Eons ago when I was a uni student, I spent many summer afternoons at my best friend’s share house, which had a massive lemon tree growing in the backyard. These days I mostly encounter citrus at the bottom of a gin and tonic, but here are a few other homemade after-work drinks you may enjoy… Drink up while the sunny days last.
124 Victoria Street Share-House Lemonade
Fill a large jug three-quarters full with water, and add the juice of six lemons. Dissolve a quarter of a cup of sugar in half a cup of warm water and stir in to dissolve. Add more water or sugar to taste. Refrigerate until needed, or serve immediately with ice.
Ginger Lemonade
Pour a 1.25L bottle of dry ginger ale into a large jug. Stir in two tablespoons of fresh grated ginger, some shredded mint leaves and the juice of six lemons. Add sugar to taste if it’s too tart. Refrigerate until needed, or serve immediately with ice. If feeling posh (and I often am), substitute brewed ginger beer for the ginger ale.
Brazilian Limeade
Wash, peel and cut two limes into quarters. Place in a blender with three cups water, three tablespoons sweetened condensed milk and brown sugar to taste. Blend on the pulse setting until emulsified, and serve over ice.
Pink Honey Lemonade
In a saucepan, combine one cup of water, four sliced fresh strawberries, one cup of white sugar and one tablespoon of honey. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature and chill. In a large jug, mix two cups freshly squeezed lemon juice with four cups water, and add cooled syrup to taste. Refrigerate until needed, or serve over ice.
Pineapple Lemonade Spritzer
In a saucepan, combine three cups of pineapple juice with the juice of three lemons, one cup of sugar and half a cup of honey. Bring to the boil and cook for one minute. Allow to cool and refrigerate overnight. Place lemon slices and mint sprigs in ice-filled glasses. Add syrup and mix with sparkling water to taste.
I just made some ginger beer using a recipe from an old English book – I luckily didn’t use glass bottles because after spending a hot night in the laundry room three of the bottles exploded with sufficient force to split the lids and rouse a sleeping teenager from their bed.
I have not given up. Next time I’m going to use a recipe from the internet which (unlike my English original) does not contain yeast and cream of tartar – just root ginger, lemon and sugar.