This has been my go-to Summer refreshment since I discovered it on a food truck a few years ago.  I asked what was in the “Thai Basil Limeade” and the answer was, “Thai Basil, Sugar and Limes.” Fair enough, I guess it would be asking too much for the food truck personnel to provide me with the secret ingredient that made it so delicious.  After buying this drink practically every day on my lunch break I thought it would be a good idea (not to mention good on my wallet) to figure out how to make it. I started with the basics and to my surprise it really was just those three ingredients!

It took me a couple of tries to get it to taste exactly like the food truck version and the trick was to use a simple syrup.

For an individual serving:

Fill a cup with ice water about 3/4 of the way, add some fresh squeezed lime juice, and sweeten with Thai Basil infused simple syrup. That’s it!

To prepare a larger quantity here’s what to do:  Make your simple syrup (I use 2 parts water to 1 part sugar), throw in a handful of fresh Thai Basil, cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours or leave in overnight. Find a limeade recipe that calls for using simple syrup and replace with your infused version.

It might take a few times to figure out the perfect balance of water, lime juice and simple syrup but it will be worth it.

Enjoy.