Drinks & Smoothies, Real Food Recipes
Rosemary Lemonade
Forget the tiny umbrella. Throw a sprig of rosemary in my lemonade and it is summertime, baby! This Rosemary Lemonade (made without any refined sugar!) is epic. Best spring or summertime drink I’ve found.
I’ve become more and more a fan of the sweet and savory combination as of late. It started with these Lemon Rosemary Cookies and I never looked back. Since then, I’ve roasted my Brussels sprouts with pears, shallots, & thyme and brewed iced tea with plums and thyme. (Recipes coming sooner or later for both of those. You’ll probably see the tea before you see the Brussels sprouts since it is sadly no longer Brussels sprouts season. *tear*)
You’ll definitely want to use fresh rosemary for this drink. But don’t buy a package of fresh herbs from the store. Go ahead and buy the entire plant (or grow it from seed yourself). Way more cost effective.
You can also play around with the sweetener options. The coconut sugar will turn your lemonade a slight shade of brown, but the flavor is awesome. If you like your lemonade extra sweet, I would recommend adding a few drops of stevia extract. Completely up to you. The original recipe called for one cup of sugar, so you can use that as a reference if you want to play with substitutions.
I will say, though, I made this for a friend for her birthday and heard it was the best thing that has ever passed her or her husband’s lips. There’s just no arguing with that, folks.
Rosemary Lemonade
Ingredients:
5 c. filtered water 1/3 c. honey 1/3 c. coconut sugar 1-2 drops liquid stevia extract (optional) 1 c. fresh rosemary leaves 1/2 c. fresh lemon juiceDirections:
Place 2 cups of water, honey, and coconut sugar in a saucepan and bring to a gently boil for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, add rosemary leaves, and let steep for about an hour and a half.
Once it has cooled, strain the liquid into a jug or pitcher, add lemon juice and remaining 3 cups of water. Stir well and serve over ice with a sprig of rosemary for garnish.
What’s your favorite summertime drink?
This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Traditional Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Fight Back Friday, Your Green Resource
Comments are closed.
Allyn
May 7, 2012 at 9:44 amWe make a grownup version of this! Sadly still with refined sugar, though now you’ve got me curious about coconut sugar: http://lollingabout.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/wasted-wednesday-rosemary-lime-cocktails/
Sorry we missed the party! Saturdays just suck for us right now. Josh works and my car isn’t supposed to go more than 5 miles from my house. Hope you guys had fun!
Eileen
May 8, 2012 at 10:37 pmI like homemade lemonade but never thought to add herbs. What a lovely idea! Also your sweetener oprltion sounds great.
Annemarie
May 10, 2012 at 8:52 amThis recipe sounds wonderful! I look forward to trying your rosemary version. I love lemonade, and I’m glad I’m not the only one looking for ways to avoid using white sugar to make it. I recently discovered that mixing fruit juice and lemon juice yields a great pink lemonade treat: http://realfoodrealdeals.com/2012/03/18/pink-lemonade-popsicles/.
Anna ( Anna's blog)
May 10, 2012 at 1:21 pmThank you for sharing! I have never thought of honey as a lemonade sweetener.
michaela@pilgrimageofhealth
May 16, 2012 at 2:35 pmThat looks so refreshing, perfect for a summer day and much better than those powdered “lemonades” !
Dorina
May 21, 2012 at 5:55 pmMy only problem with this recipe is that boiling honey destroys everything that’s good in it. Why not preserve the nutritional value of the honey by adding it when the liquid has cooled down to below 60 degrees Celsius? Then it will be healthy as well as tasty.
Gigi
May 21, 2012 at 6:44 pmA *cup* of rosemary leaves?! Is that a typo?
Otherwise, the recipe sounds fantastic!
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Lindsay
July 27, 2012 at 12:32 amThis is probably one of the best beverages I’ve ever had, ever. I made half the recipe last time (mistake!) and I’m steeping the rosemary for my second batch as I type. Amazing.
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