Mint lemonade

18 years ago

I was in Israel on business last week. When I went to a restaurant in the evening and was dithering through jet lag about what to drink, the waitress suggested mint lemonade. It was wonderful - refreshing, tart, mildly sweet but not sticky sweet. Theirs was made as a blended ice drink - like a frozen daquiri in consistancy (but this one wasn't alcoholic). I want to replicate it.

I found a recipe at recipe zaar. I chose it because it had a lower ratio of sugar to other ingredients than many others. I really like the way the lemon flavor came out, I'd never heard of making lemonade by steeping lemon slices in boiling water but the flavor was better than just lemon juice. The sweetness to tartness came out just right, but the mint flavor way too subtle.

It was a really good drink - I served it at a party and people kept coming back for more preferring it over the other drinks but I would like to get a stronger mint flavor.

How much mint should I add? The drink in Israel had a soft green color but perhaps they added some food coloring. Mine was yellow.

Could I stop at step 7 and put the concentrated mix in the fridge so I could mix up a glass at a time?

If I'm going to put it in the blender it get a frozen drink, what ratio of liquid to ice should I use?

Here is a link that might be useful: Mint lemonade recipe

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Comments (5)

lpinkmountain
18 years ago
I made a nice mint lemonade punch for a party I had a couple of weeks ago. I made mint ice cubes by placing mint leaves in the ice cube tray before I filled it with water. Then I made frozen concentrate lemonade and filled the pitcher with the ice cubes. I added vodka, two shots for each of my guests.

If I wanted to do a slush, I would make the lemonade a day in advance, and put mint leaves in the pitcher and then refreeze. Then put into a blender. Or, just make a slightly more concentrated version of lemonade, put in the mint leaves, leave in overnight, and then add lots of crushed ice.

I think the key is to steep whatever lemonade you make with mint leaves. I have fresh mint growing in the garden so whenever I want something like this I just grab a handful of fresh mint. I would steep it cold though, because mint tea is a brownish green color that wouldn't be appetizing when added to lemonade. Maybe that's why the green food coloring for the drink you had. I hate food coloring though. That's why I'm suggesting a cool mint steep. I had my leftovers in the fridge, (with the vodka) with mint and sliced lemons in the pitcher. It just kept tasting better and better as the days went by, lol!

BTW, I was watching America's Test Kitchen show on PBS a couple of weeks ago, and frozen concentrate and Newman's Own fresh lemonade were the winners.

You could make lemonade with a simple syrup and then steep that with mint, and then make the lemonade from there. Personally, I like the flavor and ease of frozen concentrate!

Anyway, I've never made a frozen mint lemonade, just a cold one, so I can't give you tried and true instructions, just my best guess from having done the cold kind.
jessyf
18 years ago
cloud swift you absolutely must go back to Israel to figure out the recipe and take me with you
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earthlydelights
18 years ago
try this and see if it works

the night before, boil equal parts of sugar and water for about 5 minutes then cover and cool overnight with some fresh mint sprigs to make a syrup.

the next day, or whenever you are ready, fill your blender with crushed ice and add one tablespoons of the syrup and about two ounces of fresh squeezed lemon.

maryanne
msafirstein
18 years ago
I'm wondering if you should steep the lemons and mint separately and then combine them.

I found this recipe where you crush the mint leaves:

ICED MINT
3 C. fresh mint leaves, 6 Tbsp sugar, juice of 3 lemons. Pound mint leaves to pulp in mortar and pestle (or use blender or food processor); add 2 Tbsp sugar and pound again; make syrup by boiling 2Â¼ pints water with remaining sugar for 5 minutes; remove from heat and cool; add lemon juice and mint pulp; stir well and chill several hours before serving.

http://earthnotes.tripod.com/mints_h.htm

There are many varieties of mint too.

Michelle

Here is a link that might be useful: Some mint varieties
Cloud Swift
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks all. I really liked the flavor the recipe had from steeping the lemons rather than just using lemon juice. I think I'll try doubling the mint and if that isn't minty enough, next time I'll try again with double that. Eventually, it will turn out as minty as I want or more minty and I can back off the next time. At least it should be an effective search technique.

pinkmountain, I don't do store-bought lemonade. It is all too sweet for me. I liked about they made the Israeli lemonade less sweet so it was more refreshing.

Michelle, I'll try making some mint simple syrup steeping it like that recipe so I can add it to tea. At Peet's coffe they had flavored simple syrup in little bottles (less than a pint I think) and they were selling it for about $9 a bottole.

My favorite is spearmint. I'm not sure what mint is in my garden - it is probably peppermint. I think I'll plant some spearmint.

Mint lemonade

Comments (5)

lpinkmountain

jessyf

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earthlydelights

msafirstein

Cloud Swift
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Mint lemonade

Comments (5)

lpinkmountain

jessyf

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earthlydelights

msafirstein

Cloud SwiftOriginal Author

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Cloud Swift
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