Spring

Retro Raspberry Lime Rickeys

by:
April 20, 2010
4.5
4 Ratings
Retro Raspberry Lime Rickeys
  • Serves four, 10-ounce beverage
Author Notes

I used to be a soda jerk. The soda fountain I tended was a quaint fixture in the drugstore in Western Massachusetts where thirsty New Yorkers would hop off the Peter Pan bus that had escorted them out of the city and into the heart of the Berkshires on hot summer weekends. It was even quainter in their urban eyes because even into the early 1990s they could still get any one of 16 flavors of fountain soda for just 16 cents. This particular combination -- raspberry and lime -- was a winner with those parched travelers because it is so refreshing. I no longer pump the syrup from the chrome canister behind the counter. I make my own as the base for this thirst buster. - cheese1227 —cheese1227

Test Kitchen Notes

A great drink -- the raspberry just flirts with sweetness and the lime gives the drink a brisk, snappy conclusion. We wouldn't change a thing. - A&M —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 12 ounces frozen red raspberries
  • 1.5 cups sugar
  • Zest of two limes
  • Juice of two limes
  • 24 ounces Sparkling water
  • Thin slices of lime for garnish
Directions
  1. Combine raspberries, sugar and zest in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly until the berries dissolve and the sugar melts. Only let it boil for 2-3 minutes as you don't want jam. After that time, take the syrup off the heat and let cool slightly. Strain the syrup.
  2. Fill a tall glass by half with ice. Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of the syrup over the ice. Squeeze the juice of half a lime into the glass. Fill the glass to the top with sparkling water and garnish with a lime slice or two.
  3. Serve with a straw so that the drinker has the choice of either stirring or getting lots of syrup in the first sip (that latter is still my preference!).
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cheese1227
I am an excellent eater (I have been all my life). I’m a pretty good cook (Ask my kids!). And my passable writing improves with alcohol (whether it's the writer or the reader that needs to drink varies by sentence.). I just published my first cookbook, Green Plate Special, which focuses on delicious recipes that help every day cooks eat more sustainably.

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21 Reviews

Danielle
Danielle May 20, 2020
Born and raised in MA, the raspberry lime rickey was a staple of my childhood. Now that I live in western PA, no one has heard of it and it had been many years since I had had one. I LOVE this recipe!
 
Danielle
Danielle May 20, 2020
Born and raised in MA, the raspberry lime rickey was a staple of my childhood. Now that I live in western PA, no one has heard of it and it had been many years since I had had one. I LOVE this recipe!
 
Jim M.
Jim M. April 25, 2015
Just made it today. Great drink. Took a long time to get it to boil but everything turned out well. Tried not stirring with the straw but it was a little too intense a flavor for me. It's like the flavored sparkling waters sold in your supermarket except it has a much stronger and better taste.
 
Rebecca C.
Rebecca C. November 28, 2014
Substitute frozen cranberries for raspberries and ginger ale for club soda, add a favorite liquor (or not), and you've got a cocktail for the holidays!!
 
EmilyC
EmilyC July 17, 2011
This is a wonderful, refreshing, fun-to-make drink! Made them today for the first time; it's going into my keeper file.
 
cheese1227
cheese1227 July 26, 2011
Great! Yes, it's a summer drink. But in midwinter when we're pining for hot weather -- well maybe not THIS hot -- we'll make these too!
 
Sasha (.
Sasha (. July 15, 2011
This was my absolute favorite drink growing up in Boston and the only place I've been able to get them is on Cape Cod. Rather unfortunate as I live in Oklahoma now... Thanks so much for sharing a recipe! Yum :)
 
cheese1227
cheese1227 July 26, 2011
Did you get to try them yet? I'm curious to know how they turned out in OK!
 
lacerise
lacerise June 9, 2010
Made it to serve with an onion confit/gruyere cheese appetizer when friends arrived for dinner on a warm evening. It was fantastic! Everyone loved the drinks and the recipe brought me back to my childhood in the Bronx, with lime rickeys at the candy store. I should have served them with 2 cent pretzel rods!
 
cheese1227
cheese1227 June 9, 2010
Excellent!! My siblings and I would always get 25 cents worth of penny candy if we made it through mass without incident. Those were the days!
 
JudyH
JudyH May 5, 2010
This was delicious! At the end of our hot and sultry weekend, my son tweaked your recipe by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
 
cheese1227
cheese1227 May 5, 2010
Glad you liked it and I certainly like your son's addition!
 
arielleclementine
arielleclementine April 29, 2010
what a fun recipe! congratulations!
 
mrslarkin
mrslarkin April 29, 2010
Congrats! A great, simple, delicious recipe!
 
vvvanessa
vvvanessa April 29, 2010
raspberry and lime is one of my favorite flavor combinations. i'll be downing some of this in my very near future!
 
Loves F.
Loves F. April 29, 2010
I made these! sort of.... =). I used blackberries and lemon instead of raspberries and lime... and added vodka. Everyone loved them, can't wait to try your combo!
 
mrslarkin
mrslarkin April 21, 2010
Mmm...yummy and refreshing! We love W. Mass, especially Lee.
 
cheese1227
cheese1227 April 21, 2010
Lee is my hometown. I like it much bettter now as an adult than I did a restless teen.
 
mrslarkin
mrslarkin April 21, 2010
Small world...great-great grandpa Larkin settled there from Ireland and worked at High Lawn Farm for many years as their shepherd.
 
cheese1227
cheese1227 April 21, 2010
I grew up on High Lawn Farm milk and even tipped a few of those cows as the aforementioned restless youth....
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames April 20, 2010
Love it! And the headnotes, too. ;o)