Blueberry Lemonade

I don’t know when I became the beverage queen, but apparently that’s what I am. In fact, my first batch of homebrew is ready today! (I haven’t tasted it yet; it’s probably going to be terrible!) I don’t usually require fancy drinks: I like orange juice with my breakfast, have green tea as soon as I get to work, drink water with lunch at work, and always have wine with dinner. I also love water and drink it throughout the day. There really isn’t time for me to be drinking anything else. Nonetheless, I’ve become addicted to blueberry lemonade this summer.

I don’t know why I never made lemonade before this year, because I love lemons, and I’ll often order lemonade instead of tea or cola if I’m out. And I always love it when my aunt shows up at the parental homestead with her homemade lemonade. But the idea of juicing all those lemons at once left me daunted. Then a few weeks ago, the grocery store didn’t have any loose lemons for sale and I was forced to choose between buying a whole bag of lemons or not having any lemons at home, and I just can’t go without lemons. I add fresh lemon juice to everything. Basically I was forced into making lemonade. So I bought a contraption: the JUICE-O-MAT! I must confess I’d been looking for an excuse to buy one. It’s the greatest!

I started making lemonade regularly and it was awesome. Then one week I had a berry overload and thought, “what if I put blueberries IN the lemonade?” So I did and it was fabulous. I mean, lemonade is awesome to begin with, and blueberries are awesome, but somehow when you put them together they are even more awesome than the sum of their awesome parts. Blueberry lemonade is the summer drink! And considering it was 95 in the shade today, I’d say it’s pretty intensely summer right now. This stuff really helps.

Blueberry Lemonade
makes about 1 quart

enough lemons to make 1 cup of lemon juice (about 6)
1 cup blueberries
3/4 – 1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet or tart you like your lemonade)*
about 1 quart of water, divided

* I’ve successfully substituted stevia for a portion of the sugar.

Make a simple syrup by putting the sugar in a small saucepan with 1 cup of water. Heat, stirring, just until the sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat.

Meanwhile, put the blueberries into a blender or food processor and pulverize.

To help your lemons yield more juice, roll them back and forth on a surface, applying pressure with the palm of your hand. Cut each in half and juice them. This is particularly fun using a JUICE-O-MAT!

Stop when you have 1 cup of juice.

Add the blueberry pulp to the lemon juice.

Add enough cold water to make 2 cups. I just do this to thin it out, making it easier to strain.

Strain.

Add the simple syrup to the juices and whisk.

Pour into a glass pitcher, straining a second time if you are picky, then add enough cold water to total about a quart (you can add more water to make a less intense drink) and stir or shake.

Chill for at least half an hour; an hour is better. Serve with ice, garnished with lemon slices.

This would probably be equally awesome made with raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, or any other berry, but I’ve been so enamored of the blueberry variety I haven’t even bothered to try any others. You can also simply omit the blueberries for plain lemonade – it’s also very delicious.

9 Comments »

  1. FoodFeud Said,

    July 12, 2011 @ 11:33 pm

    The juice looks gorgeous and I’m sure it’s delicious but I am all over your juice-o-mat! I’ve never heard of that brand. It looks so cool and old! Did you find it thrifted, or where?

  2. renae Said,

    July 12, 2011 @ 11:42 pm

    I got mine from Etsy, but there are also a lot on eBay. Most of the ones on eBay don’t seem to have the removable cup that catches the juice, for some reason. I don’t think it’s particularly rare so if you frequent antique malls you may find one. You could find one thrifting if you were really lucky, but I’ve never seen one in a thrift store. The only issue with etsy or ebay is it’s quite heavy, so shipping can be a bit much.

  3. Josiane Said,

    July 13, 2011 @ 10:33 am

    Lemon and blueberries are a match made in heaven! I have friends who always have strawberry or raspberry lemonade in the fridge during summer, and it is also very good (as can be attested by the fact that it takes all of my willpower to not drink it all by myself when I visit them). When I have fresh berries on hand, I tend to quickly eat them straight, maybe bake something with them, and mostly freeze a bunch for winter, so I don’t think of keeping some to prepare a batch of lemonade. Now, thanks to you, I’ll have it in mind next time I go pick fruits!

  4. Christy Said,

    July 13, 2011 @ 11:49 am

    This looks fabulous! Blueberries are sooo good for us! 🙂

  5. Jes Said,

    July 13, 2011 @ 9:28 pm

    I love the beverage kick! I don’t ever make any fancy ones at home since I’m most a water-coffee-wine/beer girl, but that blueberry lemonade sounds amazing. And the juice-o-mat! is too darn cute.

  6. Jain Said,

    July 14, 2011 @ 6:55 pm

    Postage be damned, I am SO ordering one of these next pay day!

  7. Suburban Snow White Said,

    July 18, 2011 @ 3:57 pm

    Ohh!!! We had one of these juicers when I was growing up. Bright red and silver. You’ve made me want to relocate it! I loved making orange juice with that cheery thing!

  8. Vegan2Raw Said,

    July 24, 2011 @ 9:57 pm

    Looks AH-mazing! Love Blueberries!

  9. Eileen Said,

    August 1, 2011 @ 11:37 pm

    Oh man! I never do anything to blueberries except eat them immediately, but I may have to change my tune for this. It’s not like buying double blueberries would be bad, right?

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