A new drink is born.... The Black Sun

Mom sent up a bag of lemons and limes from her trees. I love tart citrus. I don't like buying it up here because it's not as fresh as the homegrown and it's quite expensive. I was going to give the lemons and limes away but I realized how invigorating the flavors were so I selfishly kept them.

I like lemon or lime in my cola. Lately I've been drinking Coke Zero. I used to be a diet coke guy but this new coke is pretty tasty and non-bitter.

I'm lazy. You know it. I know it. I was going to slice a wedge of lemon into my coke but let's face it... I would have left the remainder of the lemon to dry out and rot in the fridge. I'm not good about dealing with leftovers sometimes.

So, out of pure laziness, I squeezed the entire lemon into the glass. I got about a half cup and had to strain out the seeds. It's an older variety of lemon so it has seeds but is extremely lemony, juicy, and has a thin rind. In your face, supermarket lemons....

I then added 1 cup of coke zero. The concoction fizzed and had a fluffy tan head on top. It wasn't really going away. The foam looked almost root beer-ish but it wasn't as creamy (I could see pulp). I waited a moment while trying to imagine what this must taste like.... hmmm.... okay, it passed the mental common sense taste test... unlike my halibut in chocolate corn sauce (another tale).

Anyway, I took a sip.... zowee!!! wowzers!!! zingo!!! it was very tart and lemony. The cola flavor came next but it was light and bright. It didn't have that simple sweetness of normal cola. It was feathered with an active and tantalizing brightness, like the morning sun. I actually *felt* better after sipping it like a shot of energy. Okay, that had to be a fluke. Second sip, less of a sharpness but still very tasty... okay, there again, I felt good.

I am just finishing the drink and I need to name it. I call it the "Black Sun". It's my own invention out of the laziness that is me. So, go get a lemon, juice it, top it with some coke zero, and drink to laziness.

The Black Sun

• 1 whole lemon, juiced into a glass. Seeds removed.
• 1 cup Coke Zero
• Do not stir or shake.
• Toast to something good in your life, before drinking.