Zitronenlimonade (lemonade)
A simple lemonade built on a quick sugar syrup rather than stirring sugar straight into cold water, since dissolved sugar in warm syrup mixes evenly while granules stirred into cold liquid settle at the bottom of the jug undissolved. Rolling the lemons firmly on the counter before juicing breaks down their internal membranes and gets noticeably more juice out of each one.
Prep10 min
Cook5 min
Servings4
Christoph's lemonade, the sugar dissolved as a syrup first so it mixes evenly instead of settling undissolved at the bottom.
Ingredients
Written for a 1 L pot
Units
Temperature
Servings
Lemonade
- 100 g sugar rounded
- 100 ml water, for the syrup rounded
- 200 ml fresh lemon juice, about 5 to 6 lemons rounded
- 900 ml cold water or sparkling water rounded
- to taste ice cubes, for serving rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Roll the lemons firmly on the counter under your palm before juicing, then juice them.
- Combine the sugar and water in a small pot. Bring to a simmer, stirring, until fully dissolved and clear, about 2 minutes. Let cool.
- Combine the cooled syrup, lemon juice and cold or sparkling water in a jug. Stir to combine.
- Serve over ice, adjusting the ratio of syrup to water and lemon juice to taste.
Notes
- Make a syrup rather than stirring sugar into cold liquid. Sugar dissolves fully and evenly in warm syrup; stirred directly into cold water, much of it settles undissolved at the bottom of the jug no matter how long you stir.
- Roll the lemons before juicing. This breaks down the membranes inside without damaging the fruit, releasing noticeably more juice than juicing them cold and unrolled.
- Taste and adjust before serving fully mixed. Lemon acidity varies a lot between fruit, so the syrup-to-juice-to-water ratio here is a starting point, not a fixed rule.
- It keeps for 3 days in the fridge, though it’s best made fresh if using sparkling water, since it goes flat.
Ingredient substitutions
- A few mint leaves muddled in add a fresh note.
- A splash of the elderflower syrup from this collection turns this into an elderflower lemonade.
- Sparkling water in place of still water gives a fizzier drink.
From Christoph Mayer