Homemade Lemonade

Summer has just past and I made some homemade lemonade a few times. It has been a while since I put any recipes here so I will now describe my version of this old favourite.

Utensils & Ingredients

A glass bottle, juicer, strainer, funnel, knife, chopping board, kettle, mug, spoon, several lemons, honey, tonic water

Preparation

If I have access to a lemon tree (even an overhanging branch from next door) then naturally I will choose hand-picked lemons. However if they have to come from a shop so be it. Several lemons should do to provide the needed juice. Slice the lemons in half and juice them (using the knife, chopping board and juicer). Pour the juice into a one litre glass bottle. I have been using a spare Bickfords Lime Cordial bottle that was a limited edition with one of those wireframe stoppers. I use a strainer and a funnel to get all the juice in while removing the pulp and pips. However to contribute to the homemade feel of the drink I then separately add a token pinch of the pulp back into the lemon juice. Several lemons should fill approximately a third of the bottle. Or to be more distinctive one of those lemons can be replaced with a lime.

Next I fill the bottom of a big mug with a generous helping of honey. Then I fill the mug to the top with boiling water and stir till the honey is dissolved. This honey-water is now funnelled into the glass bottle till the bottle is two thirds full of both juice and honey-water. This provides the drink with a degree of sweetness to reduce the sourness of the citrus somewhat (but in a more interesting way than had I used sugar).

Finally I funnel in some tonic or soda or minaral water till the glass bottle is full. I do this because I cannot entirely get over the Australian childhood notion that lemonade is the bubbly sweet drink that has nothing to do with lemons except for a hint of tartness. The last ingredient provides some carbonation to the mix and its own tartness helps to mediate between the flavours of the lemon and honey. Hoever it tends to make the whole mix go bubbly and overflow somewhat. I am yet to find a way of preventing this from happening but can minimize it just by adding slowly and intermittently.

The last thing to do is wipe the bottle down to get any residue off it and pop it in the refrigerator to get nice and cool. Then come back later and have some. It tastes intensely so do warn friends that they can always dilute it further. The bottle will provide half-a-dozen serves so is best for small gatherings in warmer weather (like a picnic or barbeque).