Strawberry Limeade

There are few good things in the world (and even many just-barely-tolerable ones) that aren't improved by a generous addition of strawberries. Freshly picked and hulled, or preserved as pulp or a frozen concentrate, strawberries impart their tart sweetness, heady fragrance and luscious pink hue to whatever they're blended with. Then there's the universal association of certain attributes with strawberries: romance, seduction, luxury, the good life, sin, sunlit spaces and the cusp of summer, evidence of the divine. Strawberries are, in short, sublime.

Is it any wonder then that there are a host of drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike) that also make use of this gorgeous fruit? 

You may have encountered the limeade, or some flavoured variation of it (perhaps cheer?) in these pages. When life gives some resilient folks limes, they make Limeade. But it's the ones with imagination who make Strawberry Limeade. There's nothing to it: you follow all the steps you would for a regular Limeade, with the addition of strawberries. 

The basic Limeade recipe usually calls for a cup of water and lime juice each, lime zest, castor sugar (about 3/4 cup), and 2-4 cups of soda water. (Some recipes call for a lime cordial, for that extra citrusy punch.) Throw in some fresh mint leaves and plenty of ice, and you have a pitcher that'll yield between 4-6 cups for the Thirsty Faithful. 

The Strawberry Limeade simply adds strawberries into this mix. You wash, hull and roughly chop the fruit and throw (or gently spoon, if that's more your style) it into a blender, give it a good whizz, and voila! You have your Essential Ingredient No. 1 ready. Gather the rest of the ingredients for your Enhanced Limeade and proceed. 

Those more learned than us in the lore recommend that you use lemon lime soda and a seltzer (preferably lemon-lime flavoured) to make your Strawberry Limeade. So that's the pureed fruit, the soda and seltzer (lemony and limey), sugar, lime juice and ice that go into making your perfect hot weather cooler. 

Now you may ask, where is the history of this drink? Who invented it? And to that we shall say: Most humbly, Dear Reader, we do not know. We knoweth not, for this is a drink commonly mistaken for Pink Lemonade (trust us, it's not). 

Anyway, all that's important is that come strawberry season, you will be Utterly Prepared to put that pretty little fruit to good use. We'll toast to that, with our elegant little goblets of Strawberry Limeade.