I didn't drink soda—or any carbonated beverages—growing up. No Sprite. No Pepsi. Zero Coke—and, for that matter, no Coke Zero.
It wasn't because they were outlawed in my house—both of my parents and my sister drank them. Soda just didn't appeal to me for whatever reason. That self-imposed ban made my beverage options pretty limited as a kid: Water, milk, and lemonade.
Lemonade became my favorite early on. What kid doesn't like homemade lemonade? It's the perfect balance between face-puckeringly tart and gentle sweetness. Even the stuff made from concentrate wasn't that bad.
But recently, I set out to do something my younger self would have never dreamed possible: Upgrade lemonade.
My inspiration stemmed from a experience I had at Nish Nush, a modern Israeli falafel shop in downtown Manhattan. The menu offers up something called Limonana, a frozen beverage with Middle-Eastern origins that's part lemonade, part virgin mojito, and all delicious. I got to work in the Epicurious Test Kitchen and started playing around with how to replicate the thing.
As it turns out, two easy steps take lemonade from nostalgic favorite to a do-anything beverage springboard: A blender and fresh mint. You can use store-bought lemonade, but it's best if you make your own.
The result is the lemonade I remember drinking growing up, but with the added soothing sweet flavor of mint. This version's suitable for kids, but I could easily see adults adding a few ounces of floral gin or jalepeño-infused tequila in order to transform the drink into an easy-to-make blender cocktail.
Whatever you do to it, I promise it will ruin lemonade for you like it did for me—in the best way possible.
Frozen Mint Lemonade
Combine the juice from 3 lemons, 6 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 cup water, and about 40 fresh mint leaves (stems discarded) in a blender filled with ice. Pulse a few times and then blend until slushy.
