Refreshing Ginger Lemonade is your answer for an easy and cool summer beverage! Spicy fresh ginger elevates classic lemonade, and when served over ice, it is a great cool down drink. To make an adult version, you can add a little vodka or prosecco for an equally delicious summer cocktail!
Refreshing Ginger Lemonade
I first had Ginger Lemonade on my honeymoon at the Peter Island Resort in the British Virgin Islands. I enjoyed it so much, I literally drank all they had on the island. This is no joke.
Good news, bad news: Good news – I don’t have to travel to the BVI to get ginger lemonade anymore because I finally figured out how to replicate what I had on my honeymoon. Bad news – the resort is still closed due to the massive hurricanes that hit the Caribbean 2 years ago. It makes me so sad for so many reasons – it is such a beautiful part of the world and the resort was nothing less than perfect. Let’s stop being sad and talk more about this lemonade.
Homemade Recipe For Ginger Lemonade
If you google homemade ginger lemonade, you will probably find 100’s (maybe) recipes for how to make this delightful beverage. With that, there are so many techniques on how to impart the spicy ginger into the tart lemonade.
I demonstrate how to make ginger lemonade they way I make it at home, however, there is not wrong way. Lemonade is so versatile you can make any flavor out of it! Like a sweet strawberry lemonade, or the popular blueberry lemonade recipe. I think the only must for this recipe is to make sure you get enough ginger to come through!
Features Of This Delicious Ginger Lemonade Recipe
- Sweetened with honey – I love the floral sweetness of honey paired with lemon. So it was only fitting that I make a recipe of ginger lemonade with honey. I also use honey in the watermelon slushie recipe. Such a great beverage sweetener!
- A LOT of ginger – I call it ginger lemonade for a reason. I want the ginger to shine, but yet not overpower the lemonade.
- Homemade lemonade – If I am going to go through the effort of making a ginger syrup, I am going to make homemade lemonade! Though, I have been known to use store bought lemonade in the peach and citrus refresher recipe!
What You Need To Make Homemade Ginger Lemonade
Ingredients
- Fresh Ginger – I have made this ginger lemonade using fresh ginger root, as well as frozen ginger you can find at your grocery. My preference is fresh, because fresh always has a more robust flavor!
- Fresh Lemons – I recommend fresh lemons for lemonade because, well, they are fresh. You can try bottled lemon juice, but I find it just doesn’t taste the same.
- Honey – The honey is my preferred sweetener because of how lovely it pairs with lemons. Though, you can certainly swap in you preferred sweetener.
- Water – Obvi …
- Ice – Another obvi …
Kitchen Equipment
- Small Saucepan – The saucepan is used to make the ginger simple syrup.
- Spoon or Vegetable Peeler – These are especially helpful for peeling the skin off the ginger.
- Pitcher
- Serving Glasses
How To Make ginger Lemonade
It really is easy. The hardest part may be peeling the ginger …
- Peel the ginger – Peeling the ginger can be cumbersome with a vegetable peeler, and I prefer to use a spoon. Here is a great step by step for visual reference.
- Grate the ginger – I recommend grating the ginger vs. leaving it in slices or chunks because it opens up the ginger to release all the spicy juices. I have all methods, and grating will give you more robust ginger flavor.
- Make the ginger simple syrup – Add a cup of water, the honey, and ginger to saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.
- Add the lemon juice to the syrup – To the warm syrup, once it has been removed from the heat.
- Let the ginger lemon mixture steep – For at least 15 minutes. This gives the ginger time to infuse the syrup with all the flavor.
- Add water to a pitcher.
- Add the ginger lemon syrup to the water.
- Mix.
- Serve over ice and Enjoy!
Tips For Making Homemade Ginger Lemonade
- Use fresh ginger – Or at least the frozen ginger cubes. DO NOT use ground ginger or ginger syrup. The ground ginger has been broken down too much to impart any flavor. Not to mention, it probably won’t dissolve all the way. And ginger syrup will not infuse enough ginger flavor. I’ve tried it.
- Use a spoon to peel the ginger – Because I grate the ginger, I want to peel it as well. And I have found that using the back of a spoon to peel the ginger to be far easier and more precise than using a peeler.
- Grate the ginger – I have tried cutting the ginger into slices and chunks, and neither had quite the ginger flavor as grating. The grated ginger allows a lot of the ginger juice to release into the syrup for the most flavor.
- Allow the ginger lemon syrup time to steep – It may be tempting to just pour the syrup over ice and water, but you do want to give the ginger time to infuse the syrup. Much like you would let a tea bag sit in water to get all the flavor.
- Add alcohol if your feeling cheeky – Or, you just want an adult version! On the island they added vodka for a Ginger Lemonade with Vodka (catchy name). Or a little prosecco for a bubbly ginger lemonade.
- Make it frozen – How refreshing does frozen ginger lemonade sound?! All you have to do is make it, freeze it, then pop it in a blender. And it’s no secret that I love a super cool beverage – just check out the dairy free strawberry float recipe!
Common Questions For making Homemade Ginger Lemonade
You certainly can! This recipe will make about 8, 8-ounce servings. But you can certainly double the recipe for a large batch.
They will! They come pre-grated and pre-measured by the teaspoon.
You can. I find honey to be a little sweeter than sugar so you may want to reduce it to about 2/3 cup sugar.
If you want to grate it you do. Otherwise, you can grate it with the skin on, then strain the ginger lemon syrup through a fine mesh strainer to remove any bits.
This gives the ginger time to steep and impart flavor into the syrup.
It is, but you can certainly strain the ginger lemon syrup to get the bits out. Otherwise, they will just sink to the bottom of you drink, and are a fun little surprise when you get to the end!
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Ginger Lemonade
Ingredients
- 7 cups water
- 10 to 12 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated (about a 2-inch piece)
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup lemon juice (from 4-5 fresh lemons )
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, add 1 cup of water, grated ginger, and honey. Cook over medium heat until the honey has dissolved and the mix starts to boil.
- Remove the syrup from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let the mix cool for at least 15 minutes – to allow the ginger to steep with the liquid. Note – The grated ginger will have dissolved a bit, but if you prefer to remove any ginger pieces, strain the mix before adding to your serving pitcher.
- In a serving pitcher, add the remaining 6 cups of water and the ginger lemon syrup. Stir to mix. Chill in the refrigerator, or serve immediately over ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge and ginger slice (optional!), and Enjoy!
RECIPE NOTES
- Ginger – I have used fresh ginger as well as frozen ginger cubes. The frozen ginger cubes come pre-grated and measured.
- Honey – I use honey because I like the floral sweet notes combined with the lemon. However, you can substitute granulated sugar, or any sweetener you prefer.
- Lemon Juice – I recommend the juice from fresh lemons because it has a cleaner and more vibrant flavor than bottled lemon juice.
about the author ...
I'm Erin and I'm all about desserts - and a little bit of butter!
I've tested, written, and photographed hundreds of recipes on my website. Here you'll find the tastiest small batch gluten free and traditional desserts - all homemade, all simple, and all for you!
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