Summer Aide

When I was in college there was a pharmacy that made several types of fruit-aide drinks. They made orangeade, limeade, lemonade and many other flavors of the favorite summer drink. All of their drinks were delicious because they used this technique. The key is the 1:1:2 ratio of pure fresh fruit juice to simple syrup to water.

Today we are going to make limeade because you can get high quality limes almost year round now.

Fresh squeezed fruit juice

2 bags of limes. Yes, two bags! No matter how hard you squeeze a lime, it will only produce a small amount of juice and you are bound to lose some while juicing. The limes today seem to be a little smaller than in the past. A lime will produce around 2 tablespoons of juice. Note: 13 limes produced just over 2 cups of lime juice.

Lime juice preparation

Place damp towel down on the counter with cutting board on top.

Cutting board setup with knife and limes

Begin by rolling each lime like you are rolling out dough, This will loosen the flesh of the fruit and help it produce the most juice per lime. Gently apply pressure to each lime until you begin to feel it softening under your hand.

Rolling the fruit while applying pressure with the palm of your hand with loosen the flesh of the fruit and produce more juice

After you roll each lime, set aside to rest for up to 5 minutes.

Letting the fruit rest will help the juice gather inside the fruit

Take each lime and cut it in half.

Hold the lime between thumb and fore finger with the stem under your thumb and the bottom of the lime under the other finger.

Begin juicing with your juicer and save 4 used halves for later. Squeeze the limes until you get 2 cups of juice and set aside. If you don’t have a Kitchen Aid juicer, then you can juice them by hand with a handheld juicer or with a juicing tool. Tip: Don’t throw your limes away just yet because if you cut the used limes in half and then grind the rinds in your garbage disposal, this produces a very pleasant aroma.

The Kitchen Aid stand mixer with juicer attachment make short work of these limes

Simple syrup:

2 cups of water

2 cups of granulated sugar

4 halves of the juiced limes saved from juicing

Simple Syrup preparation:

Saucepan, sugar, water and 4 lime halves

Place a 3qt sauce pot on your stove with your prepped sugar, water and lime halves

Adding equal parts sugar and water to make the simple syrup

Add water and sugar to the saucepan and begin heating over medium heat

Stirring will help the mix the sugar and water completely

Stir to mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. The mixture will turn clear once all of the sugar dissolves and begins to boil. Note: be careful with this liquid because it is very hot and could burn your skin easily.

Boiling for up to 5 minutes helps prevent the sugar from falling out of the solution

Boil for up to 5 minutes and then let cool. Make sure the simple syrup doesn’t begin to turn color and caramelize. If this happens, just remove from the heat and let cool.

Steeping the limes in the finished simple syrup will extract oils out of the rinds without making the syrup bitter

While the simple syrup begins to cool, add the rinds of 4 lime halves to the simple syrup and steep for 5 minutes. The rinds’ color will turn pale green.

Removing the rinds from the simple syrup

Remove the lime rinds after 5 minutes.

Assembling the Limeade:

In the cooled simple syrup, add the lime juice and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let the liquid boil for up to 5 minutes.

Lime juice and simple syrup boiling over medium heat

Let the limeade concentrate cool for 5 minutes in order to pour into pitcher safely. Make sure not to fill the pitcher more than half way with the limeade concentrate.

Pitcher half full with concentrated limeade

Fill the pitcher almost to the top with cold water and the rest with ice. Limeade is ready to drink at this point.

Finished limeade with ice

To serve:

1. Grab your favorite glass fill with ice

2. Pour in the desired amount

3. Enjoy!

Limeade with gin and club soda

Adult drink alternative: Add a jigger of vodka, gin or rum to make a yummy adult drink. If you are using rum, add a little mint to make a mojito. If you are using gin, add a little tonic to make the famous “G&T” (gin and tonic). If you are using vodka, add some cranberry juice for a great refreshing drink.

Drink alternative: add some club soda to make a spritzer for a cool refreshing summer drink that comes to your aid on a hot summer day.

My favorite is to make this with fresh squeezed orange juice; try this as a possible alternative.

Cheers!