It’s August and it is HOT. Although I tend to stay inside my cold kitchen most days, I do leave the house SOMETIMES (shocking, I know). Every Saturday my family and I go out to a local market to get fresh groceries and such. But it can get a lil hot out in the sun. And when it gets so hot I find myself craving a nice refreshing drink.
And I mean, look at this lemonade! It’s so bright and colorful, but let me tell you a secret. That color is completely natural.
There’s something about homemade lemonade that is just, perfect. And although your classic lemonade is great, as usual I’m here to spice it up. I did post a lemonade recipe last year, but I think I like this one even better!
Describe this Lemonade to me
Taste: This still has that classic lemonade taste, with tangy lemon and a little sweetness. Something I love about making your own lemonade is that you can adjust the sweetness to your liking. I often think that store bought lemonade is too sweet, so I add less sugar when I make it. This also has a nice warming floral flavor as well as sweet summery honey notes.
Ease: This is a drink so it’s pretty straightforward. Start off by making some hibiscus tea. Let it steep for 10 minutes or so before letting it cool down completely in the fridge. You could make the tea the day before to save you some time. Then it’s pretty straightforward. Juice some lemons, add that to your tea with more water, sugar, and honey. Pour that into a glass full of ice and sit yourself down to enjoy some really good lemonade.
Hibiscus Flavor Profile
The first thing you notice about this lemonade is that color. It is BRIGHT. This is completely natural, and comes from hibiscus tea. Hibiscus actually has a lot of health benefits in addition to tasting really good. It’s sort of cranberry-like, a little tart but also sweet. It’s also got this great earthy taste which goes really well with the lemon and honey.
What makes a Good Lemonade?
In my opinion, the thing you notice about lemonade shouldn’t be that it’s sweet. I mean yes, it needs to be sweet but I want to be able to taste the lemon. On the other hand, if it’s too sour then it won’t be as refreshing on a hot summer day. This lemonade has the perfect balance between sweet and lemony, and the hibiscus adds some nice earthy notes. Lemon and honey go so well together so I use that as the main sweetener here. I’m realizing now that this drink is actually pretty good for you, so that’s a plus.
I went to Target the other day and they had fall candles! Smelling them all gave me a headache but it was worth it because some of those smelled really good. And maybe one too many came home with me. But hey, I love a good candle as you may have noticed from their frequent appearances in my pictures. I guess these little end-of-post fall updates are becoming some what regular and you know what, I’m very okay with that. Onto lemonade!
Hibiscus Honey Lemonade
Ingredients
Method
- Bring a little over 2 cups of water to a boil in a kettle. Measure out 2 cups of boiling water and pour that over the two tea bags in a large heatproof pitcher. We re-measure the water after bringing it to a boil because it will reduce as it heats.
- Let the tea steep for 10 minutes before removing the bags and letting the tea cool completely in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- To the cooled tea, add 2 cups of water, lemon juice, honey, and sugar. Stir vigorously to combine, making sure to get all of the honey to dissolve. Serve over ice and enjoy!
- Lemonade stays fresh in a sealed pitcher in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Another excellent post!