Virgin Cocktail Cooler: The “Fizzy Lifting Drink” (Recipe)

By Helen Jane Hearn

(Illustration by Quentin Blake)

Before I had children, my friends would bring their kids to my home — and I was sometimes ill-prepared. As the only non-alcoholic beverages in our home were coffee and margarita mix, I needed to think fast. Since I’m a huge Willy Wonka fan, I invented this drink to encourage everyone to stay hydrated.

Thankfully, this was the most popular and refreshing drink of the day for both the grownups and the little ones.

Ingredients:

1 can lemonade concentrate

2 of the empty cans of concentrate filled with club soda

1 of the empty cans of concentrate filled with ginger ale

1 lemon’s worth of lemon slices

1/4 cup sugar

1 1-gallon Ziploc-type bag of ice that has been smashed a few times with a mallet

straws

Slice the lemon into round slices.

Sprinkle both sides with sugar.

Gently stir the concentrate, club soda and ginger ale together in a pitcher.

Add smashed ice.

Add the sugared lemon slices to the glasses and pour the lemonade concentrate mixture into the glasses.

Serve with straws. (Because everything tastes better with straws.)

Originally Published April 18, 2015. Updated April 15, 2021.