It’s so much fun to go to “pick-your-own” berry farms, but I always pick lots of berries and end up searching for new recipes to use them. Yesterday, I picked some lovely red raspberries, and was pleased when I found a hundred-year-old recipe for Raspberry Nectar. It’s a winner.
The Raspberry Nectar contains both red raspberry juice and lemon juice so the nectar was fairly tart with the delicate essence of raspberry. My husband said that it looked like Kool-Aid – but once we tasted the Raspberry Nectar, we immediately knew that there was no comparison. Raspberry Nectar has the rich nuanced taste of the fresh fruits, and is refreshing on a hot summer day.
Here’s the original recipe:
I’m surprised that the old recipe indicates that the serving size is only 3 1/2 ounces. Somewhere I have some very small juice glasses that I got as a shower gift many year ago – and they may have been about this size. The small serving size makes we wonder if the recipe author considers Raspberry Nectar to be a breakfast drink. Both raspberries and lemons are chock-full of vitamin C, so it would be a good substitute for orange juice. That said, I served this drink mid-afternoon over ice; and, it was a nice change from my usual summer drinks (iced tea and lemonade).
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Raspberry Nectar
1 cup red raspberry juice (Can be made with about 1 1/2 pints red raspberries)
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups water
To make the red raspberry juice, put the red raspberries in a bowl and mash with a fork. Put the pulp in a strainer and strain to get the juice. Set the juice aside.
Combine the lemon juice, sugar, and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved; then add the raspberry juice and stir to combine. Chill and serve.
A Hundred Years Ago 
YUM! and that is just perfect for this day!
It sounds really refreshing. I do remember when juice was served in small glasses.
Sounds very refreshing.
Oh yum. Hope I can get some raspberry juice.
This sounds really delicious!
Sounds wonderful and so different, Sheryl!
Perhaps in years gone by there wasn’t as much of anything so people didn’t eat or drink as much?
I’m hoping I have a good crop of raspberries this year. I pick them every morning to have with breakfast. What isn’t used, I freeze in a single layer. The next morning I pick, eat, bag the previous days freezing, and start another pan of frozen.
We have a sizeable raspberry patch, but they never make it as far as the kitchen! We just stand there and feast.
My dentist will love me for this!
Easy to make and perfect for this time of year. Lovely!