In case a White Linen isn’t enough to cool you off during the hot summer days, we’ve created our own twist on the River City’s signature drink: the Royal Linen— a Kings-colored, Sacramento native plant-adoring slushy for you to enjoy. Pro tip: We also think this locally-focused libation works great as a mocktail.
Royal Linen Ingredients
- 1 ounce of lemon juice
- 1 ounce of lime juice
- Elderberry simple syrup*
- 3 ounces of Hendrick’s gin (optional)
- Club soda or tonic water (Pro tip: We’d recommend Fever Tree as the carbonated mixer.)
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- Elderberries for garnish
- Ice
Royal Linen Directions (Prep: ~10 minutes)
- Fill a blender with as much ice as possible
- Add lemon juice, lime juice + gin
- Blend until a ice is crunchy + thick, almost like a snow cone
- Pour out into two cups
- Top with soda, roughly 1 ounce
- Drizzle with syrup + garnish with cucumber and berries
Homemade Black Elderberry Syrup Ingredients*
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup dried elderberry, or to taste; the more you have, the richer the flavor
- Optional: Corn starch (to thicken)
Pro tip: We like to grab our elderberries from the bulk herb section at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op.
Homemade Black Elderberry Syrup Directions (Prep: 20 minutes)*
- Heat a cup of water over low heat
- Once warm, pour in sugar; stir occasionally as it dissolves into the water
- Add your elderberries and let cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes
- Drain elderberries + save (they make for a nice garnish)
- If you’d like it thicker, take 1-2 tsp of cornstarch and blend it into water; add into syrup
- Continue adding corn starch this way until you reach the desired thickness
