Mocktail or cocktail

Lavender Italian Soda

Soda water and lavender syrup over ice, with an optional splash of cream. The cafe classic, poured in blue.

Ingredients

Makes 1 drink

  • 1 to 1.5 oz Bench & Bloom lavender syrup
  • Soda water, to top
  • A splash of cream or half-and-half (optional)
  • Ice, and a lemon wedge on the side

Method

  1. Fill a tall glass with ice. Add the lavender syrup.
  2. Top with soda water. It pours a clean blue.
  3. For a cream soda, float a splash of cream on top.
  4. Add the lemon to turn it pink, or leave it blue.

The Italian soda is the easiest zero-proof use for the syrup: soda water, ice and a measure of Bench & Bloom. Left alone it stays a striking blue; a splash of cream turns it into a soft cream soda, and a squeeze of lemon blooms it pink. A good one for kids and designated drivers who still want the colour-change party trick.

Start from a bottle of Bench & Bloom or a batch of lavender simple syrup.

Skip the steeping. Ours is already dialled in.

Summer harvest, available mid-July