Drink of the Month: Mint Lemonade

This simple, refreshing drink is made with only a few ingredients and is very easy to put together. It can be made with or without vodka so keep that in mind; it’s delicious either way. This particular recipe is listed in such a way that it’s a single portion for one drink but you can scale this up very easily and make it into a pitcher sized portion with a larger blender. This is a great drink for sitting outside in the sun and relaxing.

The mint has done wonderfully this year. I’ve wanted to plant mint in our garden but we hadn’t gotten around to it until 2021.

A handful of sweet mint leaves. I prefer to take the most mature leaves and leave the little ones on the plant so they can keep growing.

This is a super simple drink with all of four ingredients really. It’s so easy!

I forgot to peel the lemon until after I’d chopped it in half and so peeling it was ….. questionable at best. I ended up with a lot of juice on my hands.

The side view of the contents looks so interesting with the gold of the honey next to the green of the mint.

As you can see, it’s turned a frothy white with the blend.

The mixture will be very thick so don’t be afraid to press the liquid through the strainer to get every last bit.

Vodka is optional! We really do like the New Amsterdam vodka in this house though.

If you don’t have a screw top container, you can garnish your drink with mint leaves and a slice of lemon. It makes it quite pretty.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

- 2oz vodka

- 1 ½ cups ice

- Honey

- 1 large lemon

- Handful of mint leaves

- Water

- Small blender

Instructions:

1. Gather mint leaves

   1. As you’ve probably seen, Miayah and I have a garden and one of the planters is full of mint. We have both peppermint and sweet mint growing right now. For this recipe I chose to use the sweet mint rather than the peppermint as I wanted a more green taste instead of a super bright taste. You of course, can use whatever sort of mint you’d prefer! I think the primary one offered in grocery stores is peppermint and that would do just fine.

2. Peel and quarter a lemon

   1. I’ve seen people do this sort of drink without peeling the lemon and just blending the whole thing together, however I find that that introduces too much bitterness and it overpowers the light taste of a sweet mint. Chopping it into fourths is a way to make the blender’s job a little easier and faster. 

3. Add lemon, a handful of ice (about a half cup or so), a squeeze of honey (to your taste), and most of the mint leaves to the blender.

   1. I don’t like a huge amount of sweetness to my lemonade. I’m definitely a maximum tart sort of person, so I only put a short squeeze of honey. If I had to measure I’d say it was a little less than a tablespoon. Make the lemonade as sweet as you’d like! You can also use simple syrup in place of honey if you have that available or are up to making it. I felt lazy today so honey was the way to go.

4. Add water to the blender full of ingredients

   1. Add just enough to cover the contents of the blender and then a smidge more on top. If it’s too dry then it won’t blend properly and you’ll end up with giant chunks of ice. We’re ultimately trying to cool the ingredients down so when more ice is added it won’t melt the ice immediately.

5. Blend until everything is smooth and the contents are on the white side.

   1. This is quick and easy since it’s such a small batch. The ice and honey and water content of the lemon makes it smooth in no time. 

6. Strain the ingredients into a glass.

   1. The mixture will be surprisingly thick when you put it through the strainer. The pith and structure of the lemon and the fibrous pieces of the mint really bulk up this drink and make it frothy. You’ll more than likely have to push down the mixture or stir the mixture in the strainer to get all the liquid through into the glass.

7. Add 2oz of vodka to the glass

   1. This is optional as this drink is perfectly delicious without the vodka and can be imbibed as just a mint lemonade. Stir the vodka into the drink to thoroughly distribute.

8. Add ice up to the top of the glass and fill the rest up with water (if room is left)

   1. With the addition of the ice and potentially the water it will calm down the bright, super strong flavors and make the drink more easy to enjoy. You can absolutely skip the ice and possible water but it’ll be much more thick than you’d think. I like the extra ice as it makes this much more light and refreshing.

9. Garnish with a few mint leaves and a slice of lemon, then enjoy!