Classic cocktail · Guided recipe

Fresh Lemonade

Proper homemade lemonade: fresh lemon and sugar lengthened with soda over plenty of ice. Tart, cloudy and better than anything from a bottle.

Preparation~2 minSuper easyStrengthAlcohol-free0% ABVMethodBuilt in glass6 guided stepsIngredients3Tall (highball) glass

Highball

In the glassFresh lemon juice · Simple syrup · Soda water

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Make it with guidanceOne clear action at a time, with timers built in.

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What goes in

Ingredients

An empty clear highball glass with tall straight sides and a substantial base. — Serving glassHighball glass

Set up before you pour

Use a highball glass.

The tall, straight shape leaves room for plenty of ice and mixer while keeping a long drink lively.

Standard size: 350 ml11¾ oz
Ice & serve: Fill it with fresh ice cubes.
If you don’t own one: Use a Collins glass or any tall, straight-sided tumbler.

Tools to set out

jigger or measuring spoon

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Scale to your tall (highball) glassWe’ll remember this glass size.

Soda water90 ml
Fresh lemon juice45 ml
Simple syrup30 ml

Start making

From bottle to glass

Method

01
Ice the glass
Fill the glass with ice
02
Measure and pour
Pour 45 ml fresh lemon juice
- Fresh lemon juice
03
Measure and pour
Add 30 ml simple syrup
- Simple syrup
04
Top gently
Top with 90 ml soda water
- Soda water
05
Stir around the ice
Stir gently to combine
06
Finish the drink
Finish it — add a lemon slice and a sprig of mint
Why it mattersSlap the mint between your palms before planting it — that little hit releases the oils, and the smell is half the drink.

Know your drink

About the Fresh Lemonade

Three sophisticated alcohol-free cocktails made with herbs, berries, tea and citrus.

Sour to sweet, by number

Forty-five milliliters of lemon against thirty of syrup lands at three parts sour to two sweet, which reads tart to most palates. Push the syrup to forty and it goes soft and childlike. Drop it to twenty and the acid strips the roof of your mouth. Adjust in five-milliliter steps rather than guessing.

Sugar syrup rather than sugar is not fussiness. Granulated sugar simply will not dissolve in cold juice, so you get a gritty layer at the bottom and a drink that reads sour at the top and sickly at the last inch. Equal weights of sugar and hot water, stirred and cooled, keeps two weeks in the fridge.

Common questions

Fresh Lemonade FAQ

Why does it taste flat within an hour of making it?

Two things fade fast. Squeezed lemon juice loses its top aroma within about half an hour and turns duller and flatly acidic after that, and the soda gives up its gas the moment it warms. Squeeze to order and top up per glass, not per pitcher.

Granulated sugar instead of simple syrup?

It will not dissolve. Cold acidic liquid leaves you grit at the bottom and an unsweetened drink at the top. Either make syrup from equal weights of sugar and hot water, or use superfine sugar and stir it into the lemon juice before any ice goes in.

What happens if I use still water?

You get old-fashioned still lemonade, a perfectly good drink but a different one. Without carbonation to carry the acid it reads rounder and heavier, so pull the syrup back by about five milliliters or the last inch will taste cloying.

Should I use the zest as well as the juice?

Worth ten minutes if you have them. Rub the peel of one lemon into the sugar and leave it until the sugar goes damp and fragrant, then make your syrup from that. Oil in the skin carries most of what you actually smell as lemon.

What ingredients are in a Fresh Lemonade?

A classic Fresh Lemonade calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 30 ml (1 oz) Simple syrup, 90 ml (3 oz) Soda water. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

Is there any alcohol in a Fresh Lemonade?

Nothing — the Fresh Lemonade is completely alcohol-free, which makes it a great mocktail for drivers, kids and anyone skipping alcohol.

Is a Fresh Lemonade shaken or stirred?

A Fresh Lemonade is built directly in the glass over ice — no shaker required. Add the ingredients in order and give it a brief, gentle stir.

Sharpen the technique