Perfect Lemonade

Originally published on May 25, 2014

Lemonade is really easy to make, but if you’re going about it just by combining sugar, water, and lemon juice, you’re going to be very unhappy with the results – an entire jar of juice and water combined together, with a bunch of sugar sitting at the bottom of the jug. Instead, you have to make a simple syrup (the same as when you’re making lime soda) and thencombine everything together. It’s an extra step, sure, but afterwards you can add vodka to the lemonade to make it into a true cocktail, or you can blend it up with some ice to make a frozen lemonade smoothie. There are so many options when you have such delicious lemonade!

Ingredients:

Juice of 4 – 6 lemons (enough to make about 1 cup of lemon juice) 
3/4 cup sugar 
4 cups of cold water, plus one cup 

Directions:

1.) Place the lemon juice, sugar, and one cup of water in a small saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil just to dissolve the sugar. Turn heat off and allow syrup to cool just for a few minutes.

2.) Place the simple syrup in a large pitcher and pour in four cups of cold water. If it’s too sweet for you, add a bit more lemon juice and if it’s too tart, add a bit more water.

3.) Serve and enjoy!