Do You Want To Know How To Make Lemonade With Lemon Juice?
Lemonade is one of those nostalgic drinks that take you back to childhood memories of breezy summer days. This article will explain how to make lemonade with lemon juice so that you can enjoy the thirst-quenching and refreshing drink.
Everything you need to know about making fresh lemonade
Step 1: Source the best lemons
Although lemons are a winter fruit, they are often available year-round. The lemons you find in the store do not always have as much flavor as the homegrown kind.
However, If you don’t have your own lemon tree, try to look out for the organic variety. If all else fails, and you can’t find organic lemons, choose the small wrinkly green lemons off the supermarket shelf. These are often less sweet than their larger yellower counterpart but have a more robust ‘lemon’ taste which is ideal for lemonade.
Step 2: Juice your lemons
Lemons can be juiced by hand or using a variety of different juicers. Hand-held juicers are ideal for easing the chore and are often inexpensive. A helpful trick is to first roll the lemons against a hard counter before squeezing them; this makes it easier to extract the juice.
The easiest way to juice lemons is by using an electric citrus juicer. You can buy these as a stand-alone machine or as an attachment to an electric stand mixer. They are an excellent investment because they work for all citrus fruit such as oranges, limes, and grapefruit.
Step 3: Choose a good recipe
To make lemonade, you need a top-notch recipe. There are two main types of lemonade recipes.
- Fresh method recipe: in this method, the mixture is not heated, which means the lemonade has a delicious natural taste, with a touch of bitterness.
- Sugar syrup method: this recipe involves heating the water, sugar, and lemon juice, which results in a sweeter tasting drink. There are various arguments around which way is more traditional, but the ingredients usually remain the same, so it’s up to you which you prefer.
The recipe we have chosen is the sugar syrup method. If you want to make the fresh method recipe, follow the recipe below (scroll to see); instead of heating the sugar on the stove, add it directly into a jug with all the other ingredients.
Our Traditional Lemonade Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Lemons
- 125g White sugar
- 900ml Still or sparkling water
- Lemon slices
- Crushed ice
Method
- Wash the lemons in warm water to remove the waxy coating.
- Using a fine grater, zest one of the lemons.
- Juice the lemons until you have 1 cup of juice and remove any pips.
- In a saucepan, heat the zest, lemon juice, sugar, and 150mls of water.
- Stir over medium to low heat until all of the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove the mix from the heat, strain, and top with the remaining cold water.
- Chill the lemonade until cool, and serve with crushed ice and lemon slices.
Our Top Tip: Top up the remaining water with sparkling instead of still for a more sophisticated drink.
The Health Benefits of using fresh lemon juice
Using fresh lemons will ensure a healthy kick to your system. Lemon juice is packed full of vitamin C, Calcium, and Potassium, which is a good reason to stock up on lemons or invest in a tree of your own.
Try these 3 enticing lemonade flavors next
Though you now know how to make lemonade with lemon juice, there are other ingredients you can use to create exciting lemonade flavors and colors. These are perfect for themed events and parties.
- Minty Limeade- Replace half the lemon juice with fresh lime juice, make the recipe as directed, and finish the drink with handfuls of fresh mint.
- Raspberry Lemonade- Blitz and strain 1 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries into the saucepan along with the other lemonade ingredients, and follow the remaining recipe steps. Garnish with whole raspberries.
- Ginger Lemonade- Add 5 ml of peeled, sliced ginger into the saucepan with the other lemonade ingredients, and follow the recipe instructions. Use sparkling water in place of still water.
And remember… When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!
