Lemonade Concentrate (with Stevia)

What’s better on a hot summer day than fresh-squeezed lemonade? Cool, tart, and refreshing, it’s perfect for sipping out on the porch or bring along to a picnic in the park or at the beach. But one doesn’t always have enough lemons on hand to make fresh lemonade, and if you’re bringing it on a picnic it can be pretty heavy to lug around enough for everyone. Enter homemade lemonade concentrate! It’s lightweight, simple to make, and convenient for all!

Unfortunately, most DIY lemonade concentrate recipes I found called for lots of simple syrup, which made for so much volume that the resulting concentrate could only be diluted in about a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio– still an awful lot of liquid to be carrying around. Casting about for other options, I thought of Stevia– a natural sweetener that’s many times sweeter than sugar, and can be bought in both liquid and powdered form. The liquid, in particular, was what I was after for the easiest mixing.

After a little experimentation I’ve developed the following recipe– it can be diluted 6 or 8:1, so you don’t need to bring much at all to have plenty of lemonade for everyone.

Lemonade Concentrate (with Stevia)

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 tsp. liquid Stevia

Mix ingredients together and store in refrigerator. Dilute with 6-8 parts water to 1 part concentrate.

Notes:

1. Okay, yes, this isn’t so much a recipe as it is a general guideline for how much Stevia to add to make lemonade, but it’s still a good concept, right?
2. I’ve read that the brand of Stevia you use can make a difference as to flavor, and that some brands are sweeter and/or herbier-tasting than others. I used KAL brand and it worked fine. Feel free to adjust as necessary.
3. One difference I noted between Stevia-sweetened and sugar-sweetened lemonade is that the mouthfeel is just slightly different. Sugar syrup adds a kind of silky texture that’s just not there with Stevia, unfortunately. But the resulting lemonade is still tangy and refreshing, which is what matters.
4. Depending on how tart/sweet you like your lemonade, you could dilute this even further with water. Just experiment to see how you like it.
5. Save your lemon peels for other projects! Recipes to follow!

 

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