The most delicious thing in the world is an ice cold lemonade on a hot Fourth of July afternoon. Do you remember that feeling? You’ve just panted triumphantly around a dusty baseball diamond, or bicycled through the shimmering heat to drop your bike on the lawn and race to the front porch, to be rewarded with an icy glass of citrus juice that glides down the throat, cooling every molecule of your body from the inside out.
Here are three versions of lemonade, which just happen to fall into the red, white and blue color ways of the Glorious Fourth: pomegranate lemonade, sparkling lemonade, and lavender lemonade. They are a welcome sight on a picnic table for guests to pour for themselves and mix and match the different flavors. The most exotic ingredient in all three lemonades is lavender extract, which I found on Amazon here. Other than that, it’s pretty much sugar, lemons, and water, with a few pomegranate seeds here and a clump of lavender there. The amount of sugar used is a matter of personal taste. Some like it puckering-ly tart, while others prefer a syrupy consistency.
My favorite is the sparkling lemonade, which fizzes up like an Alka-Seltzer when you pour the mineral water on the lemon juice, and looks vaguely like something a mad scientist would concoct in his laboratory. It goes without saying that the addition of gin or vodka – if you’re looking for a cocktail option – is pleasing to the palate, and gives a nice glow to the fireworks. Happy Fourth!
Lemonade Three Ways
Sparkling Lemonade
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- Juice of five large lemons
- 1 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup Truvia sugar substitute)
- 3 liters of sparkling mineral water (the Whole Foods Italian sparkling mineral water yields the fizziest, bubbliest lemonade)
- Slices of lemon for garnish
- Ice
Directions
- Squeeze the juice of four lemons, separating out seeds, and place in a large pitcher that has been pre-cooled in the refrigerator (this will make the pitcher even more frosty-looking, and keep the lemonade cooler longer).
- Add one cup of sugar and three one-liter bottles of sparkling mineral water, adding the sparkling water last (that is what makes it particularly fizzy).
- Stir until sugar is dissolved. Garnish with lemons and serve over plenty of ice.
- I have lately been using several round ice cube molds to create one large, spherical ice cube, which I think looks more festive (and I used one on the top of the bottle so you can see exactly how they look. The molds are also an Amazon purchase, available here.
Pomegranate Lemonade
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- Juice of five large lemons
- 1 cup sugar (or ½ cup Truvia sugar substitute)
- 3 quarts water
- 1 pomegranate, seeds removed
- Ice
Directions
- In a large pitcher, pour lemon juice, sugar and water.
- Set aside about one quarter of the pomegranate seeds for garnish, and crush the rest in a blender or food processor.
- Strain any excess pulp from the crushed seeds and pour into lemonade.
- Stir well until sugar is dissolved. Drop remaining unblended pomegranate seeds into pitcher.
- Pour over glass of ice and serve.
Lavender Lemonade
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- Juice of five large lemons
- 3 quarts water
- 1 cup of sugar (or ½ cup Truvia sugar substitute)
- 2 teaspoons lavender extract
- Fresh lavender, tied in a bunch, and individual lavender sprigs for garnish
Directions
- In a large pre-chilled pitcher, pour in the lemon juice, water, sugar, and lavender extract.
- Stir well until sugar is dissolved.
- Take a small bunch of fresh lavender and tie together with a bit of kitchen string, and drop into the lemonade.
- Add ice on top of lavender bundle to keep it from floating to the top.
- The taste of lavender is more pleasing to some than others.
- If you really like it, you may want to add more lavender extract to the lemonade; it’s a matter of personal preference.
- Serve.
Note: Lavender extract is not the same as lavender essence. The extract is edible; the essence is for external use only. You can find the extract in cooking stores and in the baking section of the grocery store.
