Strawberry Soda (DIY Soft drink)

dear readers, who loves coca- cola, i do! but we cant always enjoy it everyday because of overweight population, but do love it, but instead make your own, so this recipe was from a cooking class i took 4-5 years ago with Chef Terri dien, she did a class about strawberries and it was a lot of fun, she made a simple syrup and strawberry puree (will give you a tip for that) and sparking plain soda water so i will follow you the steps, not too much sugar, i do love diet coke, but i found another alternative i found Stevia diet coke, it is not made with asparame thank god, they sell it at whole foods market, also at some grocery stores so the brand is called zevia they sell cola and root beer, so if you want a healthy option like myself choose that or make your own, im giving up diet coke for good and going to for homemade or zevia brand cola or root beer, so i hope you make this at home

Strawberry Soda
Recipe courtesy Terri dien, my good chef friend and dear martini co-founder

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
4 cups fresh strawberries hulled and quartered
3 tablespoons lemon Juice
1 1/2 cups club soda or sparkling soda water

method
in a small saucepan over medium heat combine sugar and water stir until the sugar dissloves and bring to a boil. transfer to a ice bath and chill until ready to use.
puree strawberries using a food processor or blender, strain itno a glass measuring cup and set aside
fill 6 tall glasses halfway with ice cubes. equally divide the strawberry puree among the glasses. add a 1/4 cup simple syrup top with sparkling water and add tsp of lemon juice to taste. gently stir and enjoy!

note: i added lemon juice with the strawberries in the blender and it gives it a brighter flavor, so do that dont add it to glasses, just a tip of wisdom as i adapt