Hola readers,
Blistering heat blows through the streets of Madrid, making us head to local pools or blast the air conditioning. If you’re like us and you need something to help you cool down in the summer, nothing works better than an ice-cold homemade lemonade. Simple, quick, tasty; we have the perfect recipe to save your summer.
If you’re still looking for a room to live in Madrid, have you considered a shared flat? These are perfect for lowering your costs, learning the language, and making new friends. You can’t go wrong making a shared flat your accommodation in the city. Making lemonade in the flat could be a great way to bring you all together on a hot day this summer.
Today, we have a couple distinct lemonade recipes for you to try out and choose your favorite. We’ll start with a classic recipe, then switch it up and talk about a strawberry lemonade. Let’s get into it.
Classic Lemonade
You can never go wrong with the basic lemonade we all know and love. It’s sweet and tangy flavors are incredibly refreshing. To craft this simple drink, you will need:
- 5 cups of water
- 5 or 6 lemons
- 1 cup of sugar
Seriously, that’s it. With these 3 ingredients, you can craft something way better than you could imagine.
The first thing you need to do is juice your lemons by hand until you have about a cup of fresh lemon juice. Simply slice them in half and squeeze them into a measuring cup. If you want a pulpy lemonade, slice the lemons in half, and place a fork into the fruit, twisting and turning it until all of the juice is out. Make sure to fish out any seeds that may fall into the cup now. Add this juice to a pitcher with 5 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar, then stir until fully dissolved. When you’re done, refrigerate or pour into cups with ice and enjoy.
Tips: Increasing and decreasing this recipe is very simple. Just keep a ratio of 1:1:5, meaning 1-part lemon juice to 1-part sugar to 5-parts water. If you want it to be stronger, add a little less water to the recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade
This small change adds a totally different level of depth to the original recipe by only adding one ingredient. To make this version, you will need:
- 5 cups of water
- 5 or 6 lemons
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 8 ounces of strawberries
For this recipe, our first step is going to be a little more difficult. You will start by taking the stems out of the strawberries and cutting them in half. Put these in a pot along with one cup of your water and the 3/4 cup of sugar. Heat this on the stove over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved. When the strawberries are soft and the liquid is a deep red color, you can take this off the heat. Next, you’ll want to pour this through a fine mesh strainer into a jar of some kind. Finally, pour the strawberry mixture into a pitcher with your remaining 4 cups of water and the cup of lemon juice, stirring until fully incorporated. Then, refrigerate the drink and you’re ready to drink!
Tips: The strawberry mixture you made is a strawberry simple syrup, perfect for mixing with other drinks as well. After straining the syrup, the berry bits that stay in the strainer can be added to yogurt or ice cream for another sweet treat. Our last tip for the day is that any berry can be used for this recipe, so try it with blackberries or raspberries for a different twist.
We hope we helped you learn how easy it can be to make a delicious lemonade on a hot day this summer. You’re finally ready to impress the friends you make at your shared flat with a tasty treat.
Thank you for reading,
Your helpMadrid team