Honey Lemonade

I’m picky when it comes to lemonade. The beverage presents a difficult balance between too sweet and too tart. Honey Lemonade checks all the boxes! It’s everything you can want in a lemonade. A refreshing summer drink; cool, slightly tart, but with the right balance of sweetness thanks to it’s secret (or not so secret) ingredient… honey!

This is a staple on my “Must Eat” (or in this case drink) list for the Iowa State Fair. Every year the Iowa Honey Producers Association has a display where they sell cups and cups of delicious Honey Lemonade to fair goers in the Agriculture Building right above the famous Butter Cow. And since that time of year is just around the corner and it is dang hot around here lately, I decided to stir up this refreshment.

The recipe couldn’t be simpler. Three ingredients. That’s it! Three. And one of them is water.

I also take a nice shortcut and use frozen lemon juice (Minute Maid was my weapon of choice). Now if you’re willing to wait longer than I was to have a sip and feel like flexing your muscles juicing up some lemons go right ahead. You’re a cooler person then me. It would take about 7 large lemons to equal the amount found in one container of frozen lemon juice.

Now for what I consider the star of the show and what separates this lemonade from all the others is of course the honey.

My hometown of Defiance, Iowa is a spec on the map and a quintessential small town, but one of its largest employers is Smitty Bee Honey. A local family business that is considered one of the nation’s leading suppliers of industrial honey to retail and food service industries. How cool is that!

Honey is a great natural sweetener to use in place of sugar in this recipe and local supplies are popping up in grocery stores all over the country since there are beekeepers in all 50 states (fun ag fact alert)!

Now if it has been a long day and you feel like kicking back and relaxing, add a little of your favorite adult beverage to the mix. Vodka, champagne, whiskey, beer (hello summer shandy!), etc. would be a fantastic addition to top it off.

5 from 2 votes

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Honey Lemonade

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Total Time 5 minutes

Author My Farmhouse Table

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup honey
• 8 cups water
• 7.5 oz container frozen lemon juice, thawed (or juice of 7 large lemons)

Instructions

1. Pour the honey into the water and whisk until dissolved. Add the thawed lemon juice. Stir to combine.

2. Chill in the refrigerator or pour in a glass full of ice.
3. Garnish with lemon slices or your favorite adult beverage.