Over the years, I’ve had fun finding different ways to use the garden beyond what ends up on the supper table. We tend to think of preserving produce for jams, pies, or canning, but there’s something special about carrying those same flavours into a cold drink on a warm afternoon.

A handful of berries muddled into sparkling water can be enough. Freezing fruit into ice cubes makes even ordinary drinks feel a little thoughtful. And if you have a steam juicer, that opens up a whole new world — the kind that turns a good fruit year into jars of summer waiting in the pantry.

Just recently, I pulled out some Evans cherry juice I made last fall, from cherries picked at my in-laws’ farm not far from ours, and mixed it with ginger beer for Mother’s Day. It tasted like the season we picked them — still somehow held in the glass.

These are a few of my favourite garden-inspired mocktails. They’re simple, beautiful, and all made with homemade syrups that let the flavour of each plant really come through.

1. Rhubarb Mojito

We first shared this recipe of ours a few years ago- and it's still a summer staple around here! Rhubarb has that unmistakable sharpness that wakes everything up. Paired with lime and mint, it makes one of the freshest summer drinks — tart, bright, and worth making every year.

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped rhubarb stalks

• 2 cups water

• 1 cup sugar (or honey, if preferred)

Directions

1. Add rhubarb, water, and sugar to a saucepan.

2. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat.

3. Simmer 15–20 minutes, until the rhubarb softens fully.

4. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing gently to extract the syrup.

5. Store in the fridge in a sealed jar for up to 2 weeks (though around here, it rarely lasts that long).

Mocktail

Ingredients

• 1 oz fresh lime juice

• 1 oz rhubarb simple syrup

• 6–8 mint leaves

• Sparkling water

• Ice

• Lime wedges + mint for garnish

Directions

1. Muddle mint leaves in the bottom of a glass.

2. Add lime juice and rhubarb syrup.

3. Fill with ice.

4. Top with sparkling water and stir gently.

5. Garnish with fresh mint and lime.

2. Basil Margarita 

We were inspired to create this fun drink recipe - as well as a new summer soap for this year! We love the new soap and plan to make the most of our basil growing in the garden this summer! (thinking Margherita pizzas too!) 

Basil in a drink catches people off guard the first time. It’s peppery, green, and unexpectedly refreshing — like stepping into the garden after the evening has cooled down.

Basil Simple Syrup

Ingredients

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Heat water and sugar in a saucepan until dissolved.

2. Add basil leaves and remove from heat.

3. Let steep for 30 minutes.

4. Strain and chill.

Mocktail

Ingredients

• 1 oz fresh lime juice

• 1 oz basil simple syrup

• Sparkling water or club soda

• Ice

• Basil leaves + lime slices

Directions

1. Fill a glass with ice.

2. Add lime juice and basil syrup.

3. Top with club soda.

4. Stir well.

5. Garnish with fresh basil and a lime wheel.

A salted rim is optional — but highly recommended.

 

3. Lilac Lemonade

This may be the prettiest garden drink you can make, and one of the shortest-lived. Lilacs bloom all at once and disappear before you’re ready, so it feels right to gather a few branches and make something from them while they’re here.

The scent alone is enough to make it worth it.

Pick only fresh blooms, and gently shake them out outdoors before rinsing. Tiny visitors tend to love lilacs as much as we do.

Lilac Simple Syrup

Ingredients

• 2 cups lilac blossoms (green stems removed)

• 2 cups water

• 1 cup sugar

Directions

1. Bring water and sugar to a boil.

2. Add lilac blossoms.

3. Remove from heat and steep for 20–30 minutes.

4. Strain and cool.

Mocktail

Ingredients

• Juice of 4 lemons

• 4 cups cold water

• ½ cup lilac simple syrup

• 2–3 tbsp honey (optional, to taste)

• Ice

• Lilac petals for garnish

Directions

1. Stir lemon juice, water, and lilac syrup together in a pitcher.

2. Add honey if you like it sweeter.

3. Serve over ice.

4. Garnish with lilac petals.

The colour may be subtle depending on your lilacs, but the floral note is what makes it memorable.

There’s something satisfying about making drinks this way — using what’s blooming now, what’s ready in the garden, what you picked last season and tucked away. It turns ordinary afternoons into something that feels a little slower, a little more seasonal.

And honestly, once you start making syrups from what grows around you, it gets hard to stop. A patch of mint, a basket of currants, the first rhubarb stalks — suddenly they all start looking like something you could pour over ice... or make soap with!!

Enjoy

-Jess