Top secret recipes_ sodas, smoothies, sp - Todd Wilbur [7]
Any Sonic Drive-In regular knows the four or five unique fountain drink favorites on the menu. There’s the Limeade, the Diet Limeade, Strawberry Limeade, and, of course, the Cherry Limeade. But that bright blue stuff called Ocean Water has become a recent favorite for anyone who digs the taste of coconut—it’s like a pina colada soda. The server simply squirts a bit of blue coconut-flavored syrup into a cup of cold Sprite.The big secret to duplicating this one at home is re-creating that syrup, so that’s the first step. After that’s done, you make the drink as they do at the restaurant in less time than it takes to say, “Does my blue tongue clash with what I’m wearing?”
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon imitation coconut
extract
2 drops blue food coloring
2 12-ounce cans cold Sprite
ice
1. Combine the water and the sugar in a small bowl. Microwave for 30 to 45 seconds, and then stir to dissolve all of the sugar. Allow this syrup to cool.
2. Add coconut extract and food coloring to the cooled syrup. Stir well.
3. Combine the syrup with two 12-ounce cans of cold Sprite. Divide and pour over ice. Add straws and serve.
• MAKES 2 12-OUNCE SERVINGS.
SQUIRT
Soda and citrus flavors were combined in 1938 to create a grapefruit-lemon soft drink that would later inspire Coke to make Fresca. Fresca was popular when it was introduced in the 60s since it was artificially sweetened and contained no calories.That was back when diet drinks were just catching on. Nowadays just about every soda comes in a diet version, and Fresca sales have slipped, despite a tweaking of the formula in the early 90s.
Squirt continues to hold on to a loyal cult following, with many who claim the soda is the only true cure for a hangover. To clone it, just add real bottled white grapefruit juice, along with a little Kool-Aid mix for a lemony tang, to the simple syrup recipe. Chill the syrup and soda water until cold and get ready to make a dozen cups’ worth of citrus soda at home.
1½ cups granulated sugar
⅛ teaspoon Kool-Aid lemonade
unsweetened drink mix
¼ cup boiling water
1 cup corn syrup
1½ cups white grapefruit juice
12 cups cold soda water
1. Combine sugar and Kool-Aid mix with the boiling water in a medium pitcher or bowl. Stir well. Add corn syrup and stir.
2. Add grapefruit juice and stir until sugar crystals are dissolved. Cover and chill for several hours until cold.
3. To make the soda, stir the syrup first, then add ¼ cup of cold syrup to 1 cup of cold soda water (1 to 4 ratio). Stir gently, drop in some ice, and serve.
• MAKES 12 10-OUNCE SERVINGS.
T.G.I. FRIDAY’S NOVEMBER SEA BREEZE FLING
Not only does the restaurant still serve some of the tastiest cocktails and mixed drinks, but Friday’s also has one of the best darn selections of custom non-alcoholic drinks in the business. The smoothies and shakes at Friday’s are all excellent, as are the designer sodas called “Flings.” These are hand-mixed soda beverages made in a fashion reminiscent of old-time soda fountains. Juices and sweeteners are mixed with cold soda water and served elegantly over ice—you can’t go wrong with one of these. The Fling cloned here uses cranberry juice, apple juice, simple syrup, and sweet & sour mix. If you’ve got the time, make the sweet & sour from scratch using the recipe at the back of the book.
1½ ounces cranberry juice
1½ ounces apple juice
1½ ounces sweet & sour mix
(bottled or use the recipe from
page 231)
½ ounce simple syrup (from page
226)
1½ ounces club soda
GARNISH
lime wedge
1. Fill a 14-ounce glass with ice.
2. Pour juices, sweet & sour mix, and simple syrup into a shaker and shake well.
3. Pour drink over the ice, add a lime wedge and the club soda on top, and serve with a straw.
• MAKES 1 DRINK.
T.G.I. FRIDAY’S STRAWBERRY SURPRISE FLING
This version of a Friday’s Fling is more tropical than the preceding recipe and doesn’t require simple syrup.When you’re ready to be flung, get some of the sweetened sliced strawberries out of the freezer and start thawing.
2 tablespoons