Summer Lemonade: a Versatile Recipe for All

Hey all, we made it! It’s Friday, and another week is down. Now that it is legitimately summer, and it is legitimately hot in most of the country right now, I am starting a series to visit the most important summer drinks and make sure that we are all making them the right way. This week we are spending some time on making really good lemonade.

Stay tuned next week to find out how to make the perfect iced tea and fruit punch. In later weeks we’ll talk about horchata and daquaris.

Lemonade is the quintessential summer beverage. Why? Because it is so incredibly delicious, and it’s also pretty easy to make. This recipe, as most of the recipes that I give you all, encourages experimention. If you want to try something a bit different with your lemonade, go for it.

For instance, instead of adding ice at the last step, you could add frozen strawberries, and blend the lemonade for a pinker variation on the delicious classic. You can also get fresh mint, and cut it into thin strips, crush it, and put it in your lemonade for a southern twist.

Ingredients. 1 ½ of FRESH lemon juice. 8 cups of water. 1 ¾ cups of white sugar.

Process. First we’re going to make a simple syrup because it dissolves the sugar much better than simply stirring ever would. For the lazy people out there, you can skip this step, but your lemonade will be much less delicious. So in a small saucepan, bring two of the cups of water and the sugar to a low boil. Stir frequently and continue boiling until the sugar is completely dissolved. When you are done cooking it, let it cool completely.

Juice fresh lemons until you have one and a half cups of lemon juice. Take the seeds off of the top of the lemon juice mixture with a strainer. I like to leave the pulp in, but if you don’t want it, well that’s your call. Mix all the ingredients together in a large pitcher. Taste a little bit to see if you are happy with the sweetness. If not, sweeten to taste. Afterwards, refrigerate for two hours. (If you are impatient you can get away with just serving it over lots and lots of crushed ice. Make sure the ice is crushed and not cubed, it will cool your drink down much faster that way.) Add ice, and serve! Don’t forget to add lemon and lime slices as garnishes!
The extra add ins usually happen at the end. So if you want to add fresh or frozen strawberries and blend them (make sure they are sweet! If you want to add frozen strawberries, buy really sweet fresh ones and freeze them yourself. The kind that come pre-frozen usually aren’t that good.) or if you want to add fresh mint, or whatever it is, do it at the end. Hope you guys enjoy this recipe! Do you have a favorite way you like to prepare lemonad? Share it with us! Have a great weekend!

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