5 drinks to try this summer that are not your regular lemon iced tea!

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Here are 5 summer drinks that are not your regular lemon iced tea, some come with wonderful health benefits, such as the green tea cooler or the roasted barley caffeine free tea.

Summer Drinks! Aren’t we all fed up of the same old lemon iced tea. Not to mention that the lemon teas served at cafes comes with a TON of sugar. Here are 5 summer drinks that are not your regular lemon iced tea, some come with wonderful health benefits, such as the green tea cooler or the roasted barley caffeine free tea. Do check out the videos and keep your fridge stocked with these cooling beverages all summer!

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BORICHA – Barley Tea

I first had this at my neighbour Michelle’s house. In fact, most introductions to Korean food and culture have happened thanks to her. Boricha or roasted barley tea can be had either warm or cold is a comforting, caffeine-free, almost calorie-free drink.

You can store a jug of boricha in the fridge and drink it chilled, but typically ice is not added to this. This tea is great for kids too to cool them off in the summers as it has no caffeine

WATERMELON-CUCUMBER COOLER

Both watermelon and cucumber are summer friendly fruits/vegetables with their high water content and refreshing quality. Add in a few leaves of basil for a new flavour twist. You can sweeten this with honey or drink it as it is.

GREEN TEA-CRANBERRY COOLER

We all know that green tea is good for us. Studies indicate that it improves the metabolism and it is full of anti-oxidants that offer protection from a range of diseases. However, Indian summers can get so hot that drinking a cup of hot iced tea may not sound like fun.

Here’s how you can get all the benefits of green tea and make it appealing for the summers. Feel free to substitute any other juice, if you don’t have cranberry juice around.

VIETNAMESE ICED COFFEE

There’s regular cold coffee that we all grew up drinking, in our college canteens and then there is this Vietnamese Iced coffee, so simple and yet a tad fancy. And absolutely delicious.

Once you try this, this is the only way you will want to drink coffee in the summers. Make sure you have an open can of condensed milk in your refrigerator at all times, because I guarantee you that you’ll be craving for this one.

CUCUMBER MINT LASSI

While I do love the sweet, thick lassi, that’s easier to ‘eat’ than drink, I cannot do it without a pang of guilt for having consumed several spoons of sugar in this tall glass that Punjab is famous for.

My version of the lassi may not be as delicious or decadent as the typical Punjabi lassi, but I promise it is refreshing for the hot days and quite filling too for a quick breakfast if you add some soaked oats or some soaked poha (beaten rice) to this and make a smoothie. It would have probiotic qualities too.

(c) Nandita Iyer 2006-2015