Fresh

Yesterday was an extremely hot day, for northern European standards that is, and once upon a time, on such a day, I would go straight to the fridge and get myself a coke, a diet coke, which had been an obsession of mine for many years. Not any more.

About five years ago, I decided to quit drinking any type of soda. It was a good decision. One of those I'm proud I made, along with quitting smoking four years ago. Have I ever told you I was a smoker? No? Well, I was. Not any more.

It's a smart thing I decided to quit some of my bad habits, or addictions I should say, early on, in my twenties, because my body is already thanking me. I'm sure down the road it'll be even more thankful.

I don't mean to get all preachy on you, who am I to talk, I'm full of bad habits still, but this is my reality. However, since we're telling truths here, the reason I used to get pissed off at people who'd tell me how they quit this and that and how good it felt, was because they'd hit a nerve. I didn't want to think of my bad habits, I was scared to admit to them. I didn't want to examine myself and find that what I was doing, was actually detrimental to my health.

Anyway, let me get back to what I was trying to say in the beginning of this post before I got sidetracked. A hot day, that required a drink to quench my thirst, to invigorate and refresh me. Not a soda, nothing that contains soda, but rather a drink that's totally natural, fresh and sweet. A drink filled with the aromas of rosewater, honey and lemon.

A fresh, homemade, rosewater and honey lemonade.

P.S. I will never quit eating chocolate, just so you know. Or meat, or butter, or booze, okay?








Rosewater and Honey Lemonade

I've always loved the flavor of honey paired with lemon yet every time I added honey straight into a fresh lemonade, it wasn't right. The flavor of the honey simple syrup is more subtle, more rounded and it suits my tastes better.

Make sure to use a mild honey whose flavor you enjoy.
You can use the leftover honey simple syrup in all kinds of drinks, alcoholic and otherwise.

Yield: serves 4 / 450 ml honey simple syrup

Ingredients
200-250 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 5-7 lemons)
200 ml honey simple syrup
250 ml cold water
½ - 1 tsp rosewater
Ice cubes

for the honey simple syrup
200 g caster sugar
150 g mild-flavored, runny honey
240 ml water

Special equipment: juicer


Preparation

for the honey simple syrup
In a small saucepan, add the sugar, the honey and the water and bring to the boil over high heat, stirring constantly with a spoon until the sugar and the honey have dissolved. Once the syrup comes to the boil, foam will accumulate on top. Scoop it out with a metal spoon and remove the pan from the heat. Allow the syrup to cool completely before adding it to the lemonade.

You can keep the simple syrup in a glass container, covered, in the fridge for a week.

for the lemonade
In a pitcher, add the lemon juice, 200 ml of the honey simple syrup, the cold water and the rosewater and stir well (I use the back of a wooden spoon to stir mine). Add more or less simple syrup depending on how tart your lemons are.
Serve into glasses filled with ice cubes and enjoy.