What Each Ingredient Brings To The Recipe
Cherries provide natural sweetness, beautiful color, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant compounds. They create the rich fruit flavor that makes this concentrate the star of the recipe.
Fresh lime juice adds brightness and tartness while contributing vitamin C and helping balance the sweetness of the cherries.
Coconut water contributes potassium and naturally occurring electrolytes, making it a popular addition to hydration-focused drinks.
Raw honey adds natural sweetness and provides carbohydrates that can be used as a quick source of energy. Because I use raw, unfiltered honey, it also retains many of the naturally occurring compounds that are removed during heavy processing.
Redmond Real Salt contributes sodium and trace minerals while enhancing the overall flavor of the drink. Sodium is one of the primary electrolytes lost through sweat, making it an important component in hydration beverages.
Fresh Or Frozen Cherries Both Work
Fresh cherries are wonderful when they are in season, but frozen cherries work just as well in this recipe. Because the cherries are simmered and strained, frozen cherries produce a concentrate with excellent flavor and color. Keeping frozen cherries on hand makes it easy to enjoy this recipe year-round.
Cherry Lime Hydration Soda Concentrate
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh cherries, pitted or frozen
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1/4 cup coconut water
- Juice of 2 limes
- 2-4 tbsp raw honey, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp Redmond Real Salt
Instructions
- Add the cherries and water to a saucepan over medium heat.Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and crushing the cherries well as they soften. Continue crushing throughout the cooking time to release as much juice and flavor as possible.While the cherries simmer, combine the coconut water, honey, and Redmond Real Salt in a large heatproof bowl or jar.Remove the cherries from the heat and allow them to cool for a few minutes.Strain the warm cherry mixture through a fine mesh strainer directly into the bowl or jar with the coconut water, honey, and salt. Press firmly on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible before discarding the pulp.Stir until the honey is completely dissolved.Add the lime juice and stir to combine.Allow the concentrate to cool completely.Transfer to a jar if needed and refrigerate until ready to use.
To Serve
- For a smaller glass, mix 1/4 cup concentrate with club soda or sparkling water.For a larger glass, mix 1/2 cup concentrate with club soda or sparkling water.Serve over ice and stir gently before drinking.