Any non-alcoholic soft drinks are always very popular, but especially the demand for them increases in the summer heat. Shelves of shops are bursting with various carbonated drinks and soft drinks, but, as you know, there is little useful in them. Rather, they can be attributed to products not of the food but of the chemical industry, since they contain many additives and dyes.
Is it not better to make lemonade from oranges or other citrus fruits at home and get not only a delicious, thirst-quenching tonic, but also replenish your body with vitamins? Homemade lemonade has an excellent taste and aroma, and, most importantly, it does not contain any chemistry or preservatives.
How to make lemonade
Making lemonade from oranges, lemons or limes is very simple and fast. But in order to make a really healthy and tasty drink and get the most out of it, you need to take into account some subtleties:
- citrus fruits must be ripe and without rot;
- bones from them must be removed;
- juice is not taken in carton packs, but just freshly squeezed;
- use boiled or filtered water, can be carbonated;
- to put ice;
- Serve homemade lemonade from oranges in beautiful glasses, decorating them with imagination - slices of citrus fruits, sprigs of mint and a sugar rim.
In addition, there are many recipes for it, so you can choose any one to your taste and pamper your family in the summer heat.
Traditional Orange Lemonade Recipe
To prepare this delicious drink, you will need 4 large oranges, 10 l of water, 700-800 g of sugar and citric acid (not more than 10 g).
The recipe for oranges lemonade is so simple that any novice housewife will master it, and the result will exceed all your expectations:
- oranges should be washed well and doused with boiling water;
- after they have cooled, they need to be placed in the freezer for 10-12 hours;
- having taken out of the refrigerator, they are again poured with boiling water and cut into parts;
- chopped oranges with peel are crushed in a blender or with a meat grinder;
- the resulting slurry is poured with cold boiled or filtered water (3 l) and left for half an hour;
- then, using gauze or a fine sieve, the infusion is filtered and the remaining 7 liters of water, sugar and citric acid are added to it.
An hour later homemade oranges lemonade is ready. To make it even more delicious and natural, citric acid can be replaced with juice squeezed from one lemon.
Gourmet drink
There is another interesting recipe for orange lemonade.
To prepare it, you need to take one piece of orange and lemon, 250 g of orange juice (freshly squeezed), 1 glass of sugar and 2 glasses of water.
From one fourth of the lemon you need to peel the zest, add it to a container where water and sugar are mixed, and boil it. After which, boil for another 5 minutes over low heat, remove from the stove, cool and strain the resulting syrup. Then add sliced orange, juice and ice cubes. Orange lemonade is ready to drink!
If you don’t really like the citrus bitterness that the zest gives, then you can extract it from the syrup immediately after it boils.
Naturally, lemonade can be prepared not only from oranges. Saturation and piquant sourness to such a drink give lemons. The combination of these two citrus fruits makes lemonade even more fortified and aromatic.
Lemon orange mix
To make lemonade from oranges and lemons, take 3 oranges, 2 lemons, 150-200 g of granulated sugar and 3.5 liters of water.
Pour the required amount of water into a saucepan and set on fire. While it is boiling, wash the citrus fruits and squeeze the juice out of them. Do not discard the remaining zest, but cut into small pieces. When the water boils, put the chopped zest in it and cook for no more than 10 minutes, then add sugar, stir and remove the saucepan from the heat. After the infusion has cooled, strain it and add the juice - lemonade from oranges and lemons no longer requires your participation. Now just enjoy the natural drink.
Refreshing cocktail
The highlight in this drink is mint. You will need 3 oranges, half a lemon, 4 tbsp. tablespoons of sugar, half a liter of water (carbonated), mint (several sprigs) and ice. Mix citrus fruits and sugar in a blender, making fresh. Ice should be crushed separately. A few leaves of mint should be cut, mashed with a mortar and put on the bottom of the glass. Pour ice on top and let stand for a couple of minutes. Then add fresh to taste and pour mineral water. The resulting lemonade from oranges must be mixed and served as a cocktail with a straw, for decoration, taking a sprig of mint, as well as a slice of lemon and orange.
Options for Citrus Lemonade
Many refreshing drinks are based on citrus fruits. And this is not surprising. After all, these fruits are not only the most affordable now and are present on store shelves all year round, but also very useful. The vitamins and minerals that make up their composition play a huge role for the human body, and drinks made from citrus perfectly quench your thirst and have a tonic effect.
In addition, when preparing lemonade from oranges, you can also experiment: add not only lemons and limes to the drink, but also strawberries, kiwi, ginger, green tea or pineapple juice, changing the taste and aroma. Fantasy is not limited by anything, and such lemonade not only saves you from thirst, but also is an indispensable drink for any festive feast.