Apricot sparkling water, three ways
The unsweetened infusion, the syrup, and the ratio that makes the finished drink.
In season: A short window from late June to early August. Dried apricots make a better syrup than out-of-season fresh ones, which is not true of much else.
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Infused, unsweetened
Use
Apricot does not cold-infuse usefully. Raw apricot flesh is mild and slightly chalky, and 12 hours in cold water gives you faintly sweet water with no apricot in it. The aroma stays locked up until heat or sugar releases it.
Method
For an unsweetened apricot drink, simmer 6 halved fresh apricots or 8 dried halves in 1 litre of water for 15 minutes, then cool and strain. It comes out cloudy and it tastes like apricot.
Time
No useful cold time. 15 minutes at a simmer, then 3 hours to chill.
Sparkling
Chill it right through, then cut it 2 parts apricot water to 1 part sparkling. Any more sparkling and it thins out to nothing.
The syrup
Ratio
2 cups halved and pitted apricots : 1 cup sugar : 1 cup water, or 1 cup chopped dried apricots : 1 cup sugar : 2 cups water since dried fruit drinks the water
Method
Simmer 15 minutes fresh or 20 minutes dried, steep 30 minutes off the heat, strain without pressing.
Yield
About 1.75 cups from fresh, about 2 cups from dried
Keeps
2 weeks refrigerated, 6 months frozen
Note
Apricot syrup browns after a week in the fridge. It still tastes right, it just looks like weak tea.
The finished soda
1 part syrup to 4 parts sparkling water, over ice, with a strip of lemon peel
Apricot needs acid the way strawberry does. Half a lemon per glass, or a teaspoon of cider vinegar if you want it drier.
The shrub version
The dried apricot version is the one worth making. 1 cup chopped dried apricots, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup warm water, covered in the fridge 2 days, strain, stir in 3/4 cup white wine vinegar, rest 1 week.
What doesn't work: Cold-infusing raw apricot. It is the obvious next move after peaches work and it returns almost nothing, because apricot aroma will not come out of the fruit without heat or sugar.
Goes with: Lavender