Make your own Non-Alcoholic Champagne

Well this isn’t technically a substitute for champagne as much as it’s a refreshing punch for all occasions (around the braai, or Christmas time when making toasts and wanting to include the little ones). This is the recipe I use although you can go crazy and hey, even add some alcohol, I've heard a dash of gin is great too. Ingredients: 1 x litre of Sprite or lemonade 1 x litre of apple juice 1 x Orange unpeeled 1 x lemon unpeeled 1 x red apple unpeeled, cored 5 x big mint leaves (although you can add as desired) 1 x ginger root peeled (very important) Ice - at least a quarter of you container must contain ice Method: - Take one or two of your mint leaves and crush slightly with some ice in the bottom of your container (big jug usually the best), this releases some of the mint flavour. - Chop all fruits as you wish, but my advice here is that you simply quater everything (this just looks attractive) and then add to your jug. - Slice your peeled ginger root into four or five wide and thin slices, this will release the most flavour while remaining big enough not to end up in someone’s glass. - Then add the rest of the ice and gently pour your lemonade over all the ingredients. Stir gently and serve. You can chop and change anything here and fancy it up a little. There are some top-notch recipes for this online if you search, but they mostly call for a lot more effort with generally the same result. Leave a comment if you have a nice summer time punch you'd like to share by Byron Marais Follow me on Twitter! Visit my Google Profile.