Fizzy Blueberry Meyer Lemonade
This blueberry meyer lemonade is so refreshing and perfect as a pitcher drink. Ready to share with friends and family at your next outdoor gathering.
Blueberry Meyer Lemonade Fizz
I’m a berry boy. I love my berries. Unfortunately, Southern California doesn’t so much, or at least so I thought. Strawberries being the huge exception (they are amazing down here), I always thought that growing berries in our garden would be a futile task. I’m talking blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries. They were so easy for us to grow on the ranch in Oregon. It seemed like all we had to do was plant them and forget about it until we were ready for a mid-day treat.
Oh how the horses would stretch and strain to try and reach the raspberry vines. Lips stretching like little kids fingers reaching into the cookie jar high on the counter. The fence between the raspberries and horse had to be double high and narrow enough between rails that they couldn’t slide the heads through to reach our precious red fruit. 8 years ago when we were initially planning our garden here in Southern California we made a list of plants we loved. Next we grudgingly crossed out the ones which wouldn’t grow well in our zone, then started designing the garden based on the remaining plants. All but the strawberries were crossed off the berry list. Silly us.
Little did we know that many of them can grow quite well down here. Our ignorance was partly due to some varieties which have been developed or shown to do well in our milder climate, and part because we didn’t do enough research. But a garden in never finished. It is always evolving and changing and a berry boy is now quite happy with his Southern California garden. We’ve been able to add 4 blueberry bushes (3 diff. varieties to see which does best), a couple raspberry vines and a blackberry vine to add to our strawberries as our berry plant inventory.
The blueberries went in first. After a year of planting, adjusting and growing, we’ve started to see a nice production off of them. Well, almost. We see a lot of growth and green berries, but our mockingbirds have discovered their berry goodness. At this point our teenager plants can’t produce more than the #%^%@-ing mockingbirds can eat, so we’ve only been able to eat a handful. Sigh.
Delicious Berries in the Drink
The raspberries and blackberries have replaced a set of vines we took out this spring after its trellis broke. The jasmine was nice, but the berries are bad-ass. There is nothing like a home grown raspberry and they have been “goin’ gorilla” as the two baby vines are giving us almost a cup worth every other day. The blackberries are growing and fruiting well, but our blackies have yet to hit their season.
To celebrate our berry delight, and a friend’s cookbook, here is an adapted recipe from Sara Kate’s new cookbook, Good Food to Share.
Sara Kate’s gorgeous cookbook is filled with beautiful recipes full of fresh, seasonal produce and ingredients. It’s hard not to be inspired to cook, share and feed your family and friends when flipping through each thoughtful page and photograph. Each dish is sure to feed and please a crowd for any occasion and gathering.
So because of her book and love of giving, we’re more thoughtful about sharing our blueberries with the birds. At least on the days they beat us to the berries. A boy still has to have berries of his own.
-Todd & Diane
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Fizzy Blueberry Meyer Lemonade
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) fresh Meyer Lemon Juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1-2 Tablespoons (15-30ml) Simple Syrup
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Blueberries
- few dashes Bitters of choice (usually we'll use orange bitters)
- Soda Water
- Ice
- Mint for garnish
Instructions
- Combine lemon juice, simple syrup, and blueberries in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Fill a glass with ice. Add blueberry lemonade. Top with soda water.
- Garnish and serve.
I was going to suggest netting your blueberries, which we used to do, but agree with your earlier comment about the garden aesthetics. Also, I always hated having to get the nets on and off to go picking. We’ve just planted a couple of strawberry plants on our tiny balcony in Stockholm and am hoping they’ll take and we’ll get some berries. Otherwise, am looking forward to blackberries and raspberries galore (both thorny, so a bucket full is a small victory) when I’m back home in BC for a summer visit. The drink looks great, can’t wait to try it out!
Such a beautiful drink! I’ve never thought to grow berries on our back yard. I might just try next season.
Mmm….this looks so refreshing! ๐
oooh, berries! are your blackberries of the thornless variety? if not, be careful–the thorns can be nasty. i have the scars to prove it ๐
They are the thornless variety. We were going back and forth on if we should do a third raspberry (they are thornless too) or add a blackberry (was hesitant due to the thorn-age), but once we saw this variety was thornless, the blackies came home with us too.
Oh yum, this looks so delicious and refreshing! x
Kate {Something Fabulous}
http://thesomethingfabulous.blogspot.com
What a treat to have your own berries in such a variety! I’ll have to create my own berry garden some year!
My fingers are crossed the birds don’t figure out we have blueberries. Or that they continue to think they’re poisonous. Did you know they’ve made cherry trees that grow in our zone? Its kind of awesome. Almost as awesome as this drink. Which I will definitely be making as soon as I get off work.
Fabulous and refreshing like always!
I wish we could grow blueberries in New Mexico. I’ll bet there are places here where they would do great, but ABQ is not one of them. We rock the chiles though and that’s something!
You rock the chiles, indeed! We have quite a few that do well here, but nothing like how you are able to grow them.
I absolutely love blueberries, and I get so excited when they come into season. I think this drink looks delicious, and I’m adding it to my list.
it all looks soooo sooo refreshing!!! summer is at is peak here in India.. and this looks just what I need!!
Now this is my idea of a perfect summer cocktail! What a wonderful, refreshing drink to toast to this summer.
Try netting your berries to protect them from the birdies…Lovely drink!
We thought about it but it takes away from the aesthetics of the garden. It’s ok, they can have some. The garden isn’t just for us, but for them as well.
This is why I love you two!
Wow the drinks look so refreshing. Perfect for the season
So fun! And so delicious looking!
It’s like a lemon pound cake met a blueberry muffin and became a drink. I love it! Great idea and I could go for this right about now! I adore blue and blackberries but you’re right, here in SoCal strawberries are the most common, indeed.