Sweet, tart, and refreshing lemonades are the perfect drinks for the summer. Enjoy different variations all season long with these recipes, from Arnold Palmer to the color-changing butterfly pea flower lemonade.
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Refreshing Lemonade Recipes
There’s truly no drink more refreshing and cooling than lemonade, especially on a hot summer day.
A traditional sweet and tart lemonade is always delicious but the simple mixture of lemon juice with water and sugar is a wonderful base for all kinds of flavors, from teas like matcha to seasonal fruits like peach or strawberry.
Here are more than a dozen variations on the classic chilled beverage, to rotate through all summer long.
RELATED: Best Iced Tea Recipes
Tea Sommelier’s Tips
Fresh squeezed lemon juice is best.
Homemade lemonade always tastes better and allows for more control over the sugar levels, but store-bought is convenient and quick.
Go with whatever you have available, depending on how much time you have to make a drink.
If you’re squeezing a lot of lemons, a citrus juicer will speed things up.
Sweeten drinks with simple syrup.
You likely won’t need any additional sugar if using store-bought lemonade, but if you’re making one from scratch, use simple syrup (sugar water).
Since it’s already a liquid, it’ll thoroughly mix with the lemonade to add sweetness without any graininess.
You can also use flavored syrups to make a unique-tasting lemonade.
Use filtered water for both the beverage and ice.
Filtered water produces the best-tasting drink because it removes impurities.
Always make your drinks with filtered water and ice made with filtered water whenever possible.
Make tea ahead of time.
Brewed tea will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Just make to leave any ice out so it doesn’t dilute the flavor.
Assemble the beverage by adding lemonade when you’re ready to drink.
RELATED: 15 Starbucks Lemonade Drinks
17 Best Lemonade Recipes
1. Hibiscus Lemonade
Enjoy the vibrant, refreshing flavors of hibiscus lemonade.
This chilled beverage combines the tangy sweetness of lemonade with the tart and floral hibiscus tea.
With just 4 ingredients, you can make this colorful, layered drink at home.
Lemonade is poured in first, followed by the tea. Add slices of lemon for an even prettier effect.
Ingredients: Hibiscus tea, water, lemonade, ice
2. Butterfly Pea Flower Lemonade
This pretty drink goes from blue to purple once you add its main ingredient, butterfly pea flower tea.
The brewed tea has the unique ability to change colors when combined with an acidic ingredient like lemonade.
Butterfly pea flower lemonade is a pretty and refreshing drink to make for parties and celebrations.
It has an earthy, vegetal flavor that can be an acquired taste, but works well in a tangy lemonade.
Ingredients: Butterfly pea flower tea, water, lemonade, ice
3. Matcha Lemonade
Matcha lemonade is a playful twist on the classic half lemonade, half tea drink, the Arnold Palmer.
It replaced black tea with matcha, which has a slight bitterness that nicely complements a sweet, tart lemonade.
There’s no need to buy fancy matcha to make matcha lemonade and you don’t need any matcha tools, either.
The drink comes together quickly in a cocktail shaker or a jar with a tight lid.
Ingredients: Matcha, water, lemonade, ice
4. Matcha Butterfly Pea Flower Lemonade
This pretty color-changing drink combines matcha, lemonade, and butterfly pea flower tea.
As you pour the lemonade into the glass, the tea will go from blue to purple.
The trick to making layered drinks is add the sweetest ingredient first, which is the lemonade.
Once you’re ready to drink, mix it all together so you taste all the flavors in one sip.
Ingredients: Lemon, water, sugar, butterfly pea flower tea, matcha, ice
5. Starbucks Iced Black Tea Lemonade Copycat
Recreate the classic Starbucks Iced Black Tea Lemonade in just 5 minutes!
Make the black tea from scratch using Tazo’s Awake English breakfast tea rather than using the concentrate for the best flavor.
Using filtered water will also give you the cleanest tasting tea.
Once the tea is brewed, mix it with the lemonade and ice using a cocktail shaker, just like the baristas do at the store.
Ingredients: English breakfast tea, water, lemonade, ice
6. Starbucks Iced Green Tea Lemonade Copycat
Save money and see how easy it is to make Starbucks Iced Green Tea Lemonade at home.
This 4-ingredient recipe is as easy as it gets. All you need to do is brew Teavana’s Jade Citrus Mint Tea and shake it up with lemonade and ice.
The key to making a great green tea is to use the correct temperature and not to oversteep it, which can make it bitter.
Ingredients: Jade Citrus mint tea, water, lemonade, ice
7. Starbucks Iced Passion Tango Tea Lemonade Copycat
This copycat recipe for the Starbucks Iced Passion Tango Tea Lemonade is made with 4 ingredients.
Passion Tango tea is a caffeine-free tea and it has the flavors of hibiscus, orange peel, rose hips, and passion fruit.
The caffeine-free iced drink combines brewed Tazo Passion Tea with lemonade and ice.
If you can’t find the Tazo tea bags, you can also swap in any hibiscus tea.
The tea, lemonade, and ice are mixed together in a cocktail shaker, just like at the store. If you like it extra foamy, give it a few extra shakes.
Ingredients: Passion tea, water, lemonade, ice
8. Starbucks Medicine Ball Tea
Starbucks Medicine Ball Tea is a customer-created drink that’s now a favorite during flu season.
It’s now called the Honey Citrus Mint Tea on the Starbucks menu.
The soothing warm drink is easy to recreate at home with a handful of ingredients.
A combination of Teavana’s Jade Citrus mint tea and Peach Tranquility tea gets the same great flavor as the one the tea used in stores.
Brew them together with lemonade, then add honey and enjoy when you’re feeling under the weather.
Ingredients: Jade Citrus mint tea, Peach Tranquility tea, water, lemonade, honey
9. Arnold Palmer Drink
The Arnold Palmer is a classic summer drink that’s half tea, half lemonade.
This recipe tastes great because it uses cold brewed iced tea. This method yields a milder and less astringent flavor because the tea is steeped slowly for hours.
Combined with the tart lemonade, it’s so refreshing with no bitterness at all!
Ingredients: Black tea, water, lemon, sugar, ice
10. Sparkling Blueberry Lemonade
Juicy blueberries are the star of this bright and bubbly lemonade.
It’s the perfect drink to make in the summer, when blueberries are at peak ripeness.
The berries are muddled together with agave to bring out their sweetness even more, then combined with lemon juice, sparkling water, and ice.
Ingredients: Blueberries, agave, lemon juice, ice
11. Calamansi Juice
Native to the Phillippines, calamansi is a citrus fruit that tastes like a cross between lemon and lime.
Fresh squeezed calamansi juice is the highlight of this tart, yet refreshing drink.
It’s combined with water, simple syrup, and ice to make a Filipino-inspired lemonade.
Calamansi fruit may be available at your local Asian market. You can also purchase the juice online.
Ingredients: Calamansi juice, sugar, water, ice
12. Cucumber Lemonade
This 5-ingredient lemonade is cooling and invigorating!
Puree the cucumber in a blender, then run it through a sieve to get a pulp-free juice. Then, stir it together with a homemade simple syrup and fresh squeezed lemon juice.
The recipes makes a large pitcher that’s perfect for bridal showers, cookouts, and other summer parties.
Ingredients: Cucumber, lemon juice, sugar, water, ice
13. Fresh Peach Lemonade
This 4-ingredient peach lemonade will quickly become a summer favorite!
Use the ripest peaches you can find so the peach syrup that’s the base of this lemonade is full of fruit flavor.
The peach syrup can be made ahead of time. Just combine it with fresh squeezed lemon juice and water when ready to serve.
To make the cups party-ready, add fresh cut fruit or herbs.
Ingredients: Peaches, sugar, lemon juice, water, ice
14. Watermelon Lemonade
Summer isn’t complete without watermelon! Here, the juicy fruit is blended with lemon juice to for a vibrant lemonade.
If you prefer a smoother drink, you can strain it, but that’s not a required step.
This recipe makes enough for 5 glasses, perfect for a small get together.
Ingredients: Watermelon, lemon juice, sugar, water
15. Peach Lemonade
There’s a bit of work involved in this baked peach lemonade, but it’s worth it.
Baking the peaches first pulls out the sugar to get the sweetest, most intense fruit flavor.
The roasted peaches are pureed until smooth and combined with lemon juice, water, and a homemade simple syrup.
It’s deliciously peachy and tart!
Ingredients: Peaches, lemon juice, simple syrup, water
16. Peach Strawberry Lemonade
Two sweet summer fruits come together in this delightful peach strawberry lemonade.
Peaches and strawberries are pureed together and strained, then mixed with lemon juice, simple syrup, and water to make a large pitcher.
Garnish with chopped strawberries, sliced peaches, lemon wedges and mint to make each glass extra pretty.
Ingredients: Peaches, strawberries, water, sugar, lemon juice, ice
17. Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade
Strawberry lemonade is even better when it’s bubbly!
Add sliced strawberries to the bottom of a glass along with sugar and lemon juice and let their flavors meld for 10 minutes.
Then, top with sparkling water to a dose of refreshing fizziness.
Ingredients: Strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, sparkling water
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