This recipe was developed in an effort to imitate my preferred lemonade from a cafe in downtown Los Angeles named, appropriately enough, “Lemonade.” If you want to add additional sugar, that’s fine; I don’t like it to be very sweet. However, I believe that this recipe is ideal. It also tastes fantastic as a martini when garnished with a slice of watermelon and a lemon twist in a glass with a sugar rim. simply wonderful
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 sprig rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped
- 2 cups lemon juice
- 12 cups cubed seeded watermelon
- 8 cups ice cubes
Instructions
- Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir in the rosemary, and set aside to steep for 1 hour.
- Place half of the lemon juice, and half of the watermelon into a blender. Strain the rosemary syrup through a mesh strainer into the blender. Cover, and puree until smooth. Strain into a pitcher, then puree the remaining lemon juice and watermelon. Stir the lemonade before serving over ice.
Reviews
This is a good, basic recipe. I had never heard of rosemary syrup before, so I looked up a recipe, and decided that it refers to a simple syrup recipe infused with rosemary. I hadn’t any idea that such a thing would exist. Curious, I tried this recipe. I noticed that the recipe for simple syrup usually calls for 1 cup of sugar per cup of water, but this recipe calls for 3/4 cup of sugar per cup of water. So, the end result would be less sweet, which turns out to be a good idea. This recipe also calls for a sprig of rosemary. How much is that? I don’t know, but now that I’ve tried it, I’m certain that a sprig of rosemary is much less than 1/4 cup of dried, crushed rosemary! I like rosemary moderately well, but I’m not that big a fan of it. I would have been fine using 1/8 cup or less. I used ReaLemon 100% Lemon Juice, which might be the reason the lemon flavoring seems too harsh, a little too strong. I drank the gallon of juice I made, even with the strong rosemary and lemon flavor, but I would have preferred less of those flavors.
This was really really good. One reviewer said they didn’t feel like they could taste the rosemary but I definitely can.
I discovered this drink at lemonade as well. It was so delicious I requested my caterer to make it for my wedding reception. This recipe tastes pretty close to when I first had it at the store! I added a couple extra sprigs of rosemary for a heavier flavor, and substituted 2 cups of store bought natural lemonade with juice from two squeezed lemons to speed up the recipe. 5 stars, thank you for the recipe!
I made this for a Labor Day cook out and it was a big hit. Super yummy and not too sweet. Just how I like it.
This was loved by our family and friends! I used 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary from our garden, letting it steep overnight with 2 lemon peels after boiling, then drained off solids. I juiced two lemons instead of using 2 cups of juice. The steeped lemon peel has more vitamins that the concentrate. I used 3 blenders full of frozen and fresh watermelon and filled the rest of the pitcher up with water. My husband isn’t a big fan of fruit in general, but said he would gladly drink his watermelon from now on! Thanks for the recipe! :o)
I LOVED this. It was so unique and refreshing and a bit floral. If it were just me, I’d give it 5 stars. However, I made it for a party, and only about half my guests liked it. So, I don’t know if I’d make something this unique for a mixed crowd again. But, I will thoroughly enjoy the half pitcher that’s left from the party.
This is very delicious. I used dried rosemary because I didn’t have fresh. So the rosemary taste isn’t as strong. But I am enjoying it very much.
This drink is delicious! Very refreshing, and the flavors work so well together. Will definitely make again!
I loved this! Only used enough watermelon to fill up the blender because I wanted a potent rosemary taste. Best drink I’ve had in a while.
Not bad, a little too much rosemary taste but may be my fault too. I added some sierra mist and it made it a lot better.
This was just OK in my opinion. I liked it better after it sat for a bit. I could not detect any rosemary flavor at all, which is what I was interested in tasting. All I really got was somewhat of a bitter taste from the lemons. If you are not into tart flavor, add more sugar than called for. I was wishing I had added a bit more. Don’t think I would go out of my way to make this again, but it is a good way to use of a lot of watermelon quickly if you need to.
Only one person out of 10 didn’t like it! A little too bitter for me, but still good. I wish I had chilled the glasses, though.
I was so happy to find this as I’ve been craving it! The recipe is amazing, I used a full cup of sugar and about 6 sprigs of rosemary. A little messy but totally yummy!
This was a nice lemonade. But next time I will squeeze juice from watermelon for the perfect lemonade texture. Be sure to refregirate this lemonade a few hours or overnight before serving, it will be much better.
A very interesting change from the typical lemonade. Even my family (who don’t typically welcome ‘different’ recipes) enjoyed this!
Tastes great. A little labor intensive. But, well worth the work.
Wow! This is excellent – and loved by 4 teenage boys, too. Got busy and ended up leaving my rosemary steeping for about 3 hours instead of 1 – which turned out fine. Tip: 1 largish baby ‘seedless’ watermelon makes almost exactly 12 cups of cubed melon – and you don’t have to seed it. I’m sure fresh lemon juice would be best, but after squeezing forever to get 1 cup, I supplemented the rest with bottled lemon (I told you I need a citrus press, MisterByrd, take note). Tastes fantastic! A bit time consuming, but fun for every once in a while. Thanks!!