Lime-Ginger Cooler

This Lime-Ginger Cooler is a nice change from Lemonade. When I used to drink ginger ale, I would always order it with lime to cut the sweetness. So I put these two flavors together in an easy drink you can make at home. It can be made with no sweetener at all, although I found I prefered it with a few drops of liquid stevia added. More more ideas on sweetening cold drinks with natural sweeteners, see Sweetening Cold Drinks with Fruit Juice, Sweetening Cold Drinks with Simple Syrup (which covers honey, evaporated cane juice, rice syrup, barley malt syrup, and date sugar), and Sweetening Cold Drinks with Stevia.

makes 2 servings

1 cup boiling water
1 slice fresh ginger
juice of one of large lime (3 tablespoons) or more to taste
1 1/3 cup sparkling water
4-6 drops liquid stevia or other natural sweetener (optional)
ice

1. Add the slice of ginger to the boiling water and steep until you have a strong ginger tea (5-10 minutes, to your taste).
2. Fill two 8-ounce glasses with ice (I like using stemmed glasses).
3. Divide the lime juice between the glasses.
4. Add and mix in sweetener, if desired.
5. Top with half the ginger tea in each glass and add ice and sparkling water to fill.
6. Serve.