Absolutely. The article “How to Make the World’s Best Lemonade, According to 3 Experts” from Simply Recipes asked three food experts for their best lemonade advice: Erin Clarke, Kat Marris, and Nicole Addison. The big consensus is surprisingly simple: use a liquid sweetener and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
🍋 Expert-Style Fresh Lemonade
Ingredients — about 6 cups
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice — roughly 5–7 juicy lemons
- 6 cups cold water
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup water — for the simple syrup
- Ice, for serving
- Lemon slices, for garnish
Optional: fresh mint, basil, rosemary, or lavender.
The most important trick: Don’t simply dump granulated sugar into cold lemonade. Make a simple syrup first. This completely dissolves the sugar and gives you much better control over the sweetness. That’s the technique all three experts agreed on.
Step 1: Make the simple syrup
Put:
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¾ cup water
into a small saucepan.
Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
You don’t need to boil it aggressively. Once the sugar crystals have completely disappeared and the liquid looks clear, remove it from the heat.
This should take approximately 2–3 minutes.
Let the syrup cool.
Why this matters: If you put sugar directly into cold water, it can settle at the bottom or leave the lemonade slightly gritty. Simple syrup distributes the sweetness evenly throughout the pitcher.
Step 2: Juice the lemons
Roll each lemon firmly on the countertop for about 10–15 seconds, applying some pressure with your palm.
Cut the lemons in half and squeeze them.
For the best flavor, use freshly squeezed juice, rather than bottled lemon juice. The experts specifically recommend fresh lemon juice.
Strain the juice if you don’t want seeds or a lot of pulp.
Step 3: Combine everything
Pour into a large pitcher:
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- 6 cups cold water
- The cooled simple syrup
Stir very well.
Step 4: Taste and adjust
This is where you make the lemonade your lemonade.
Take a small glass and taste it.
- Too sour? Add more simple syrup.
- Too sweet? Add more lemon juice or water.
- Too strong? Add water.
- Not lemony enough? Add more fresh lemon juice.
One of the experts specifically emphasizes adjusting the sweetness according to your personal preference rather than treating a particular amount of sweetener as mandatory.
Step 5: Chill
Refrigerate the pitcher for at least 30 minutes.
Then serve over plenty of ice.
For an especially cold drink, chill the lemonade before adding ice so that the ice doesn’t immediately dilute it.
⭐ The Experts’ Upgrades
1. Make lemonade ice cubes
This is one of the best ideas from the article.
Pour some of your lemonade into an ice-cube tray and freeze it.
Then put the lemonade ice cubes into your glass instead of regular ice.
As they melt, they add lemonade rather than water, so your drink doesn’t become diluted.
2. Try agave instead of sugar
Kat Marris uses agave nectar as an alternative liquid sweetener.
Her suggested starting ratio is:
¾ cup agave nectar + 6 cups water
Then add fresh lemon juice and adjust to taste.
The advantage is that agave doesn’t require heating—you can mix it directly into the lemonade.
3. Infuse the simple syrup
For a more sophisticated lemonade, you can flavor your simple syrup.
Try adding:
- Mint → cool and refreshing
- Basil → herbal and slightly peppery
- Rosemary → aromatic and savory
- Lavender → floral
- Blackberries → fruity and colorful
If you infuse the syrup with fruit or herbs, strain it before adding it to the lemonade.
4. Make an Arnold Palmer
Combine:
½ lemonade + ½ iced mint tea
Serve over ice.
This gives you a refreshing lemonade/iced-tea combination inspired by Erin Clarke’s suggestion.
5. Turn it into popsicles
Pour the lemonade into silicone popsicle molds and freeze until solid.
This is another expert-recommended way to use the lemonade, particularly on very hot days.
🍋 My recommended “best” version
If I were making a pitcher specifically for maximum flavor, I’d use:
1 cup fresh lemon juice
6 cups cold water
¾ cup simple syrup, then adjust
A small handful of fresh mint
Lemon slices
Lemonade ice cubes
Make the syrup first, cool it completely, combine everything, refrigerate, and taste before adding more sugar.
The key isn’t making the lemonade extremely sweet. It’s finding that sweet spot where the bright acidity of the lemon is still noticeable but isn’t harsh, while the sweetness rounds everything out.