A FAIR Way to Cool Yourself Down this Summer!

Image by Wikimedia

By Ilana Schatz July 8, 2013

This summer is breaking lots of high temp records all across the country. The best antidote to the heat is staying hydrated, and there’s only so much plain water one can drink! We’ve gathered some awesomely delicious cold drinks that you can make at home, with a focus on Fair Trade ingredients.

Why Fair Trade? Because it’s such a Jewish form of ethical consumerism. Fair trade assures living wages, safe working conditions, no child labor, environmental sustainability – all basic Jewish values. For a matrix matching Fair Trade principles with Jewish Values, click here.

“But where do I find Fair Trade products?” you may ask.
Here is a list of Fair Trade and Kosher coffee/tea/chocolate products.

These companies produce fair trade sugar and/or vanilla:

Sugar:

Alter Eco
Camino/La Siembra
Deans’s Beans
Frontier Natural Products Co-op
Wholesome Sweeteners

Vanilla:

Frontier Natural Products Co-op

Here’s a variety of iced cold drinks you can easily make at home:

Berry Basil Lemonade (Recipe from Global Gallery Coffee Shop)

Ingredients – Makes 1 gallon

2 cups organic fair trade sugar 2 cups organic lemon juice 2 cups hot water 9 cups ice water 1 cup fresh organic basil 1 cup fresh local berries

Directions

Dissolve sugar in hot water until saturated. Add lemon juice and stir until sugar has dissolved the rest of the way. Crush and add the basil. Depending on the size of the berry you’ve chosen (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries yield the best results), halve or quarter and add them to the mix. For extra berry flavor, crush about half of the berries before adding. Add ice water, stir, chill to taste, and serve! If you’re feeling extra adventurous, pour the mix into an ice cube tray and make mini popsicles, or use the lemon pops in place of regular ice cubes in your favorite fair trade iced tea!

Iced Coffee – Cold Brew For Home Brewing – makes 7-8 small glasses of iced coffee (Recipe from Fair Trade Wire)

Ingredients/Utensils

4 oz coarsely ground Fair Trade organic dark roast coffee Water (filtered where necessary) 2 pitchers 1 strainer 1 wooden or serving spoon a little time (8-12 hours)

Brewing

Combine 4 oz. of coarsely ground coffee with 64 fluid oz of water (1/2 gallon). Stir with a large spoon. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight, or for about 8-12 hours

Serving

Pour coffee into a serving container over a strainer or a fine mesh sieve to separate coffee grinds from liquid. Pour over ice and serve!

Note: Once the coffee has had a chance to brew for 8 hours, it can be stored in the refrigerator to be kept cold. Above portions can also be increased as needed- 8 oz. of coffee : 1 gallon of water, etc.

Iced Mint Tea – Makes one serving (Recipe from Equal Exchange)

Ingredients

3 teaspoons Fair Trade sugar 2 organic mint green tea bags Ice Cold water

Directions

Pour sugar into a glass and place tea bags in the glass so that they are at the bottom. Pour just enough hot water to cover the tea bags. While steeping, gently stir the sugar to dissolve in the water. Take out the tea bags after no more than 1 1/2 minutes, then add ice to fill the glass. Pour in cold water, stir, and enjoy!.

Snow Mocha – Serves 2 large (drinking glass) servings, or 4 small (coffee mug) size servings ([Recipe][10] from Fair Trade Resource Network)

Ingredients

2 cups Fair Trade black coffee – brew a little bit stronger than you would usually drink 2/3 cup milk 1-1/2 Tbs. Fair Trade brown sugar (darker is better) 5 Tbs chocolate syrup (make your own from Fair Trade cocoa powder**) 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

Brew the fair trade coffee and freeze it solid. Once it is frozen, put the milk, chocolate syrup, brown sugar, and cinnamon into a blender. Blend ingredients until well mixed. Place the blender into the freezer to chill. Do not let it freeze solid. Meanwhile, remove the frozen coffee and chip it into small slivers. An ice shaver does this really well. Take out the blender and add the shaved coffee to it. Blend the mixture until it is completely blended. You may have to help the blender out by stirring the top portion of the mix. Place blender back into freezer to chill some more.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup Recipe

1 cup Fair Trade cocoa powder (unsweetened) 2 cups Fair Trade (white, brown, combination) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup cold water 1 Tbs. vanilla

Combine cocoa and sugar and blend until all lumps of cocoa are gone. Add water and salt and mix well. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil slowly, stirring constantly. Continue stirring on the stove for just a couple more minutes, being careful not to let the sauce burn on the bottom of the pan. The sauce should still be fairly runny. Remove from heat and let cool. The sauce will thicken up as it cools. When cool, add vanilla. You can keep your chocolate syrup in a glass syrup pitcher in the refrigerator; the syrup should not be too thick to pour.

Ilana Schatz is the founding director of Fair Trade Judaica, www.fairtradejudaica.org. She lives in El Cerrito, CA and loves to hike, restore their backyard to its original oak tree habitat, and make wine and liqueur from the eight plum trees in her garden.

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