It’s the first time I’ve grown lemongrass. My only previous experience with it was in the form of essential oil. It’s such an uplifting and refreshing scent (and helps with varicose veins!).
But growing it…wow, I can see why lemongrass essential oil is so economical to buy. The stuff grows like a weed!
The other day when venturing out to inspect the pond garden, it was apparent that we needed to find a way to use some of this lemongrass…it’s multiplying rapidly!
Once upon a Donna Hay magazine, there was a recipe for some kind of lemongrass cordial, and the idea struck….what if I made a lemongrass spritzer with soda water? Even better…what if I used lime zest too, since we’re also trying to use up the last of some beautiful limes we were given?
And to top it all off, my family were coming around the next day for a birthday dinner, so there would be a decent sized tasting panel to trial the new recipe on!
The Recipe: Lemongrass and Lime Zest Spritzer
Syrup: Zest of 3 limes
4 stalks Lemongrass, sliced
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
To finish: 2.5L Mineral or soda water
Grab a saucepan and add all your syrup ingredients. Your lime zest and lemongrass are going in now so they can infuse the syrup both while the syrup is heating and cooling.
Bring your syrup to a simmer, making sure all the sugar is dissolved. Simmer for about 2 minutes, then turn off the heat.
Once cool, transfer this mixture to a glass container and place in the fridge to allow to continue infusing overnight.
Just before you area ready to serve, strain the mixture through a sieve and discard your lemongrass and zest.
We poured the syrup into a 3L glass serving jug and then added the 2.5L of soda water. Alternatively, you could pour a little syrup into glasses like you would with cordial, and add the soda water into these individual cups.
And there you have it! A refreshing, unique, homemade beverage.
So what did the tasting panel think?
They all loved it! I’ll definitely be making this one again.