Yesterday I purchased a large bottle of organic lite pink lemonade. What better time for an icy cold drink than the middle of a muggy, fire-ash smoggy afternoon. Of course, regular lemonade is great but pink, to me, seems so much more festive.
Presently, there are pink lemonade lemons available on the market, but they give only clear juice. They get their name from the lemon’s pinkish flesh. So, I was wondering how does this drink get its pink coloring?
To find out more, we have to go back to its early beginnings.
History of Pink Lemonade
Apparently, this refreshing drink gets its early start from the circus lore. Initially, back in 1857, a clown, from a circus was fired. Long story short, he then decided to go into the lemonade business. He made his lemonade with sugar, water, tartaric acid, and added one sliced lemon to the mixture. However, as things go, one day the circus ran out of water. The resourceful vender went into the changing tent of the equestrian bareback rider who was washing her red tights. He used this pink-dyed water to make his “strawberry” lemonade which turned out to be extremely popular.
I’ve also read a second story of a bunch of red cinnamon candy falling into the lemonade water and making it pink. I’m liking the second tale a little better.
Fresh Pink Lemonade Recipe
Making fresh lemonade is fairly easy.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup of Granulated Sugar
- 1 Cup Water
- 1 Cup of Freshly Squeezed Lemons (needs about 4-6- lemons)
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons of Grenadine Syrup
Directions
- Make a Simple Syrup – Add sugar to water and boil until sugar is resolved, let mixture cool.
- Squeeze the fresh lemons. Mix the simple syrup, lemon juice and grenadine syrup together. Add cool water to taste about 2-3 cups.
- Serve drink over ice.
What Makes it Pink?
Grenadine syrup is a fairly common bar staple. Grenadine is not made with cherries but with pomegranate juice. Apparently, grenadine is used to make Shirley Temples and tequila sunrise drinks.
I remember, years ago, my Aunt Mae treated me to my first Shirley Temple drink in San Diego. This non alcoholic drink was made with lemon-lime soda which they added maraschino cherry syrup to. This is great way to use the cherry juice which usually gets tossed out. I guess you could, also, garnish it with a cherry. As a kid I don’t remember hearing about grenadine syrup and my Shirley Temple was not garnished with a cherry.
After checking the ingredients label, I found the pink coloring in my organic lemonade was due to organic purple carrot juice. That will do, too.
Pink Flamingo-Ade Mocktail
As a bonus feature, I decided to create a mocktail made from Lite Pink Lemonade and maraschino cherry juice to go with my childhood memories
So, I came up with a drink I’m calling the Pink Flamingo-Ade Mocktail.
Directions:
In the bottom of a serving glass add two tablespoons of syrup from bottled maraschino cherries. Add ice and fill to the top with Lite Pink Lemonade. Garnish with half a fresh lemon slice and a cherry with a stem. Stir and enjoy!
Ending Notes – Sweet & Tart
This ends today’s blog but not before I have a glass of that refreshing beverage poured over frosty ice.
Let the sun shine as I drink my Pink Flamingo-Ade.
Resource Sites: thespruceeats.com, specialityproduce.com, www.simplerecipies.com, Washington Post, Food Section, June 28, 2023.