Kathmandu:

There are better ways to a cooler you than just guzzling the same old carbonated drinks, or the iced tea that has become so passé.

The Capital is full of joints that serve some of the most refreshing drinks, and their house specials are something that people recommend to friends and families to go and try.

And if you think you are not in the mood to dare the blazing sun, then we have the recipes for you. Wow your guests by whipping up some great mocktails with no extra jhanjat.

(All ingredients mentioned are easily available in the leading departmental stores)

Minty fresh

No other drink in its category can beat the Fresh Mint Lemonade OR2K restaurant at Thamel. It is ultra-refreshing that you shouldn’t be surprised if you should find yourself asking for another tall glass of this refreshing drink.

Famous for its healthy and organic drinks, you should try the ORV5 if you are health conscious. This is a fresh vegetable juice made of carrot, tomato, celery, cucumber and parsley.

Yet another OR2K special that you should try out is the Liver Flush — a drink filled with the goodness of pineapple or orange juice with ginger, garlic, lemon and olive oil.

Fresh Mint Lemonade

You’ll need

• One glass of water

• 5 cubes of ice

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar

• Handful of mint

• 50ml lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients in a mixture grinder. Pour in a tall glass and serve.

Cool and easy!

Perfect balance

Not only is the Yin Yang restaurant at Thamel famous for its lip-smacking Continental and Thai cuisine, it is also very popular for the drinks served here. Non-alcoholic drinks served here are are Beam Me up, Call Me Cool, Virgin Mary and Bartender’s Special, among others.

Beam Me Up and Call Me Cool are fruit based drinks, whereas the Virgin Mary is a cool mocktail of tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, tabasco sauce, fresh lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Bartender’s Special (Flaired by Prem Bahadur Giri)

You’ll need

• 60ml lemon squash

• 60ml orange squash

• 40ml cream

• 15ml soda

• Some ice cubes

Shake all the ingredients well in a shaker. Pour and serve.

Delightful!

Cool Hooray

Kilroy’s needs no introduction. It’s well-known for good food and better drinks. One can enjoy Virgin Mary, Cinderella (pineapple juice, orange juice and fresh lemon juice), Old Fashioned Lem-onade (fresh lemon, honey and sprite) here. Hooray Henry and Bartender Kumar’s Special have mango as its base and is rejuvenating to say the least.

Bartender Kumar’s Special

• 30ml lemon squash.

• 30ml mango squash

• 30ml cream

• Ice cubes or crushed ice

Shake all the ingredients well. Pour into tall glass and top with lemon Fanta, Sprite or 7-Up.

Hooray Henry

You’ll need

• 15ml lemon juice

• 60ml orange juice

• 60ml mango juice

Stir and fill with ice. Top it off with Sprite or lemon soda.

Stirringly refreshing.

Let’s go green

Thamel’s Weizen Bakery and Restaurant serves Nepali, Continental, Chinese, Italian and specially Mexican dishes. And with it are a long list of mocktails like Make Me Cool, Green Umbrella and Soda Spider. However, bartender Madhukar picks Green Umbrella as his choice.

Green Umbrella

• 35ml mint syrup

• 10ml Grenadine syrup

• 120ml Sprite

• 15ml lemon

• 40ml soda

• Some ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a glass, stir well and serve.

Get me another one.