With summer now fast approaching, its time once again for some cool thirst quenchers, chillers and cool cool juices. Make concentrates, sherbets and store them while you can, to enjoy the freshness of fruit and their cool tangy taste.

A few general observations while making sherbets:

Try to use sulphurless sugar to make the recipes.

Use water which has been boiled and cooled, to give a clearer appearance to transparent concentrates..

All hard fruit should be boiled and peeled in hot water

To store for longer periods preservatives like potassium metabisulphite (KMS) are required. They should be used only in specified quantities. Otherwise they will spoil the texture of the drink, and also affect health if used in large quantities.

As a general rule, 1 kilogram of ready sherbet requires 1/2 tsp. essences unless specific recipes show otherwise.

The procedure of sterilising bottles for filling the sherbets should be sterilised by the same method as explained in jams and pickles.

Add 1/2 tsp. respective essence to 1kg. of the ready syrup where desired. Eg. raw mango does not need essence, while orange will be enhanced by addition of a little essence. So choice depends on taste.

Use unstrained juices (but not seeds) for orange, mosambi or lemon and other such squashes.