There is something so summery about squeezing fresh lemon juice for lemonade. We try to do it at least once a summer. You can make the classic version, shown here, or feel free to add flavorings to your simple syrup such as lavender, basil, rosemary, or orange zest to liven things up.

I love using a simple syrup for this recipe because you can teach older kids about saturated and super saturated solutions. When you head the water, it allows the solution to be super saturated with sugar. The water is able to dissolve more sugar than it would at room temperature. This is usually very exciting for kids to learn! More sugar in the syrup? Yes please. You can then use the simple syrup for anything you like. Add a little to sparkling water and juice for a nice flavored bubbly beverage or use it for your next batch of sweet tea.

Lemonade

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup lemon juice (about 6 lemons)

7 cups water

Instructions

1. First make your simple syrup. Heat 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small pot until water simmers and sugar disappears. Let simple syrup cool off.  
2. Squeeze enough lemons to make 1 cup lemon juice. Add your juice to a large pitcher. 
3. Add 6 cups cold water to your pitcher. 
4. Add 1 cup simple syrup to your pitcher. 
5. Stir and serve over ice.