Levantine
Limonana Mint Lemonade
Fresh lemon and generous mint blend with chilled syrup and ice into a vivid modern limonana: a café-style drink with broader Levantine mint-lemonade roots.
6 servings · 15 minutes prep · 3 minutes cook
Ingredients
Cold Syrup
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 cups cold water, divided
- 1/8 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Lemon, Mint, and Ice
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 packed cups tender mint leaves, leaves only, washed and dried; discard all stems
- 4 cups ice cubes
Directions
Make and Chill the Syrup
- Combine the sugar, 1 cup of the water, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium, stirring, just until clear, about 3 minutes; do not boil down.
- Pour the syrup into a heatproof container, add the remaining 2 1/2 cups water, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until thoroughly cold.
Blend the Limonana
- Add the cold syrup mixture, lemon juice, and mint leaves to a blender. Pulse 5 times, then blend for 15 seconds, only until the leaves are finely flecked.
- Pass the entire mint-lemon base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container without pressing, discarding all fibrous solids, then return the strained base to the clean blender.
Blend the Slush and Serve
- Add half of the ice and pulse until broken. Add the remaining ice and blend on medium just until the mixture becomes an even, pourable slush, about 20 seconds.
- Pour at once into chilled tall glasses. Serve before the ice separates, with no additional dilution.
