Drinks: step-by-step recipes

How to choose a homemade drink for the day

The four drinks here cover the whole year. A banana berry smoothie is a breakfast in a glass. Dried fruit kompot is the family jug that sits in the fridge all week. Mint lemonade is for hot days and summer guests. Hot cocoa is for cold evenings and children coming in from the snow.

Ask yourself whether the drink is a meal, a treat or everyday refreshment. A smoothie with milk and yoghurt counts as food; kompot and lemonade are drinks you can make less sweet and have more often.

Sweetness is easy to adjust in all four recipes: start with less sugar or honey than stated, taste once the drink is cold, and add more only if needed. Cold drinks always taste less sweet than warm ones.

Tips for better smoothies, kompot and cocoa

• Freeze ripe bananas in pieces: a smoothie made with frozen banana is thick and cold without ice.
• Rinse dried fruit in warm water before kompot and let the finished kompot cool with the lid on, so it has time to infuse.
• Bruise the mint for lemonade by rubbing it gently between your palms before adding it; the aroma is much stronger.
• Mix cocoa with sugar and a splash of cold milk into a paste first, then pour in hot milk: no lumps.

A drinks plan for the week

• Sunday: a pot of dried fruit kompot for the whole week.
• Two busy mornings: a banana berry smoothie instead of breakfast on the run.
• A hot weekend: a jug of homemade mint lemonade.
• A rainy evening: hot cocoa with milk with a slice of banana bread.

Storage, kids and budget

Kompot keeps for about three days in the fridge; the fruit from the pot can be eaten or added to porridge. Lemonade is best within a day or two, so strain the mint out if you keep it longer. Smoothies are best drunk straight away.

For children, cocoa and kompot are classics; you can make both less sweet and they will still be happy. Dried fruit kompot is one of the cheapest drinks you can make: a handful of fruit gives a large pot.