Cookeya

Real Lemonade

Real Lemonade takes about 15 min and serves 6. It needs 4 ingredients: lemon, caster sugar, water, and mint. It is rated easy to make.

Total time
15 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

  • 6 lemons
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 1 litre cold water
  • a few sprigs of mint

Method

  1. Take the zest first

    Pare the zest from three of the lemons in strips before juicing them all. Most of a lemon's perfume is in the oil in the skin, not the juice — lemonade made from juice alone tastes sharp and flat.

  2. Make a syrup

    Heat the sugar with 200 ml water and the zest strips until the sugar has dissolved, then take it off and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Dissolving it first means no gritty sugar sitting at the bottom of the jug.

    10 min
  3. Combine

    Strain the syrup, mix with the lemon juice and the cold water, and taste. Lemons vary enormously, so adjust with more water or more juice rather than trusting the quantities.

  4. Chill hard

    Chill for at least an hour and serve over plenty of ice with mint. Cold dulls sweetness, so what tastes right at room temperature will taste thin and sour once it is properly cold — sweeten with that in mind.

    1 h

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