Summer is the time for lounging by the pool, soaking up the sun and drinking chilled cocktails. Nothing’s better on a hot summer’s day than an ice-cold glass of lemonade, but don’t settle for the standard old-fashioned lemonade you’ve had since childhood (although that is still quite delicious). Shake up your classic recipe this summer by adding flavored simple syrups.
Simple syrup isn’t called “simple” for nothing. It’s just a combination of water and sugar. To make it, add sugar to an equal amount of boiling water (e.g. 1 cup sugar + 1 cup water, 2 cups sugar + 2 cups water, etc., depending on how much you want). After stirring constantly until all sugar is dissolved, you can add this concoction to sweeten any drink. To mix things up a little, however, add ingredients like tea, lavender, mint, or berries.
Using your own favorite recipe or Gina’s Homemade Lemonade recipe from “Food Network” (shown below) as a base, you can add a small amount of whatever ingredient you desire to a pot of hot water, letting it steep for a few minutes before dissolving the sugar to make the flavored simple syrup.
For example, if you want black or green tea infused lemonade, simply put a few tea bags (more or less depending on how potent you like it) in the boiling water and then add the sugar. Same thing with lavender, mint, berries, etc. Let them soak in the water long enough to give it flavor, and then stir in the sugar.
Next time you go on a picnic or to the beach with friends, make some scrumptious untraditional lemonade. They’ll be impressed!