Lemonade

Method

1. zest3 min
   before juicing, coloured layer only
   the lemons, and rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until it smells strongly of lemon. The aroma of a lemon lives almost entirely in oil glands in the peel, not in the juice — the juice supplies acid. Take no white pith, which contributes only bitterness
2. simmer4 min
   1.25 cups water, sugar fully dissolved, no boiling needed
   sugar + zest + hot water, stirred until completely clear. Sucrose dissolves readily above about 50°C and grudgingly below it; the syrup is done the moment the liquid stops looking cloudy, and holding it longer only drives off the zest oils you just extracted
3. clarify3 min
   fine sieve, pressing the zest
   the syrup to remove the zest and any seeds and pulp from the juice. Pulp and pith left in the jug keep releasing bitter limonin for hours — a lemonade that tasted right when made and harsh two hours later was not strained
4. mix3 min
   in a jug, syrup first then juice then water
   syrup + lemon juice + remaining cold water (+ salt, + honey), stirred. A pinch of salt is worth trying: sodium suppresses bitterness perception, so the drink tastes cleaner and more sour rather than salty
5. rest2 min
   chilled, ice added to the glass and not the jug
   then taste and correct. Cold blunts sweetness far more than acid, so a lemonade balanced at room temperature reads sour over ice — adjust it cold. Ice in the jug dilutes as it melts and by the last glass you have water