Mint Ginger Infused Lemonade

As some of you might know, my roommate is a bit of a culinary genius. He used to be content merely with following other people's recipes, but now he's advanced to the point where he's taking other people's recipes and making them much better. He got the idea for this lemonade from another food blog he reads, but found the provided recipe unnecessarily convoluted and at times, completely nonsensical. Mostly, he looked at the picture at the top of the page and made up the following recipe. Note: While the recipe below is for lemonade, we've also used it to make orangeade. It also makes a great mixer if you add booze (we usually do).


Mint Ginger Infused Lemonade

Materials:
Small pot
Spoon
Measuring cup
Lemon juicer
Knife, etc.

Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
1 1/4 cup of water
8 lemons
1/8 cup sliced ginger
Handfull of fresh mint


The main feature that separates this recipe from typical lemonade recipes is that instead of just adding the sugar to the water, you will be making a simple syrup and infusing it with ginger and mint (though you can add any flavors of your choice). The syrup can then be used as a sort of concentrate--you can store it and just add small amounts every time you mix up a new batch of lemonade.

Process:

1. Slice the ginger (you don't need to peel it) and the mint into thin strips, then add to a pot with the sugar and water. Heat on High, stirring slowly until the sugar is completely dissolved.



2. Once the sugar is dissolved, take the pot off the heat and allow to cool. When it has cooled, strain out the mint and ginger.


3. Juice the lemons.

4. Add about 1/2 cup of the ginger-infused simple syrup to a pitcher with the lemon juice and water it down to taste. Add ice.

5. At this point, you can garnish it with mint and enjoy a delightful, family-friendly mid-afternoon drink, or you can do what we do which is garnish it with mint and add some tequila for an adult-friendly mid-afternoon drink.

An innocent glass of lemonade...Or is it?!

Congratulations! You have now mastered a simple syrup. A whole new world of culinary possibilities is open to you. If you want to get really crazy, you can attempt to make your own candy or fancy desserts. If you think you'd like to practice more with this recipe, remember that you can add any flavor you want to the simple syrup--lemon zest, rosemary, vanilla, lavender. Go crazy! Also, note that a simple syrup can be made in any quantity. There just needs to be slightly more water than sugar so that the sugar can dissolve completely.

Effort Rating (On a scale of 1 to Fuck This!):
3 (but only because juicing lemons takes effort)

Cost Comparison:
1 bottle of Sweet Leaf Lemonade: $3
1 glass of homemade lemonade: $0.20

The recipe can make about a gallon of lemonade, depending on what ratios you use, so,

The Total Cost Comparison:
1 gallon Sweet Leaf Lemonade: $15ish
1 gallon homemade lemonade: $2.00