Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

| Cuisine of the United States | Beverages

Lemonade is a sweetened beverage made from lemons, sugar, and water. It is popular in the United States during the spring and summer, when it is generally served chilled, with ice.

In some countries, the word 'lemonade' is also used to describe any clear carbonated drink; in others, it means any fruit-flavored soda.

Ingredients

• 6 medium lemons, should yield about 1 cup of juice
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup Sugar (can be adjusted by +/- 1/4 cup to taste)

Procedure

1. Juice the lemons on a citrus reamer. Rolling the lemons on the counter with moderate pressure prior to juicing will result in more juice from each lemon. Try to keep out the seeds. If you prefer lemonade with no pulp, strain the juice to remove it.
2. Dissolve the sugar in the water. Heat may be helpful if using a large amount of sugar.
3. Combine the juice and sugar water in a pitcher. Stir well.
4. Chill or serve over ice cubes.

Alternative Recipe

• 1 cup Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Sugar (or equivalent Sugar substitute)
• 6 Cups of Water (2 cups warm water, 4 cups cold water)

1. Pour 2 cups of warm water into a pitcher and stir in sugar until it dissolves (Sugar dissolves quicker in warm water).
2. Pour in lemon juice, stir again, and add the 4 cups of cold water.
3. Chill or serve over ice cubes.

Alternative recipe 2

• 4 lemons
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 liter of carbonated water
• a few leaves of mint or Melissa officinalis (lemon balm)

Press the lemons and dissolve the sugar. Add carbonated water and melissa or mint.

Note: Lemon juice may be replaced substituted by orange juice or other citrus juice, if desired.

Alternative recipe 3

• 7 cups of cold carbonated water
• 1 cup of sugar (or sugar alternative like Splenda)
• 1 package of lemonade-flavored Kool-Aid, or similar powder drink mix

Pour the carbonated water into a two-quart pitcher. Add sugar and Kool-Aid or drink mix. Stir thoroughly. Served chilled over ice, if desired.

Alternative recipe 4

• 5 cups water
• 1 cup lemon juice, about 5 large lemons or 8 small ones
• 3/4 cups cane sugar or turbinado raw; the latter will make a very brown color
• Citrus reamer, 2-cup measuring cup, teaspoon, 2-quart bottle

Squeeze lemons into the measuring cup. Pour the juice into the bottle. Pour or spoon the sugar into the measuring cup. Pour the lemon juice back in, on top of the sugar. Stir until it is mostly dissolved. Pour into bottle. Pour 2 cups water in the measuring cup; stir to dissolve any remaining sugar. Pour into bottle. Pour two more cups; stir again and pour into bottle. Pour in the last cup; stir and pour into bottle. Put a lid on the bottle and shake well. Chill.

Notes: If you do not have 1 cup lemon juice, edit recipe thus: 4 parts lemon juice to 3 parts sugar to 20 parts water (1 part is 1/4 cup). Sugar can be substituted for another sweetener. Sugar level can also be altered to make it more sweet or more bitter. Water level can be adjusted to make it stronger or weaker.

Variations

• Hard lemonade adds an alcoholic spirit, such as tequila, gin, or vodka, to the lemonade.
• Various fruits, such as strawberries and raspberries can be added for color and flavor. A small amount of beet juice results in pink lemonade with little change in flavor.
• Herbs such as mint, borage, lavender, and lemon verbena can change the aroma of the drink.
• Including the peels, bruised and sliced, gives more bite and a stronger aroma.
• Other citrus fruits can be used, including lime, orange, and grapefruit. Sugar and water content should be adjusted to taste. In American parlance, these are not technically lemonades, but limeade, orangeade, etc.