The Retro Drink Redditors Are Calling “Sooooo Refreshing”—I Cannot Recommend It Enough

Year-round, I do my best to keep my consumption of sugary drinks to a minimum. However, when summer rolls around, my craving for a delicious seasonal beverage tends to skyrocket. And who can blame me? Once the warmer months of the year pop off, the best tropical drinks show up in restaurants and grocery stores and my sweet tooth goes absolutely berserk. 

Recently while browsing Reddit (as I tend to do in my free time), I came across a post shared by one Redditor u/Paige_Railstone, who had acquired a box of recipes from an estate sale. Most recipes in the box date back to the 1960s through the 1980s. The author shared a picture of an index card containing a drink recipe titled “Summer Beverage Base,” which piqued my curiosity. 

Being that summer is just around the corner, I found myself thinking about this retro beverage base. The recipe uses oranges, lemons, sugar, and mint to create a syrup that can be added to any summery drink for a depth of flavor and a citrusy twist. So I headed to the grocery store to grab the necessary ingredients. 

How To Make Reddit’s Summer Beverage Base

Start by boiling 2 1/2 cups of water and two cups of sugar for five minutes. While the water boils, juice six lemons and two oranges, keeping the rinds. After the sugar is fully dissolved, pour in the orange and lemon juices and the rinds and bring it back to a boil.

Pour the freshly boiled liquid over a bed of muddled mint leaves and then strain it into a container or jar before storing it in the refrigerator. 

When it’s time to wet your whistle, use 1/4 cup of your beverage base for each eight-ounce drink. Fill your favorite glass with ice and pour in any sweet, carbonated beverage or Tom Collins mix on top of your beverage base, stirring until combined.

The Verdict

Admittedly, I was a little unsure about my results before tasting. The recipe refers to this beverage base as a “syrup” and my base was not thick like I would imagine a syrup to be. I poured it over ice and added eight ounces of club soda. The first sip immediately introduced my taste buds to a burst of flavor I didn’t expect from a club soda drink—it is “sooooo refreshing” as a Redditor says on the post.

There are dozens of ways to make this base even stronger (see below for my tips), but by simply following the directions on the recipe card, the results were perfectly sweet and citrusy.

I ended up adding a couple of splashes of leftover Mandarin Jarritos that I had chilling in the fridge, and let me tell you, that is a delicious combination of flavors.

My Tips for Making Reddit’s Summer Beverage Base

I recommend experimenting with the ingredients you love to find the perfect combination of flavors that suit you. Like I mentioned before, just adding a splash of my go-to Jarritos flavor changed the recipe into something I couldn’t get enough of. 

Redditors who responded to the original post also had some pretty sweet ideas as to how one can elevate this recipe.

One commenter suggests adding “a bit of orange blossom water,” which got me thinking about adding ingredients like honey and coconut, or even using the base in a baklava punch cocktail. Another commenter mentions cutting out the soda water and alcohol altogether and just making big batches of the base to be consumed as is. 

However you approach this recipe, I cannot recommend it enough. It’s easy, minimal labor, and packs a citrusy punch that pairs beautifully with your favorite tropical and summery flavors. And if your initial reaction was to sour your face in response to the idea of mint and orange juice together, just remember that the only reason orange juice tastes bad after brushing your teeth is because your toothpaste leaves your mouth alkalized, hence the foul taste. Mint and citrus together, however, are a winning combo like in a mojito or a Southside cocktail.