Regarding the herbal teas: I am a big fan of Celestial Seasonings -- Red Zinger, Mixed Berry Zinger. I make "refrigerator iced tea" -- just put a few packets in a plastic jug, add cold water, pop in the fridge and wait a few hours. Delish; no need to add Splenda or whatever. Last time I stocked up on them when they were on sale at the grocery store, the clerk probably thought I was reselling them on the black market or something! My other non-soda beverage of choice is cold water with something I've mentioned on a post here about favorite finds: True Lime, crystallized lime (they're the consistency of granulated sugar). Love that stuff.

Fermented? Not nece-celery! Ginger Ale (a good aid to the digestion) 7.5cm piece of ginger root, grated 600ml boiling water 1 tablespoon honey carbonated mineral water Add the ginger to the water and simmer for 20 minutes in a covered saucepan. Stir in the honey. Strain, cool and store in the fridge. To use, add carbonated mineral water to taste. And 2 recipes for Ginger Beer (I think both are non-alcoholic - I've only ever made the second recipe): Ginger Beer (1) 185g bruised ginger 3 litres water 2.5kg loaf sugar 125g honey 160ml lemon juice 17 litres water 2 teaspoons essence of lemon 1 egg Put ginger and 3 litres water into a very large saucepan and boil for 30 minutes. Add sugar, honey, lemon juice and 17 litres more water. Strain through a cloth and when it is cold, add essence of lemon and egg. Let stand for 3-4 days before bottling. Ginger Beer (2) To Make the Plant: juice of 2 lemons 8 sultanas 1 teaspoon lemon pulp 4 teaspoons sugar 2 teaspoons ground ginger 2 cups cold water Combine all ingredients in a jar and leave for 3-4 days (longer in cold weather) or until it begins to ferment. Each day for one week 'feed' the plant with 2 teaspoons ground ginger and 4 teaspoons sugar. At the end of the week if there is no bubbling on the surface, strain the mixture, repeat the lemon and sultana mixture and start again. To Make the Beer: Place 4 cups sugar and 4 cups boiling water in a bowl and add the juice of 4 lemons. Strain the contents of the ginger beer plant through a piece of muslin and mix with the lemon mixture. Add 28 cups cold water. Pour into sturdy, sterilised bottles and seal airtight with clip-on or screw tops, making sure to leave some room at the top. Leave for 2 weeks before drinking. To Keep the Plant Alive: After straining the plant through the muslin, divide it into halves and place each half in a jar with 2 cups cold water. Feed daily for one week with 2 teaspoons ground ginger and 4 teaspoons sugar.

OMM Thanks so much for taking the time to post this recipe. It sounds really refreshing. The plastic bottles are an excellent idea. I'm going to try a batch as soon as I can get to the brew shop and get some beer yeast.

Glenda, Grapefruit juice & cranberry juice are the two best thirst quenchers but many ppl cannot drink grapefruit juice because it is counter-indicated for many heart medications so they have turned to cranberry juice. (Cranberry juice is very popular with construction workers or ppl who work out in the sun all day). For those who prefer to drink soda but don't want all the high fructose corn syrups, FDA Food dyes or caffiene; Gingerale, 7-up and Sprite offer an alternative. Gingerale or 7-up is also added to Hawaian punch, fruit juice or even Kool-Aide to add a little fizz and pzaz to their non-alcoholic party punch. Judging by the display in your grocery store one would think that Ginger ales overall sales is low when compared to cola or root beer, but such is not the case. From the soft drink manufactures viewpoint, ginger ale is one of their top selling products, because it is a principal bar mix. Cranberries are primarily produced in Massachusetts & Rhode Island and here in Mass; Cranberries & cranberry juice is an extremely popular product. Check out an "Ocean Spray" display in your grocery and you will see that not only is cranberry juice sold straight up, it is also blended with dozens of other fruit juices such as Cran-apple, Cran-Grape, Cran-orange and so on. Now as you might imagine, due to its popularity it didn't take long for the local bars to start coming up with new drinks that use cranberry juice, and many of them evolved into a concoction of cranberry & ginerale with your favorite alcololic beverage added in. Of course the fact that the health food guru's are all reporting that cranberry is one of the healthiest juices you can drink did not hurt either....LOL. Canada Dry then went the next step and started producing the Cranberry Ginger Ale, primarily as a bar mix but now they are finding it almost has a cult following so they are selling it everywhere now. I love it, have about 4 quarts in the pantry right now..LOL