Doesn’t just looking at this make you feel cool (as in cold).
It’s hot where I live. Very hot. I needed something cold and refreshing.
I needed something to sip on as the Wild Boar and I sat in our backyard watching the water drain out of our algae-stricken pool and as the golden-brown hue of a California smoke-filled sky hung heavily overhead. It was such a magical moment. Really it was.
I needed something to celebrate the air conditioning working at full capacity again.
All it took was leaving a message for the air conditioning repair service to get the Wild Boar into fix-it-man-mode. I’m still not sure why sweating to death did not push him into his usual repairman role. The guy can fix anything. Maybe he was too hot? Anyway, he looked at the unit for two minutes and figured out what was wrong. We’ve been burning an extreme amount of cooling kilowatts ever since.
The kids thought lemonade would be appropriate for this impromptu party. Mommy and Daddy had something else in mind.
With this recipe we all got what we wanted.
Lemonade for the hooligans and Limoncello Lemonade for Mama and Papa. Isn’t that what we would be called if we were drinking this Limoncello in Italy? I love it.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of tasting Limoncello you must try it. It is a sweet, aromatic, lemon liqueur. It’s made from the rinds of lemon and not the juice, so there is no sourness. It is lovely and sweet.
This Limoncello Lemonade is a treat in itself. It’s sweet, cool, spritzy and just darn awesome on a hot summer day.
Let’s make it together…shall we?
So I had to use this weird background to take this picture. The light coming into my kitchen was so strange from the smoke-filled sky. It was causing an unforgivable hue. This sort of helped.
Here is what you will need in order to beat the heat: Limoncello, club soda, lemonade concentrate, fresh mint leaves, fresh lemon juice and ice cubes.
Here’s the trick to this drink, making it the simplest cocktail to throw together. Instead of making a simple syrup with sugar and hot water you use lemonade concentrate. The concentrate will add both sweetness and citrus flavor to the drink. With the leftover concentrate you can make the kids lemonade. Perfect.
To a pouring vessel add 1/2 cup lemonade concentrate, 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves and 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Using a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon, muddle the mint leaves with the lemonade and lemon juice. This releases the natural oils of the mint.
Divide the mint-lemonade mixture among four glasses.
Add 1/4 cup club soda to the lemonade-mint mixture.
Add 1/2 cup limoncello on top of the club soda and top with ice.
Garnish each glass with lemon slices and sprigs of fresh mint.
And serve it up in lots of fun glasses. It is so good. And refreshing, and I know I already said that but it’s true.
And here is another virtual cocktail napkin to add to your collection. Enjoy!
Limoncello Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup club soda, divided
- 2 cups limoncello, divided
- ice cubes crushed
- lemon slices and fresh mint leaves for garnish
Directions
- In a pouring vessel, add lemonade concentrate, fresh lemon juice and fresh mint leaves. Muddle these together using a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon. Divide the mixture among four glasses.
- To each glass add 1/2 cup limoncello and 1/4 cup club soda. Top each glass with crushed ice. Garnish each glass with sliced lemon and fresh mint leaves.
Have you tried our Tangy Lemon-Limoncello Pie. Yum.
Or, maybe it’s one of these 11 Bold Desserts starring Limoncello that are for you. Either way, enjoy!