Lemonade - Definition


Lemonade - Definition

Lemonade refers to one of several beverages.

Lemonate stand in Vancouver BC, Canada

In the US and Canada it refers to an uncarbonated soft drink made of a mixture of lemon juice, sugar and water.

In the UK, it refers to a carbonated (fizzy) drink, sometimes lemon flavoured, comparable to, but excluding the brands 7-Up or Sprite, which are lemon and lime flavoured. This combination of lemonade and beer produces a shandy.

In Germany, it refers to 7-Up, Sprite and similar clear and colourless soft drinks that are lemon or lime flavoured. It is sometimes simply called s��er Sprudel, which means literally, sweet fizz. This combination of lemonade and beer produces a radler.

In Australia and New Zealand, it refers to a clear carbonated (fizzy) drink, always sweet but sometimes sour as well. Though some consider 7-Up and Sprite lemonades, lemonades are not considered to taste of lemon (or, for that matter, lime).

In the Netherlands it refers to any fruit concentrate cordial that is diluted with water.

An approximate recipe for US lemonade is to mix equal volumes of lemon juice and sugar and add water to taste, approximately four times as much water as lemon juice.

About three quarters the volume of sugar is likely to be better to the taste of most people. A pink lemonade variation can be produced by adding red food coloring or grenadine syrup. A lime version of lemonade, called Limeade, is made in the same way lemonade is made, except with limes.

There are currently 4 kinds of lemonade Snapple flavors.

In Britain in the 1970s lemonade was not considered a glamorous product. This was deliberately parodied in a television commercial for R. White's lemonade, in which a man sneaks downstairs in his pajamas singing "I'm a secret lemonade drinker - I'm trying to give it up but it's one of those nights." When his wife catches him at the refrigerator he sheepishly offers her a glass. The commercial was a huge success and ran for almost a decade, although later attempts to revive the campaign were less successful.

See also