Fresh Lemonade

Taste your lemons before you begin. You want a fresh true lemon citrus flavor, not a bitter sour lemon. The better tasting your fresh lemons are, the better tasting your syrup will be.

Ingredients

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice about 8 lemons
1 cup sugar
Optional garnish ideas:
fresh fruit citrus slices, berries
herbs like mint basil, thyme

Instructions

In a small sauce pan, heat sugar and lemon juice over low to medium heat until sugar has completely dissolved/melted. The mixture will get hot but not hot enough to simmer or boil. Allow to cool.
Once cool transfer to a clean storage container, cover and refrigerate.
To make lemonade, mix desired amount of syrup with water to taste. Add fresh fruit and or herb garnishes, if desired.

Recipe Notes

*For the smoothest syrup, pour the lemon juice through a mesh strainer when you add it to the sauce pan to eliminate any bits of seeds or pulp that may have remained in the juice. I strain it again once it's ready to be poured into it's final storage container.

*You can halve, double or triple this recipe easily. Just keep equal parts of juice and sugar.

*You MUST use freshly squeezed lemon juice in the recipe. Any juice you buy in a bottle or other container will have far inferior flavor.

*Advice differs on storage times. I store cooled syrup covered in the refrigerator and try to use it up within a week or two.