Blackberry lemonade

In May, as always, it is typical to produce an elderflower syrup.

bloom of black Elderflower

Now In the summer heat, the cooling thoughts surrounded me when reading a book. I remembered the youth, the reading of "Ransome books" a homemade ginger lemonade that the heroes drank with such taste.

Suddenly the idea came. How about trying other herbs? And what if it was made from the fruit? Literature, acquaintances, the Internet - it was a fast-paced gathering of information. And then the time has come for practical testing. From May to August, production of dozens of litres of home-made lemonade. And so I mixed and mixed, tasted and gained experience of the proper ratios of herbs, fruit, sugar and lemon - lemonade alchemy. And here is the result.

1. Where to ferment?

Best in a glass container with standard screw caps. I use a volume of 3.750 l.

Lemonade from apricot and Peril leaf

2. Who will ferment?

Yeast. In the first bottle, I mixed a few grams of natural living yeast, which is used for baking. Later I added a few ounces from the previous fermentation as a starter.

Typical baking yeast

3. Sugar

Each lemonade needs sugar for yeast and taste. I use beet sugar with a little cane for a glass of about 0.5 kg. It may be even less. You can improve the taste of stevia or honey.

Beet sugar and cane sugar

4. Lemon

It would not be the right limo or lemon drink if it were lemon-free. I always use BIO quality. From half to one lemon per bottle according to the acidity of the raw materials. First, squeeze the juice, then cut into smaller pieces without the kernel. This adds aromas to the beverage and delicate bitterness.

BIO lemons

5. Fermentation time

Fermentation time is due to alcohol - for children drink 1-2 days. For adults drink 3-7 days. For longer periods of time, according to raw materials, the drink is "broken" and not very tasty. Bitterness and acidity prevail. You could do a fruity alcoholic wine.

Lemonade ready for filtering

6. Filtration

I use a fine sieve where most of the fermented raw material is captured.

Pouring the lemonade from the glass into the food container.

Filtering tools - fine sieve and funnel

Filtration itself

7. Preservation

Best in the fridge in bottles of beer or in PET bottles. At a temperature of three degrees, fermentation is interrupted, and the lemonade lasts at least 14 days. At higher temperatures, it needs to be consumed faster.

Filled bottles in the fridge

8. Several combinations of herb and fruit ingredients I have tried

Flower of dandelions

bloom of black Elderflower

Rose petals

Petals of rose and raspberry fruit

Ginger root and cherry fruit

Root of ginger, fruit of strawberries and sour cherries

Fruit of cherry, raspberries and black currant

Flower of Yellow sweet clover and raspberry fruit

Flower of Yellow sweet clover and fruit of blackberries

Perilla leaf and apricot fruit

Perilla leaf and fruit of Alpine Currant.

Perilla leaf and plum fruit

Flower of Galium verum and apricot fruit

Flower of Galium verum and gooseberries

Fruit of greengage and black currant

Fruit of grapevine

Fruit of grapevine and chilli pepper

1. Perilla 2. dandelion 3. Rosa × centifolia 4. Yellow sweet clover

1. apricot 2. Alpine Currant 3. gooseberries 4. plum

9. Other raw material options

Herbs – Lemon balm, Mint, Clover, Lime trees, young spruce needles, narrowleaf plantain, yarrow, common mallow, hollyhocks, common marshmallow, basil, thyme, Sage, Rosemary, vanilla, meadowsweet, Canadian goldenrod

Fruits - blueberries, peaches, apples, pears, melon, tangerine, pineapple ...

From the left - lemonade from raspberries, gooseberry, Yellow sweet clover and lemonade from Alpine Currant and Peril leaf.

In South Moravia (Czech Republic), such a drink from the grapevine is called burčák (today it is a trademark). Our grandmothers called it fizz or fruit beer (even if it is free of hops) because it bubbles. All children love home-made lemonade for their sweetness, taste, refreshment and intuitively for health.

From the left - lemonade from ginger, strawberries, sour cherry and lemonade from sour cherries, raspberries, black currant