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Two chalice glasses of lemonade sitting on a marble countertop from How To Make Lemonade recipe.
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Best Lemonade

How to make the Best Lemonade that tastes like seductive limoncello but without the alcohol. With a kiss of fresh mint, this lemonade recipe is not overly tart and is immensely refreshing. Pure bliss for lemon lovers on a hot summer's day. 
Course Drinks
Cuisine American
Keyword Old Fashioned Lemonade, State Fair Lemonade
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 14 hours
Servings 8 servings
Calories 144kcal
Author Heather

Ingredients

  • 6 large lemons *see Note #1 below
  • 1 sprig fresh mint *see Note #2 below
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 5 cups water

Instructions

  • Using a vegetable peeler, remove the lemon peel leaving as much of the pith (white spongy part of the peel) behind. See Note #3 below.
  • Place the lemon peel strips into a bowl and set the whole lemons aside to use later. See Note #4 below.
  • Add mint and sugar to the lemon peels. Stir well.
    Cover and let the lemon peels sit with the sugar for at least 12 hours. See Note #5 below.
  • After the 12 hours transfer the lemon peel mixture to a saucepan and cover with 2 cups of fresh cool water. Place the pan over medium/high heat and cook just until the sugar is dissolved. See Note #6 below.
  • Strain the lemon peel mixture using a fine mesh colander to remove the peel and mint. Let sit to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
  • Squeeze the peeled lemons and add the juice to the lemon mixture in addittion to 3 more cups of cool water.
  • Cover and let chill. Serve over ice and garnish with lemon slices and fresh mint.

Notes

Recipe Notes
Note #1- Homegrown lemons are amazing for this lemonade. If using store bought lemons, often they have been sprayed with a thin layer of wax. To remove the wax follow either option below.
  1. Place lemons in a large heat safe bowl. Heat about 6 cups of water almost to simmering. Pour hot water over lemons and let sit for 5 minutes. Scrub each lemon under cold water using a clean sponge or vegetable brush.
  2. Place lemons in a colander. Bring approximately 6 cups of water to a boil. Slowly pour boiling water over lemons. Using a clean sponge or vegetable brush, scrub each lemon under cold water.
Note #2- For this recipe I used 1 large sprig of fresh mint. The amount of mint can be adjusted based on personal preference. In other words, if you love mint add as much as desired. 
Note #3- The xoxo vegetable peeler makes for easy removal of the zest in decent size strips while leaving the bitter pith behind.
When peeling, it's fine if there is a little bit of white attached to the zest. It is impossible to have zero white pith. The objective is to have as little of the pith as possible. 
Note #4- In the preparation of this lemonade I used a 8 cup glass measuring cup for each step up until I transferred the lemonade to a fancier pitcher. 
Note #5- The sugar will pull the oils out of the lemon peel and mint, giving this lemonade the quality that is similar to limoncello.
Note #6- DO NOT  boil at this point. The purpose of heating is just to dissolve the sugar,.

Nutrition

Calories: 144kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.03g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 113mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 23IU | Vitamin C: 43mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg