Serves a Crowd

Strawberry and Lemon Verbena Summer Drink

June  1, 2011
4
1 Ratings
  • Serves 8 - 10
Author Notes

I am a tea drinker by excellence, but mostly herbs and green teas. Lemon Verbena is my all time favourite because of the aroma of citrus it gives to drinks.
When they started to grow this spring, I cut some very tender leaves from the garden but they never made it to the teapot. Instead I just put them in a jar with cold water to drink and kept refilling the jar - the scent and taste were amazing, like for days. - Maria Teresa Jorge
Then, a few weeks later I used it to infuse milk for a dessert recipe, and then with strawberries to make strawberry syrup for my granddaughter to have with water for tea. I normally use plain water but Food52 is always surprising me with ideas and why not with lemon soda, Tonic water or just carbonated water instead. I would even dare to pick it up with Champagne for a special brunch!
Maria Teresa Jorge

Test Kitchen Notes

I love strawberries in any form and this is a refreshing one. The addition of lemon verbena is wonderful and adds a citrus undertone and aroma. The lemon verbena syrup would be delightful in other summer drinks, as well. I served the strawberry mixture with Pellegrino but look forward to trying Maria Teresa's suggestion to add Champagne at a summer brunch. - BlueKaleRoad —BlueKaleRoad

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3 cups organic strawberries, cleaned
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 20 leaves fresh lemon verbena
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • lemon soda or carbonated water
Directions
  1. Bring the water and sugar to a boil until all the sugar is dissolved. Lower the heat, add the fresh Verbena leaves and simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. Wash and clean the strawberries. Put them in a blender with the lemon juice and hot syrup(remove verbena leaves temporarily) and purée until very smooth. Sieve pressing on the strawberry purée to obtain a clean red pulp.
  3. Add the verbena leaves again to the strawberry purée and allow to cool completely before storing in the fridge.
  4. To serve: pour over ice and add lemon soda or carbonated water.
  5. For a kick I would go with a dash of rhum, what do you think?
  6. Salute!
  7. Got extra fresh lemon verbena to use? Check out my recipe for icecubes with herbs so you can use them all year round.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Ms. T
    Ms. T
  • healthierkitchen
    healthierkitchen
  • TheWimpyVegetarian
    TheWimpyVegetarian
  • Maria Teresa Jorge
    Maria Teresa Jorge

6 Reviews

Ms. T. July 7, 2011
Great recipe, thanks for the inspiration! I made a variation of this for our 4th of July picnic and it was a big hit (and so festive looking). I couldn't find any lemon verbena at the farmer's market, so I made the simple syrup with lemon zest and thyme, then added some fresh mint to the blender with the strawberries. It was equally delicious virgin, or with a splash of citron vodka ;) Definitely planting some lemon verbena in my garden for next year!
 
healthierkitchen June 24, 2011
this sounds delicious and I have lots of lemon verbena this year! I'd love to try your flavored water as well - how many leaves do you think you used for a pitcher of water? Thanks
 
Maria T. June 24, 2011
Hi healthierkitchen, I use about 12 leaves per pitcher with 1 litre of water. After 2 days you can put new lemon grass. Make sure you wash the leaves if you sprayed any product in the garden. Hope you like it.
 
healthierkitchen June 25, 2011
Strawberry season seems to have ended here, so I will save this for next year. But I will try the water today!
 
TheWimpyVegetarian June 10, 2011
This looks really refreshing! With all the strawberries we have right now, I'm making this one this weekend!
 
Maria T. June 24, 2011
Hi ChezSuzanne, how did it come? Hope you like it. Thanks for your comment.