How to Make Lemonade

How to Make Lemonade

Introduction

• A perfect glass of lemonade—cool, not too sweet, with the taste of fresh lemons mellowed by sugar—one of life's simple pleasures, and a real treat on a hot day. So, how do you make that perfect glass of lemonade? A few simple ingredients, assembled with the techniques outlined in this guide, will have you sipping a refreshing glass in no time at all!

What You'll Need

Squeezing the Lemons

Squeezed Lemons. (Creative Commons photo by Michael Cote)

• If you have a juicer, it's easy to follow its instructions and juice your lemons. But even if you don't have a juicer, there are several methods you can use to get the juice out of a lemon.
• Before you use any of these methods, there are a couple of steps you can take to make sure you get the most juice from each lemon:

1. Make sure the lemons are at room temperature.
   • If you're in a hurry, you can microwave the lemon for 30 seconds.
2. Roll them on the counter. This breaks the membranes, and gets you more juice.

Using a Citrus Press

• Using a citrus press gets a lot of juice from a lemon. It's a simple device, with two handles, designed to squeeze the juice from a lemon half. It's simple to use:

1. Cut the lemon in half.
2. Place the lemon half in the press
3. Holding the lemon over a bowl, close the press and squeeze.
4. Discard the lemon pulp and seeds from the press, and repeat the process.

Using a Reamer

• Another tool that some use to juice lemons is a reamer.

1. Position a small strainer over the bowl you're using to collect the juice.
2. Cut the lemon in half.
3. Hold the lemon over the bowl in one hand, and the reamer in the other hand.
4. Press the reamer into the lemon, turning it back and forth to mash the pulp, and let the juice flow through the strainer into the bowl.

Using Your Hands

• If you don't have a press or a reamer, you can use your hands, but you will probably get less juice.

1. Cut the lemon in half.
2. Place the lemon half in your dominant hand.
3. Position the other hand over a bowl
4. Squeeze the lemon over the empty hand, catching the seeds in your fingers
5. The juice will flow into the bowl.

Make the Lemonade

(Creative Commons photo by Michael Cote)

1. Combine the lemon juice and the simple syrup in a pitcher.
2. Add 4 cups of cold water.
3. Refrigerate 30 minutes, until well chilled.
4. Taste, and add lemon juice or sugar if necessary.
5. Fill glasses with ice.
6. Pour lemonade into glasses.
7. Garnish with sliced lemons.
8. Enjoy!

Variations

Limeade

• Substitute 1 cup of fresh Lime Juice for the lemon juice. It will take approximately 8 limes to produce 1 cup of juice.

Pink Lemonade

• Pink Lemonade can be tinted by using any of the following:

1. Two teaspoons grenadine
2. ¾ cup maraschino cherry juice
3. One cup cranberry juice
4. A few drops of red food coloring

Specific Recipes for How to Make Lemonade

• Simply Recipes: Old Fashioned Pink Lemonade Recipe
  • This recipe uses cranberry juice to give the lemonade a lovely pink color.

• Food Network: Lemonade  
  • Paula Deen uses a sprig of fresh mint to garnish the lemonade.

• MyRecipes: Pink Lemonade Recipe  
  • This recipe uses ¾ cup of the juice form a jar of marachino cherries to color the lemonade.

• Epicurious.com: Basil Lemonade Recipe  
  • Epicurious.com suggests this recipe which infuses the simple syrup with fresh basil.

• Recipezaar: Lime and Lemonade Recipe
  • Mixing lemons and limes means you don't need to choose!

• Martha Stewart: Mint Lemonade
  • Martha includes julienned mint in her lemonade.