Rosemary Lemonade

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 5-8 lemons, depending on size, plus an extra lemon sliced for garnish if you want to be fancy)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3-4 cups cold water, divided (you'll use 1 cup to make the rosemary syrup, and 3-4 cups for the lemonade. The 3-4 cups can be iced water or even mostly ice, if you want to have the lemonade cold enough and ready to serve right away)
• 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus extra for garnish

Equipment

• Lemon juicer
• Small saucepan to make rosemary syrup
• Pitcher
• Sieve or strainer, or a slotted spoon to remove the rosemary from the syrup

Instructions

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and 3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes to let the rosemary flavor infuse.

Carefully strain out the cooked rosemary through a sieve, collecting the syrup in a heat-safe container. You can also use a slotted spoon to remove the rosemary. You should have a little over 1 cup of rosemary simple syrup.

In a large pitcher or bowl, combine 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup rosemary syrup (you'll have a few tablespoons left over), and 3 cups cold water. Stir well, give it a taste and adjust with more lemon juice, syrup, or water, depending on whether it's too sweet, too sour, or too concentrated.

Leftover rosemary syrup

This recipe typically leaves me with a few tablespoons of rosemary simple syrup (unless the lemons are extra tart, in which case I use up all the syrup). If you have leftover rosemary syrup, you can make a DELICIOUS gin cocktail. Simple combine:

• 1 shot rosemary syrup
• 1 shot gin
• 1 shot lemon juice
• ice
• seltzer, to taste (about 6 oz)