Spiced soda syrup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1.5 cups of sugar
• 0.5 tbsp. dried apricots, coarsely chopped
• 0.5 cup pitted dates, chopped
• 0.5 cups honey
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Half a nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• Purple food coloring, as needed

Preparation:

1. Combine the raisins, sugar, dried apricots, dates, honey, cardamom, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg in a medium saucepan and add 2.5 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the mixture turns into a thin syrup, about 20 minutes.
2. Slowly strain the syrup through a fine sieve, pressing gently on the fruit to extract all the juices. Discard the contents. Add almond extract to the syrup. Add food coloring, a drop at a time, until you achieve the desired shade. Let the syrup cool completely before bottling, about 30 minutes.
3. Soft drink:
   
   Pour 240 ml of cold seltzer water into a glass, then add 2 tablespoons of syrup and stir gently (you can add more or less syrup to taste). Garnish with an orange slice.