Rhubarb Lemonade

There’s nothing like the taste of perfectly sweet and tart flavour of homemade Rhubarb Lemonade on a hot summer day. Prepared with lots of freshly squeezed lemon juice and an easy-to-prepare rhubarb simple syrup, this drink is sure to quench your thirst and wake up your senses!

Rhubarb Lemonade should take you right back to your childhood! Well, that’s if your childhood involved homemade lemonade, of course! Mine didn’t. The only lemonade I drank as a young child was the frozen, canned, concentrated type. And, even that wasn’t stocked in our home very often.

When it comes to fruit juices, I don’t remember seeing too much of it. My mom would buy the powdered Kool-Aid and Tang. Those two were the only types of juice we saw much of. Fresh lemons are not something I can ever recall seeing until I was much older. How about you? Do the summers of your youth conjure up memories of freshly squeezed lemonade? Did you have a lemonade stand? I don’t have those memories, so I’m going to make summertime lemonade memories as an adult!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Sugar
• Water
• Lemon Juice – You will need one cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice. That equates to about 6-8 whole lemons.
• Rhubarb Simple Syrup – You can purchase rhubarb simple syrup from shops that specialize in cocktail ingredients, however, it is very easy to make at home. Here’s my recipe!
• Ice

HOW TO MAKE LILAC BLOSSOM LEMONADE

Add two cups of the sugar and water to a saucepan. Over medium-low heat, whisk or stir the sugar into the water until the sugar is completely dissolved. The water does not need to come to a boil! The heat from the burner will encourage the sugar to dissolve completely rather than just whisking the sugar into cold water. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside to cool.

In the meantime, juice the lemons and strain the juice through a cheesecloth or a sieve to remove the pulp and any seeds. Transfer the lemon juice to a large pitcher. Add the rhubarb simple syrup to the pitcher as well as the remaining six cups of cold water. Once the water and sugar mixture has cooled, pour it into the pitcher and stir well into the other ingredients. Refridgerate until ready to serve.

Before serving, add thin lemon slices and ice to the pitcher. Pour the lemonade into mugs or drinking glasses with more ice. Serve and enjoy!

THE IMPORTANCE OF SIMPLE SYRUP

The hardest part of this recipe is making the simple syrup and even that is quite easy! It is the process by which the sugar needs to be completely dissolved in water. Failing to do so will result in a grainy lemonade because it can be rather difficult to get so much sugar to dissolve by simply stirring it into cold water. Add heat to make sure the sugar is completely dissolved and incorporated.

The water and sugar are added to a saucepan and whisked together over heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Completely! That’s very important! It doesn’t need to come to a boil. Whenever I make sugar syrup, I never leave the saucepan unattended.

Obviously, if you let the water and sugar mixture come to a boil, it’s going to bubble up and make a mess. But, if you keep the temperature of the burner low, you’ll eliminate that risk. I never leave the saucepan unattended, because as soon as the sugar is dissolved, it’s done! Depending on the coarseness of your sugar, that could take anywhere from 3-5 minutes. Just continuously stir with a whisk until you cannot see any visible granules of sugar in the saucepan. It’s that easy!

HOW TO GET THE MOST JUICE OUT OF YOUR LEMONS

Some might argue that the best way to get all of the juice out of each and every lemon is to use a citrus reamer. They are very inexpensive and even though I have one, it’s not my favourite tool to use. The amount of juice you get out of each lemon will depend on how you juice them. I prefer a juicer over a reamer. You can use an electric juicer or just one that sits on your countertop. Just get one with good ridges.

We have one that looks just like this. I prefer this one because it catches the seeds. If you’re juicing by squeezing the lemons by hand, you might need extra lemons! No matter what type of juicer you’re using, there is one tool that costs zero dollars and will help you to get the most juice possible. It’s the palm of your hand and your upper body strength.

Do this – place the lemon onto your countertop and place your hand firmly on top of it. Roll the lemon forward, pressing down firmly with the ball of your hand. Roll it back and then roll it forward again. Doing this breaks down the flesh of the lemon and as a result, yields more juice.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!