Fresh Mint Lemonade
Cold lemonade with fresh mint leaves, bright and cooling. Ten minutes to prep, five to cook, then serve over ice to six.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Total
- 15 min
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
What you’ll need — tap to tick off as you go
- 200 ml
- 120 g
- 25 g
- 800 ml
- 300 g
- ½ g
Process
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Roll the 6 lemons firmly on the counter, then halve and juice them into a bowl, picking out any seeds. You should get roughly 220–250 ml of juice.
In a small saucepan combine 200 ml water and 120 g granulated sugar. Warm over medium heat, stirring, for 3–4 minutes until the sugar dissolves completely and the liquid turns clear. Do not let it boil hard.
Take the pan off the heat, drop in the 25 g fresh mint leaves and press them against the pan with a spoon so they bruise and release their oils. Add the optional pinch of fine salt. Cover and steep for 10 minutes, until the syrup smells strongly of mint and the leaves have softened and darkened.
Strain the mint syrup through a fine sieve into a jug, pressing the leaves to extract all the liquid, then discard the leaves. Stir the lemon juice into the syrup until evenly combined.
Pour in the 800 ml cold water and stir well. Taste: it should be tart but balanced. If it is too sharp, stir in a little more sugar until dissolved; if too sweet, add a squeeze more lemon juice.
Chill the lemonade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours, until thoroughly cold. Serve over the 300 g ice cubes, adding a fresh mint sprig to each glass if you like.
Kitchen notes
Kitchen notes
- The most common mistake is boiling the mint: heat above a gentle simmer turns the leaves bitter and dulls the aroma. Steep off the heat only.
- Bruise the mint by pressing it with the back of a spoon rather than chopping it. Chopped mint releases chlorophyll and turns the lemonade grassy and slightly green-brown.
- Taste after chilling, not before. Cold mutes sweetness, so a lemonade that tastes perfect warm will taste thin and sour over ice.
- For a stronger mint hit, steep the leaves for 15 minutes instead of 10, but no longer or the drink turns medicinal.
- Serve in chilled glasses with plenty of ice; a warm glass melts the ice instantly and waters the lemonade down.
- Make-ahead: the mint syrup can be made up to 5 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge; dilute with cold water and add ice just before serving so the mint stays fresh and the drink does not go flat.
Substitutions
- granulated sugar→honey or agave syrup, stirred in off the heat
- fresh mint leaves→fresh basil or lemon verbena leaves
- lemons→half lemon and half lime juice for a sharper edge
Storage & reheating
Keep the strained, undiluted mint-lemon syrup in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze it in an ice-cube tray for up to 3 months. Once diluted with water, the lemonade keeps in a covered jug in the fridge for 2 days; stir before serving. To serve from stored syrup, mix 1 part syrup with 3 parts cold water over ice rather than reheating anything.
FAQ
The questions we get asked most
Why did my mint lemonade turn bitter?
Almost always because the mint was boiled or steeped too long. Mint leaves release bitter compounds once the liquid goes above a gentle simmer, so pour the hot syrup over the leaves off the heat and strain within 10-15 minutes. Using tired, dark leaves or leaving them in overnight will also make it taste grassy.
Can I make fresh mint lemonade ahead of time?
Yes. Make the mint syrup up to 5 days ahead and keep it covered in the fridge, then dilute with cold water and add ice just before serving. If you mix the whole jug in advance, keep it no longer than 2 days, because the mint flavour fades and the lemon starts to taste flat.
How much sugar should I use if my lemons are very sour?
Start with the 120 g in the recipe, chill, then taste and adjust. Very acidic lemons may need up to 150 g, but add it as dissolved syrup rather than dry sugar so it blends evenly. If you overshoot, a squeeze of extra lemon juice brings the balance back.
Can I use bottled lemon juice instead of fresh lemons?
You can, but the drink will taste flatter because bottled juice loses the aromatic oils from the peel. Use about 220 ml of bottled juice and add a strip of fresh lemon zest to the warm syrup to bring some of that aroma back. Fresh lemons really are the difference here.
How do I keep the mint from turning brown in the jug?
Strain the leaves out before chilling. Leaves left sitting in the acidic lemonade oxidise and darken within an hour, which looks unappetising even though it is safe to drink. Add a fresh sprig to each glass at serving time for the green look.
Can I freeze mint lemonade?
Freeze the undiluted syrup in ice-cube trays for up to 3 months, then drop the cubes into cold water or sparkling water as needed. Freezing the finished, diluted lemonade works too, but it separates on thawing, so stir it well and serve very cold.
Why does my lemonade taste watery?
Ice melting in a warm jug is the usual culprit. Chill the lemonade thoroughly, use chilled glasses and add ice only at the moment of serving. If you are serving outdoors, pour the lemonade over ice in a pre-chilled flask rather than leaving the jug in the sun.
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