This Rhubarb & Ginger Cooler is a refreshing soft drink perfect for keeping you hydrated on those hot Summer days. Serve well chilled with mint & lemon!
Rhubarb & Ginger Cooler – refreshing Summer drink!
Let me introduce you to one of my childhood drinks – Rhubarb & Ginger Cooler! It is a fantastically refreshing soft drink for when weather is glorious and proper hydration becomes priority. It’s quick, uncomplicated and makes a nice change from water.
If you like rhubarb you will definitely like this delicious cooler. Tartness and tanginess of rhubarb is counteracted by sugar & vanilla. Gentle hit of ginger adds to its refreshing qualities with its subtle spice really nicely. Yes, this cooler contains sugar but it is definitely required here to cut through the tartness of the rhubarb and as far as soft drinks go this one does not include anything artificial that we’d rather not subject our bodies to. This is the sort of drink I grew up drinking in Poland although funny enough never the rhubarb one.
Little bit of background!
I’m a recent rhubarb convert and I must admit I really enjoy it now. Better late than never! Polish equivalent of this drink is known as “kompot” and has nothing to do with what you would know as compote (stewed fruit). It is basically a non-alcoholic beverage prepared by cooking fruit of your choice in a large amount of water with sugar to taste. My favourite one as a child was Strawberry Kompot which both my grandma and my mum used to preserve large quantities of to enjoy throughout the year. Refreshing served really cold in the Summer and beautifully warming when served warm in Winter – perfect concoction if you ask me.
Few tips!
This drink is relatively quick to make although it does require quite substantial chilling time (I would say 2 hours would be absolute minimum) as it really is most refreshing when properly chilled. It might not be as quick as opening a can of fizzy pop but it’s definitely healthier and (if I dare to add) tastier. You don’t necessarily need to caramelise sugar before adding the fruit but I went for this method just to add a little bit of extra caramel like flavour to this cooler. If you’d like to skip that step simply put all ingredients in the pan and put on a low to medium heat and bring slowly to a slow boil stirring couple of times to help sugar dissolve. Simmer covered for approx. 20-25 minutes and proceed as per recipe below.
Mint and lemon are highly recommended and not only as garnishes as they really round the whole drink off nicely.
How to make Rhubarb & Ginger Cooler – Step-By-Step
Rhubarb & Ginger Cooler
Ingredients
- 500 g rhubarb cleaned and cut into 2 cm chunks
- 1.5 ltr water
- 6 Tbsp golden caster sugar or regular caster sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla sugar *see Recipe Notes below
- 1 thumb size piece fresh ginger grated
- mint & lemon to serve
Instructions
- Clean the rhubarb and cut it roughly into 2cm long pieces.
- Put sugar(s) in a large, dry pan and distribute it evenly. Put the pan on a low heat and let the sugar melt but watch it carefully and don't let it burn as things do happen quickly.
- Add chunks of rhubarb and grated ginger and fry them for couple of min together with caramelised sugar which will now form little hard clusters which is to be expected.
- Pour in the water and give it a mix. You might need to scrape hard cluster of caramelised sugar off your spoon. Cover the pan and let it come to gentle boil (it will take roughly 20-25 min). Give it a stir now and again to prompt those sugar clusters to melt. They should be completely dissolved by the end of cooking. Taste and adjust the amount of sugar as required.
- Strain your cooler through the sieve (you can keep rhubarb pulp if you want to top your yoghurt or overnight oats with it) and chill really well. It is the best when really cold.
- Serve chilled with ice cubes, lemon and mint leaves for natural and refreshing summery drink!
Notes
- Feel free to adjust the amount of sugar although I find it perfect to counteract tartness of the rhubarb. Remember it is easier to add then take away so you might want to start with 4 Tbsp caster sugar and go up from there if you want to.
- If you don't have vanilla sugar you can add 1 tsp of vanilla paste or extract or seeds scraped out from half vanilla pod. Check out this post for details on how to make your own vanilla sugar.
- If you would like a drink with a real ginger kick you might want to add more than a thumb size as this amount provides only a gentle back heat.
- Feel free to skip caramelising sugar step. You can simply add all ingredients to your pan and bring to gentle boil giving it a mix once or twice to help sugar dissolve. Simmer on a low heat covered for 20-25min and proceed as per recipe above.
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published on 10 May 2018 and updated in May 2019 with some useful info and updated recipe card.
SOME MORE RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY
Blood Orange & Ginger Smoothie
Easy Rhubarb Crumble (Rhubarb Crisp)
MAKE SURE YOU STAY UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST RECIPES FROM JO’S KITCHEN LARDER
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LINKIES
Cook Blog Share hosted Hijacked By Twins and Recipes Made Easy, Cook Once Eat Twice, Brilliant Blog Posts, Jess East and Travels, Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie and Mollie @The Frugal Hausfrau
Lizet Flores de Bowen says
This sounds so refreshing. I love ginger, but I haven’t made any cold drinks with it. I’ll try it soon.
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you! 🙂 Ginger is fantastic here, lifts the rhubarb up to entire new level, really refreshing. 🙂
FrugalHausfrau says
What a beautiful beverage~ Thanks for sharing with us at Fiesta Friday!!
Mollie
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you so much Mollie! Pleasure to join in! 🙂
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
Wow, this drink is a wonderful excursion “outside the box” for me! I have yet to convert to rhubarb. But the combination of that with the ginger, lemon, mint, and sugar sounds amazing. Sure, there’s sugar here, but there are also health benefits from these superfood ingredients!
joskitchenlarder says
I know how you feel as I used to absolutely hate rhubarb with a vengeance until I had a really delicious ginger and rhubarb cake during some sort of outing with the kids couple of years back. I started baking with it myself and now this tangy cooler, things are definitely on the up between me and rhubarb lol 😉
jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Love the sound of this recipe I have a ton of rhubarb to use so its on my list. Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Jacqui! 🙂 I hope you enjoy it if you make it especially now the weather is on the up and we will need refreshing drink on hand 🙂
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
I am obsessed with rhubarb at the moment and this looks so refreshing!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Kat! 🙂 I know what you mean as I feel the same, it’s a good obsession though lol x
EatExploreEtc says
Rhubarb has such a wonderful flavour and this recipe looks absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing it! 🙂
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you so much Linds! 🙂 Rhubarb can be a funny one to please just like marmite I suppose but this drink is really delectable and soo refreshing! x
Corina Blum says
I’ve never made this type of drink before but it sounds delicious and would have been perfect last weekend! Fingers crossed the hot weather returns again soon. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Corina! It was definitely our saviour last weekend and even my 7 year old enjoyed it whereas my 4 year old said “I’m not drinking THAT!!!” lol. Well, I suppose there’s got to be balance in the family lol 🙂 x
Jessica says
Ooh I could definitely have had this last weekend! Let’s hope the weather clears up and bit and then I can give it a try! Oh also, I read that rhubarb is meant to be the ‘it’ fruit this year haha! You’re right on trend! Thanks for sharing with the World Food Linky! xx
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Jess! It was a winner last weekend during the heat wave, so refreshing! I’m a new rhubarb convert and really enjoy it now but it wasn’t always the case lol. I’m not a trendy person so if it’s rhubarb that’s going to change that, so be it lol ? xx
jenny walters says
This sounds heavenly Jo!So lovely to have a sharp drink in the scorchio weather!Delicious….I love your flavour combos x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Jenny 🙂 It is super refreshing and as another bunch of rhubarb arrived this morning in my veg box, I will be making some more ready for the weekend 🙂 x