Nothing could be easier than making your own sports drinks. Whether they are for you or your kids there is a simple basic recipe. From there, you can play with the amount of natural sweeteners and fruit juice(s) to develop the flavors you like. You can mix up the juices any way you choose and use honey or maple syrup. We prefer the maple syrup because its flavor is more subtle than honey. Here is a basic recipe, along with several of my favorites.

• ½ cup pure filtered water (to make a simple syrup)
• ¼ cup raw organic honey or organic Grade B maple syrup (you can use a little more if you want it sweeter, but ¼ cup seems to sweeten it perfectly to my liking)
• ¼  teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 3 ½ cups pure filtered water or coconut water
• ¼ to ½ cup freshly squeezed juice or organic juice (You might want to add more juice for your kids. There are no rules. Just be sure to use an unsweetened juice.)

1. Bring ½ cup water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in sweetener and salt. Let cool. Pour remaining ingredients into a pitcher or jar. When honey/syrup mixture is cool, add to pitcher, stir, and refrigerate.

My Three Favorites

Lemon Mint Sports Drink

Prep time: 10 min • Yield: a little over 4 cups (1 quart)

• ½ cup pure filtered water (to make a simple syrup)
• ¼ cup organic Grade B maple syrup
• ¼  teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 3 ½ cups pure filtered water
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 2 lemons (I love Meyer’s lemons when I can get them)
• 2 or 3 sprigs fresh mint

1. Bring ½ cup water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in maple syrup and salt. Let cool. Pour remaining ingredients into a pitcher or jar. When syrup mixture is cool, add to pitcher, stir, and refrigerate.

Dark Cherry Sports Drink

Prep time: 10 min • Yield: a little over 4 cups (1 quart)

• ½ cup pure filtered water (to make a simple syrup)
• ¼ cup organic Grade B maple syrup
• ¼  teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 3 ½ cups pure filtered water
• 1/3 cup dark cherry juice (unsweetened)

1. Bring ½ cup water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in maple syrup and salt. Let cool. Pour remaining ingredients into a pitcher or jar. When syrup mixture is cool, add to pitcher, stir, and refrigerate.

Cranberry Orange Sports Drink

Prep time: 10 min • Yield: a little over 4 cups (1 quart)

• ½ cup pure filtered water (to make a simple syrup)
• ¼ cup organic Grade B maple syrup
• ½  teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 3 ½ cups organic coconut water
• ¼ cup cranberry juice (unsweetened)
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 large orange)

1. Bring ½ cup water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in maple syrup and salt. Let cool. Pour remaining ingredients into a pitcher or jar. When syrup mixture is cool, add to pitcher, stir, and refrigerate.