What makes these old-fashioned lemonade recipes worth revisiting is how well they hold up. The instructions are practical and no-fuss, written for busy households with no time for anything precious. A mint lemonade made with a sugar syrup steeped with fresh bruised mint leaves, for example, produces something genuinely worth making today. The watermelon lemonade — served directly from a hollowed-out, chilled melon — is the kind of thing that would still turn heads at a backyard gathering. These recipes come primarily from the 1910s through the 1950s, a stretch of American summers when the lemon was, as one 1915 writer put it, “the family’s best friend when the sun is sizzling.”
The lemon is the family’s best friend when the sun’s sizzling hot (1915)
Hot enough for you today? Well, why waste time on a torrid day talking about temperature — let’s turn our attention to that best of all heat defyers: the humble lemon.
The lemon is the family’s best friend when the sun is sizzling. The very sight of a golden lemon suggests ice water and sugar and a straw, in other words: Lemonade. There’ll be no grouches at the family dinner table if you drown the hot weather grouch out with ice-cold lemonade.
Basic old-fashioned lemonade
A simple, classic lemonade from the 1910s -- just lemons, sugar and water.
Ingredients
- 8 lemons, halved
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 gallon cold water
Instructions
- Juice the lemons: Squeeze lemon halves (using a lemon squeezer or juicer) into a large (one gallon) pitcher or bowl.
- Dissolve the sugar: Add sugar directly to the lemon juice and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Add water and serve: Add cold water to the pitcher and stir to combine. Serve over ice.
Notes
The original recipe scales simply: half a lemon and 2 teaspoons of sugar per glass. Adjust sweetness to taste -- some like it tarter, some sweeter. A simple syrup (equal parts sugar and hot water, stirred until dissolved) can be substituted for the granulated sugar if you want it to mix more easily.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 52Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gSodium: 1mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 0g
Click Americana offers approximate nutrition information as a general reference only, and we make no warranties regarding its accuracy. Please make any necessary calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, and consult with a qualified healthcare professional if you have dietary concerns.
Basic old-fashioned lemonade recipe
The simplest and quickest way for a busy house-mother to make lemonade is according to this recipe.
Allow 1/2 lemon and 2 teaspoons of sugar to each glass of lemonade. Extract the juice with a lemon squeezer, add sugar to juice, and when sugar is thoroughly dissolved pour the mixture into a pitcher of water which has been measured in the proportion of half a lemon to 1 glass of water.
Spiced lemonade
Put one half teaspoonful of whole allspice, one half teaspoonful of whole cloves, arid a small piece of stick cinnamon in a quart of cold water, and let come to a boil. Strain, and chill.
Mix this with a lemonade made of the juice of four lemons, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a quart of water. Serve with cracked ice and lemon slices decorated with whole cloves.
Pineapple lemonade
One large pineapple grated, and the juice of four lemons, sweetened with a syrup made by boiling two cups of sugar and two cups of water for five minutes. When cold, add one quart of water and serve with plenty of ice.
Flaxseed lemonade
Pour one quart of boiling water over four tablespoonfuls of flaxseed, and let steep three hours. Then strain and add the juice of two lemons, with sugar to taste. More water may be added if it is too thick. This is excellent for colds.
Irish Moss lemonade
Wash and pick over one fourth cup of Irish moss, and soak until soft in cold water. Drain, and cook in two cups of cold water in a double boiler until dissolved. Strain, and add the juice of one lemon, and one third cup of sugar. Serve hot or cold.
Irish Moss lemonade with figs
Wash and pick over one half cup of Irish moss and soak for a few minutes in a little cold water.
Chop four figs very fine and cook in two cups of water to boiling point, then add the grated rind of one lemon, four tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, one half cup of sugar, and the moss. Cook until the moss is dissolved. Strain and cool.
[Why the moss? It’s apparently a superfood!]
Mint lemonade
Boil one cup of sugar and six cups of water twenty minutes. Add one cup of mint leaves, bruised, and let stand until cool. When cold add the juice of three lemons. Serve with cracked ice and sprigs of mint.
The essential lemonade recipe
To every quart of water, use the juice of three lemons and the rind of one, taking care to peel the rind very thin, using nothing but the yellow outside. Cut this into pieces and put with the juice and powdered sugar in a covered vessel (a jug is the best), using two ounces of sugar to each quart of water. Boil the water, then pour over the lemon and sugar. Cover, let it cool, add ice and serve.
Grenadine lemonade
Make a plain lemonade rather tart, and add a pony of grenadine before shaking. Trim with fruit, serve with straws.
Lemonade, Southern-style
An old-fashioned lemonade popular in the south is made as follows: Squeeze juice from 3 lemons; add 2/3 cup of sugar and stir until sugar dissolves; add an even teaspoon of grated, yellow rind — our grandmothers called it “zest” — and over this pour 1/2 cup of boiling water and set aside to cool.
When cold, add sugar and lemon juice and 2 cups of cold water. Serve in tall glass with ice chips in the bottom of each.
Egg lemonade recipe
Egg lemonade is not so easily made, but it’s worth the trouble it takes to concoct it. [21st century editor’s note: The raw eggs would now pose health risks.]
This is the recipe: Juice and grated rind of 3 lemons, 1-1/2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of water, 2 fresh eggs. Put in a fruit jar and shake until very foamy. Add water, enough to fill the jar, and pour into glasses 2-3 full of cracked ice.
Angostura lemonade
The juice of one lemon, one tablespoonful fine sugar in a mixing-glass half-full fine ice, add three dashes Angostura bitters, fill up with water; shake well, put in long thin glass, trim with fruits . in season. Serve on ice with straws or strain, as desired.
Seltzer lemonade
Prepare same as plain lemonade, using seltzer in place of water; mix with long bar-spoon.
Pineapple lemonade
One pint water, one cup sugar, one quart ice-water, one can grated pineapple, juice of three lemons. Make a syrup by boiling the sugar and water for 10 minutes. Add the pineapple and lemon juice. Cool, strain and add the ice water.
Fresh lemonade
Take five ripe lemons, and roll them under your hand on the table to increase the quantity of juice; then cut and squeeze them into a pitcher, and mix the juice with sugar and cold water. To make six glasses of lemonade, use two large lemons, or three small ones, one heaping cup of sugar, two pints of water; in summer, use ice water.
American lemonade
Take a soda-water glass and fill with chipped ice; squeeze a whole lemon in, add a teaspoonful- and-a-half of powdered sugar, fill up the glass with water; shake up well, place a slice of lemon on top and serve with straws.
Holiday lemonade
Add a little currant or raspberry juice to plain lemonade, and serve with pieces of pineapple and banana.
Grape lemonade
Mix one fourth glass of grape juice with a glass of plain lemonade, and serve with cracked ice.
Utopia lemonade
Rub the well-washed rinds of eight lemons over cubes of sugar until they have absorbed all the oil from them. Put them with enough more sugar to make two pounds into a large kettle and add the strained juice of one dozen lemons. Pour on one gallon of boiling water, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Then strain through a jelly bag, and serve very cold.
Watermelon lemonade
Wash a good-sized watermelon and chill thoroughly. Cut a slice from the narrow end, to serve as a cover, take out most of the pulp and be careful not to leave in any seeds. Make a strong lemonade seasoned with a little ginger syrup, and pour into the watermelon.
When serving, put the lemonade with pieces of watermelon into a glass one-fourth full of cracked ice. Serve with straws.
One Response
I’m also trying to find a moss lemonade recipe, have been for years. My comment is this: why would I use moss if I have to add lemon juice to it? Might as well make lemonade and drop the moss.