Got a ¼-cup of juice? 3 Tbs sugar, ½-cup + 2 Tbs water

Got ⅓ cup of juice? ¼-cup + 2½ Tsp sugar, ¾-cup + 3Tbs water

Got a ½-cup of juice? ¼-cup + 2 Tbs sugar, 1¼ cups water

Got 1 cup of juice? ¾-cups sugar, 2½ cups water

Those are common-measurement results for the formulation that I’ve distilled for Lemonade Concentrate. I’ll explain what Lemonade Concentrate is, and elaborate on the formula in a bit. But before I get to that, I want to do a little bit of straight-up Chicago helping Chicago, because in Chicago, that’s how we roll. In Chicago, if you need anything to get done, you or someone you know has got a guy. Today, I’m that guy.

Michael Shannon O’Keefe is supporting people who are doing the kind of work we all should be doing, the kind of work we tell ourselves we ought to do, but the kind of work that few of us ever really put our hands or dollars to: helping in-need children. I want to call your attention his article, “Chicago’s Honor Roll: Heroes for Kids in Need,” and help him get the word out. And I’d like to ask you to consider being something of a hero yourself, or to consider helping a hero do something heroic.

It’s National Volunteer month. I hope you’ll consider taking some of your time, or a few of your dollars, or both, and releasing some deliberate, undeserved, unconditional love into the world. Donate to a food bank, you foodie, you. Or, if you’re a glamorous blogger like me (which is unlikely, because I’m so frigging hella glamorous that I sparkle in direct sunlight), use a tiny slice of your world-wide internet presence, and shine it on someone who’s doing the good work. Or, in whatever way is meaningful to you, find a way to show a child that the world could be a giving, welcoming, affirming, friendly place if each of us were willing to make that choice.

Thanks for letting me put that out there. Now, on with the show.

This post is about lemonade. I know, not anything ground-breaking. Not even, like, ginger-infused lemonade. It’s just about me, using up my lemon juice … because when life give you lemons, you shake it with vodka, on ice. So, I’m going to tell you how to use your math skills to churn out a fantastic lemonade concentrate that you can use to make, among other things, a really good lemon drop martini.

You know how it is when you have leftover lemon juice. You need zest for this, or a wedge for that … those damn garnishes! Then, because your life is cursed, you don’t seem to need any more bits or pieces of lemon for longer than what you have leftover will keep. Arg! So, drink a lot of lemonade is what I do. But I need my lemonade to be versatile: I want to drink a glass, then mix some with iced tea, then make a lemon drop martini, mix some with seltzer, then mix up a lemonade bubble tea … you know, all in the space between lunch and dinner one Wednesday afternoon.

I use leftover lemon to create a kind of super-charged lemonade concentrate. It’s way too intense to drink straight up. It needs to be mixed with something – diluted with water (or vodka, or gin, or orange pekoe). It’s really very handy, and it doesn’t require anything even as remotely tasky as creating simple syrup. Here’s how.

Measure your juice. Divide by 3, then multiply by 2.5 and add that much sugar. Multiply the amount of sugar by 3, and add that much water. Shake or stir vigorously. The sugar may not dissolve immediately. Let it rest a few minutes, then shake and stir again.

Rounding off the numbers as you go, you’ll get something like the numbers I listed at the outset of this post.

The math is kind of fun, or not fun, depending on what you think of as fun. But I’ve made a handy-dandy chart. See it at the bottom of this post.

Lemonade recipes will often suggest using superfine sugar, or simple syrup, because sugar doesn’t dissolve well in ice-cold water. (Plus, words like “superfine” separate us from the masses.) However, this concentrate is either going either directly over ice, or into the fridge. Therefore, the water you add should be lukewarm, or mildly cool, from the tap. So, just use plain old sugar, honey. It’ll dissolve just fine.

Want lemonade? Either mix the concentrate with fridge-chilled water to taste (as much as 1:1) and pour over ice, or pour the concentrate directly over a glass full of ice and let it sit for a few minutes. Pour the concentrate into an ice-filled thermos, and by lunch time, you’ll have cold lemonade. Want something shockingly like a Sanpellegrino Limonata? Pour concentrate into a glass (with or without ice) to fill it by about 1/3. Top off with seltzer and stir gently (or not). How about a delicious lemon drop martini that will make you pucker up, grin, and roll your eyes in the most wonderful way? I like a ratio of 1:1 concentrate to vodka, shaken over ice to the tempo of a sultry Portuguese samba for about a minute. Are you a gin drinker? I don’t know what to call this: 1 part vermouth, 1-2 parts concentrate, and 2 parts Bombay Sapphire, stirred into ice and served on the rocks. I can’t explain it, but this drink isn’t lemony, leans more toward savory than sweet, and doesn’t taste like gin. It’s weirdly intriguing, complex, and quite refreshing. Are you vacationing in the Leelanau Peninsula during mid-summer cherry season? Turn the concentrate into lemonade, splash it with kirschwasser (1/2 ounce for flavor, or a full shot if you want a bit more mojo), then drop sweet cherries by the handful into the glass until they’re overflowing. Try not to spit the pits at your friends.

Lemonade Concentrate from Leftover Lemon Juice

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! All math on this page calculated by Make It Like a Man! (which means, you might want to check it). This content was not solicited, nor written in exchange for anything.

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