Perfect Pitcher Lemonade with Lemon-Peel Syrup

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A pitcher of lemonade that tastes twice as lemony as it should, because the peels do half the work. You rub the zest with sugar to pull out the fragrant oils, dissolve it into a quick syrup, then stir in fresh juice off the heat so nothing tastes cooked. The result is bright, clean, and balanced — tart enough to make you blink, sweet enough to finish the glass.

Ingredients

• 8 large lemons (about 2 lb / 900 g)
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

• 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (from the zested lemons above, plus 1–2 extra if needed)
• 5 cups cold water
• 2 cups ice, plus more for serving

• 1 lemon, sliced into thin wheels
• 8 sprigs fresh mint
• chilled sparkling water, to top

• 1 2-quart or larger pitcher

Instructions

1. Scrub the lemons under warm running water and dry them — you are about to eat the peels, so get the wax and grit off. Using a vegetable peeler or sharp paring knife, strip the yellow zest from 4 of the lemons in wide ribbons, taking as little white pith as possible (pith is where bitterness lives).
2. Put the peels in a medium bowl with the 1 1/4 cups sugar. Rub and press the sugar into the peels with your fingers or the back of a spoon for 1 to 2 minutes, then let the mixture sit for 15 minutes. The sugar will look damp and clumpy and smell intensely of lemon — that is the peel oil doing the work.
3. Scrape the sugar and peels into a small saucepan, add the 1 cup water and the pinch of salt, and set over medium heat. Stir until the sugar fully dissolves and the syrup just reaches a bare simmer, about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not boil hard — you want fresh, not jammy. Remove from the heat and let it steep 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, halve and juice all 8 lemons. Measure out 1 1/2 cups juice, squeezing an extra lemon or two if you come up short. Strain the juice through a fine-mesh sieve to catch seeds and heavy pulp, leaving a little pulp behind if you like the texture.
5. Strain the warm syrup through the same sieve into a measuring cup, pressing gently on the peels to get every drop; discard the peels. You should have about 1 1/2 cups syrup. Let it cool for 10 minutes, or set the cup in an ice bath for 5 minutes to speed it up.
6. Pour the lemon juice, the syrup, and 5 cups cold water into a 2-quart pitcher and stir well for 15 seconds. Taste: for a tarter, old-fashioned lemonade add up to 1/2 cup more cold water; for sweeter, stir in syrup 1 tablespoon at a time (make a little extra syrup if you plan to sweeten heavily).
7. Add the 2 cups ice to the pitcher and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 days, so the flavor rounds out and the drink gets properly cold. Stir before serving.
8. Fill glasses with fresh ice, pour, and finish with a lemon wheel and a mint sprig clapped once between your palms. For a lemon soda, fill glasses two-thirds with lemonade and top with chilled sparkling water.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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