Fresh Ginger Lemonade

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Note: I’ll be making this ginger lemonade today at 6pm CET (Noon ET, 9am PT) on my IG Live Apéro Hour on Instagram. To watch, head to my profile on my IG profile page at that time, and when the circle around my profile pic says “Live” – click on it to tune in. More info, as well as how to watch it in replay in my IGTV channel archives, is here.

I once got into a Scrabble tiff when I was challenged for using the word “ade.” I’ve played Scrabble in English, and in French, and I’ve determined that it’s impossible to win if facing off against French players due to the astounding selection of verb conjugations they have at their disposal. (Except for this French Scrabble champion who doesn’t even speak French, but won by memorizing words in the French dictionary. Wow.)

Fortunately, I don’t have a competitive streak, although I did dig my heels over the word ade when I was playing Scrabble with some fellow anglophones one time, who refused to concede that ade was an actual word. There was a dictionary on hand in the summer house we were staying at, which confirmed that ade is, indeed, a drink made with fruit.

Non-native French speakers may struggle with French verbs (but I don’t worry too much about that, because French people struggle with them too) but French people rightfully have a hard time with all the homonyms in English; there/their/they’re, it’s/its, right/write, etc.

But you shouldn’t need any aid to make this ade, which I like to refresh myself with. This pepped version has the zing of fresh ginger making it the double word score of lemonade.

With temperatures already climbing, I served glasses of it over crackly ice. The fresh ginger and the lemon work together to make something a little spicy, a little tangy, and a whole lot refreshing. (If that’s grammatically correct.)

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Fresh Ginger Lemonade

I like this drink with lots of ginger so I use the larger amount indicated, but feel free to use either. If you think you'd like it less-sweet (although I don't find this too sweet), you could reduce the sugar to 1/3 cup (65g.) If you wish to use a liquid sweetener, such as maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar in place of the sugar, I'd try starting off using 1/3 cup then tasting it, adding more if you wish. If using Meyer Lemons, you'll likely want to use the lower amount of sugar as they are naturally sweeter.
Servings 1 quart (1l), about 4 servings
  • 2 to 3 ounces (55-85g) fresh ginger, (no need to peel)
  • 2 zest of two lemons, removed with a vegetable peeler
  • 3 cups (750ml) water
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
  • 1 cup (250ml) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
  • Cut the ginger into thin slices. In a small saucepan, bring the water, sugar, ginger slices, and lemon strips to a boil.
  • Remove from heat and cover. Steep for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Strain the ginger and lemon pieces from the sugar syrup and mix the ginger-infused syrup with the fresh lemon juice in a pitcher. Chill thoroughly. Serve with plenty of ice.

Drinking French

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84 comments

    • Sylvaine Lang

    Sounds absolutely perfect to fight our 100º+ temperatures!

    • Romain Pellas

    J’adore !

    • Madeline B.

    This I will make. I’m going to the store right now!

    • Anne

    Add some vodka – yum!

      • brian

      I need the best lemon ginger juice

    • Bryan

    Je l’ai fait ce soir. J’adore ! Top !

    • Taste of France

    This sounds like a perfect combination.
    My Webster’s has -ade listed as a suffix, not as a word itself.

    • Luke

    The Scrabble dictionary (at least British English) allows all prefixes and suffixes, which is where “ade” and many of the unusual two letter words get in. (ab, ad, al etc)

    • Gigi

    I, too, have been challenged for using the word “ade”. Even my spell corrector doesn’t like it. My sympathies.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I played Scrabble with a French friend and she used “Wu” a lot, since it’s hard to use the high-value “W.” I challenged her, because it’s apparently a Chinese word for money (and I don’t know if that’s allowed, unless you’re playing in Chinese…) but since she was an older woman, I gave her the benefit of using it.

      Even though I think it wasn’t allowed : )

        • Pamela J McNab

        That’s because you, David, are a consummate mensch. :)

    • Jess

    I’ve been craving this with the recent hot weather here in the UK! Perfect timing!

    Question: approx how many lemons to get 250ml lemon juice?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      About 4 to 6 lemons, depending on the size of the lemons.

    • Rads

    Yummy, will make these! How do you think keffir lime will work with the ginger?

    • Gerlinde

    I am not allowed to play German words when playing scrabble. I love anything ginger but unfortunately all my Meyer lemons are being picked by people walking from Starbucks to the beach. My lemon tree is on the way.

      • Linda L.

      There is a special place in hell reserved for people who swipe fruit from other people’s trees and gardens!! Perhaps 10 year olds could be excluded since it’s an important part of growing up but the rest of them will burn!

        • E.Me

        I, too, am verboten to play German words whilst playing Scrabble or Scattergories….I should think this would encourage ones mates to learn a foreign language simply for the sole benefit of winning at Scrabble. Alas, this isnt so and it is verboten for me to place words such as ‘zweck’ for 23 points…. but this ginger syrup with mint, lemon balm and lemon….koestlich (19 points)

    • sillygirl

    I got one of those shave ice machines at the thrift shop a few years ago and do drinks with it – also get ginger in the mark-down bin so this is getting made today!

    • Jake Sterling

    I’ve been doing this for years, but I use sparkling water and avoid the “ade” controversy by calling it “ale,” which is definitely a word. (The basic ingredients of commercial gingerale are sugar of some sort, ginger and citric acid.)

    The basic difference with my recipe is that I grate the ginger, or sometimes run it through a food processor. I figure the tinier pits mean more surface area; and more surface area means more transfer of flavor to the syrup.

      • Jake Sterling

      That was supposed to be, “I figure the tinier BITS.”

        • Virginia

        Nice to add a few fresh mint leaves (especially if you have some growing in the yard).

    • Nancy Elliott

    Sounds great David. I have made this drink with raw honey instead of sugar and sometimes I add a little stevia (just makes it a little sweeter). You can mix this in a super blender like vitamix or blendtec so you can just put the ginger root in raw. The raw honey is good for you too. Very healthy drink, all the benefits of ginger, lemons and raw honey.

    • Jen

    This sounds so delicious, and I’m always happy to have another use for fresh ginger.

    Words With Friends doesn’t allow ‘ade’ and it drives me crazy.

      • Kathleen H

      Me too! I was scrolling to see if anyone had mentioned this irritating fact! Listen up Words a with Friends!!

    • Kathryn

    This sounds wonderful. Recently all the ginger I see in the stores is from China…I will need to seek out another source for fresh ginger as I prefer not to purchase or use foods from China. Sigh….

      • jan

      It’s pretty easy to grow in a pot that you can overwinter indoors. The roots are near the surface so a wider rather than deeper pot is ideal.

    • Nancy Elliott

    I call mine gingeraideIt’s good for any kind of inflammation because of the ginger.

    • Nancy Elliott

    I think I will call it gingerade now

    • Rachel

    May I suggest 2 generous tablespoons of honey instead of the sugar? I’ve just made the syrup with this substitution and it’s delicious.
    Thanks for an inspiring refreshment on this hot, hot day.

    • denny

    Excellent. Made with meyer lemons (6 lemons yielded a generous cup of juice) and added a few kaffir lime leaves.

    Now if we only had a few pain d’amande or sables breton cookies to accompany the lemonade. It’s just too damn hot to bake anything today.

    • Jan Sturtevant

    I used to make ginger syrup. I made ginger ale with it, adding a squeeze of lime. Yum. The ginger syrup was lovely in other iterations: on ice cream, fresh fruit, and especially pancakes or waffles. One Sunday we were very short on syrup of any kind except ginger, and had boysenberries on hand. That combo was divine!

    • TedL

    Back around 2005 Chef Leah Caplan took over the kitchen at the Washington Hotel on Washington Island, Wisconsin (it’s an island in Lake Michigan at the mouth of Green Bay) and started cooking really delicious food, locally sourced to the extent possible. She had a small wine list that was decent but my beverage of choice was her Ginger Limeade, the recipe for which is nearly the same as yours but made with limes. I have made it at home with both lemons and limes and I like the lime version much better. Her quest for local produce led her to commission 30 acres of organic wheat from a farmer on the Island so she had organic flour for the hotel-baked bread. I think she had about 29 and a half acres worth of wheat left over so she contacted the proprietors of Capitol Brewery in Madison Wisconsin about making wheat beer, which was the nascence of Island Wheat Beer. It was quite successful which led to an agricultural revival of sorts on the Island as farmers planted about 800 acres of organic wheat for the beer. This in turn led to a couple of Island entrepreneurs developing a line of distilled spirits made from Island wheat called Death’s Door, which is the name of the passage between the end of the Door County peninsula and Washington Island. Door County is named after Death’s Door, which was called Porte des Morts by the French explorers due to its treacherous currents. Death’s Door gin is exceptionally good, and is made with Island juniper berries, harvested from common juniper, which grows like a weed on the Island.

      • witloof

      I also prefer limes, mostly because I’m lazy and they don’t have seeds.

      • jane

      What a great story, thanks so much! It’s amazing how it all kept unfolding – from an innocent mistake about wheat to gin made with an abundance of local berries that are everywhere – the whole thing is incredibly fun to hear about.

      • Valerie Cameron

      Wow that was so interesting thank you for sharing❤️

    • Audrey

    I would steep some of the yellow part of the lemon rind with the ginger to give it some lemon flavour. The juice only gives sour!

    • Cece

    Ade is always in the New York Times crossword puzzle so it is definitely legit! This sounds so refreshing, must try soon. Merci!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Hmmm, that’s interesting. I thought perhaps “ade” was a British word (I don’t recall which version English dictionary I found it in), but happy to use it as inspiration for sharing this lemon ade ; )

        • Martin

        David, you’ve obviously opened up a Pandora’s can of floodgates with your shameful flouting of Scrabble rules, but then arguing about the game’s rules is always part of the fun.
        Hasbro, the current official US licensee, states the rules thusly:
        “Before the game begins, all players should agree upon the dictionary that they will use, in case of a challenge. All words labeled as a part of speech (including those listed of foreign origin, and as archaic, obsolete, colloquial, slang, etc.) are permitted with the exception of the following: words always capitalized, abbreviations, prefixes and suffixes standing alone, words requiring a hyphen or an apostrophe.”
        This how all my family and friends, down here in Australia, have played the game since the 1960’s. Bear in mind that the majority of Scrabble players are pedants by nature, but not necessarily opposed to creativity. You all may, for example, wish to allow both English and French words (two dictionaries required). Or create a rule that anyone who uses a word not in the authorised dictionary has to make a round of gingerade for all the players; a fair and just penalty with benefits all round. As long as there is consensus on the rules beforehand, you are free to do what you wish, and shouldn’t fear a knock on the door from the NSA (National Scrabble Association, yes that is their official acronym).
        Although in tournaments there are official dictionaries, most scrabble games have the freedom of the individual home, which is just as well as apparently the Anti-Defamation League applied pressure regarding the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary to the Hasbro chairman who announced that a third edition would be published with “offensive” words like “jew”, “farted”, “fatso”, and “boobie” removed. The NSA had them reinstated.
        I have found that the Concise Oxford Dictionary has sufficient gravitas to satisfy most players, but usually prefer The Compact Oxford Dictionary. This is the complete Oxford in the format of one huge microscopically-printed volume, weighing over 10kg and coming with its own high-powered magnifying glass. There are never any arguments.
        As you know, few guard their language as vigilantly as the French so, in addition to the dictionary of choice, it may be safest to have a member of the Académie Française present at future games.

    • Sylvia

    Hi David. Just made this lemonade with lemons from our yard, and ginger from the market. We had one glass with gin, and another with vodka. Both delicious. Perfect for these hot Sonoma days. Thank you!

    • naomi d.

    I like mixing some soda water in too. I looked in the (online) 1828 Webster Dictionary but didn’t see “ade” as anything but a suffix. I can no longer pull up the 1900 one – lost in the ether. I do like having the old one to reference; it’s funny what some words meant before as compared to now (look up “nice”).

    • Marcia

    As I’m a Southwestern gal (of a certain + age), I’ll go with adding a nice spike of tequila to mine.
    Great recipe, David — thanks!

    • Gavrielle

    It’s a chilly winter’s day here in Auckland and the rain is lashing at the windows. I want this and a summer to drink it in. Something to look forward to.

      • Viki

      I’m in Whakatane, just drink it still hot! works a treat.

    • JC

    I use the rind of organic lemons when steeping and add honey instead of sugar. It also is delicious hot. And it is great for colds, flu,
    and morning sickness.

    • Annabel

    I prefer mint to ginger, so tend to use that, steeping the bruised mint leaves in a little boiling water with thinly-pared lemon rind (I’m really surprised to see that neither you nor Clotilde uses this – it seriously adds to the flavour) and honey or sugar. Then strain, and add the lemon juice and cold water and ice to taste. Lovely!

    • june

    I’m thinking that if you use crystallized ginger you may not need the extra sugar, but I guess it’s more expensive that way? I have had a need for lemonade since the winter broke, and if you buy the good store bought and add more lemon and some water, that works too. Of course I have been making it from scratch. I don’t know what difficiency I have that I want lemony acid but not so much tomato?

    • Parisbreakfast

    This is simply gorgeous!!
    Mille merci

    • Joel Kahn

    Like others I added strips of lemon peel to the ginger-sugar mixture, letting them steep as directed

    • Susan B

    Great minds: Clotilde just posted a sparkling honey-ginger lemonade!

    • Danuta Gajewski

    Absolute heaven! Just made my first batch this afternoon, we drank half over ice, and the other half with club soda! YUM!! Thank you so much, David….this is a keeper!

    • Carol

    Hi David,

    Just made this recipe but tripled it seen as I had so many lemons. How long will it keep?

      • Annabel

      I find it keeps 3 or 4 days in the fridge.

    • margarida

    i like to make a ticker syrup with the ginger, sugar and some water, keep it at the fridge and mix it last minute, with iced sparkling water and some drops of freshly squezed lemon. home made ginger ale – my drink of choice during summer time. love it :)

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I often use a ginger syrup to flavor drinks. (My recipe is here.) And you’re right, it’s good in lots of things!

    • Asih

    Hi David, gonna make it for the first time, what will happen if I boil all the ingredients at once including the lemon juice? Will it preserved longer? Will it change the taste?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Boiling or cooking lemon juice (or any citrus) changes the flavor and not only do you lose the freshness of it, but it can taste bitter after cooking. So I don’t cook or boil it.

    • Karen Brown

    This is so delicious! Made a double batch, but as the standard lemons that I get in my local fruit shop are Meyers,I used slightly less sugar. Here in New Zealand, Meyer lemons are prolific, and I have to as my greengrocer to keep his eye out for Lisbons or Eurekas, as I prefer the sharpness of those varieties.
    Because I’m quite a lazy soul, I don’t squeeze the lemons. I put them through the slicing disc of the food processor, and poured some of the syrup over the slices. Then a bit of a bash with the potato masher, and straining the lot. This method is easier on my (arthritic) hands, and also imparts a bit of oil from the zest.
    Thinking of citrus, I found a Buddha hand at the market, but only bought one. I was going to try your candied citron recipe with it. Do you think it will work, if I halve the recipe? And if so, what would you use candied Buddha hand for? Do you eat it like a candy? Or is it more a baking ingredient? Thanks from down-under, Karen

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Citron is great in panforte, but is also nice chopped up and used in ice cream or added to cake batters, such as pound cake. It’s also good just as it is – like candy!

        • Karen Brown

        Thanks for the ideas. Even though it’s colder than charity here in NZ, I’m going to try it as an ice cream add-in. Maybe buttermilk or lemon will showcase the candied Buddha hand (that’s if I can stop nibbling it!)

    • Jean B.

    I made this and it is excellent! Very easy too.

    • julia isaacs

    I made it and it was very refreshing!

    • Michael Miller

    BTW, David, you can increase the amoung of ginger and sugar, use the syrup, then roll the ginger slices in sugar, dry them on a rack. You then have delicious crystallized ginger to eat as a treat, or its great when your stomach feels queasy.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks Michael. Yes, I also love candied ginger, and the syrup. I’ve got recipes for Candied Ginger and Ginger Syrup on the site, in case people aren’t making this lemonade but want some of either!

    • Beth

    Lately I have been doing this:

    Squeeze one lemon into a glass.
    Add some grenadine syrup (which I learned to make from your book)
    Add ice
    Top with Perrier. Give it a stir.

    SO GOOD.

    • Kelly Maxwell

    This will be perfect with Pimm’s No.1! Loving Apero Hour btw

    • Heather Smoke

    Oh, this sounds delicious! When I was pregnant, I was always making hot ginger tea with ginger, lemon and honey. It never occurred to me to make a cold version in summer!

    • Chelsea

    I recently started juicing whole organic lemons and love the bitterness that comes from the skin and pith in my fresh lemonade. I’m definitely going to incorporate ginger into my next round.

    • Carla

    I make a double batch (we have mega lemons in our back yard), with lots of ginger (my husband loves the ginger touch) to make a concentrate syrup which we pour into tall glass, fill with ice cubes and then add sparkling water. It’s great!!

    • Jan

    Perfect combination. I make a ginger syrup–the last batch is HOT–for homemade ginger ale. I add syrup to charged water and garnish with a slice of lime. I copied a drink from a restaurant on Berkeley’s 4th st. It was good (Ginger Island?) and I miss it. It’s long gone.

    • Pam Jackson

    As soon as I read the recipe this morning my husband printed it and
    rushed to make some from lemon juice left over from our California trip in February. Along with the ginger and some lemon peel this makes a wonderful drink with all kinds of possibilities. from Sidney, BC

    • Charmi Patel

    Yes, cool lemonade recipe to try in this lockdown. Thank you for sharing with all of us.

    • Leslie Tobin Bacon

    just made this, though it is still chilling… the last of my meyer lemons. can’t wait, and think I will try with a shot of gin at some point. Has anyone ever pointed out that the final direction tells you to remove the ginger, but not the lemon? I removed both, taking direction from the photos….

      • Jasmine

      David— I thought your l’aperol hour was back today! Where were you?? We miss you dearly.

    • sarah

    Hi! This isn’t related to this recipe but I’ve just tried out your French Apple Tart (Tarte normande) recipe. I don’t really know what went wrong cause I followed the recipe completely but my tart didn’t set at all. I whisked the filling ingredients together until smooth (except the apples) then baked it for 50minutes. It was still really soft and jiggly in the centre at 45minutes.
    Now I’ve stuck it in the fridge hoping it will firm up but things aren’t looking too good.
    Really hope you can help!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I don’t know why it wouldn’t work with 2 eggs and 1 cup (250ml) of cream. Perhaps you mismeasured? Or maybe the apples were particularly watery? This recipe has similar proportions, with slightly less cream, as does this one and this one.

    • Chantelle

    We love ginger+citrus. I made candied pink grapefruit and then candied lemon for my panettone (I bake it as a loaf for French toast for breakfast) Mixed the syrups with sparkling water.

    Made this ginger lemonade, but in a hurry, I mistakenly added the lemon juice to the syrup. Not bad. Drank it straight.

    Not excited to throw out that much ginger & figuring there was probably more of the lemon juice still in the ginger, I added the called for amounts of water & sugar and made it again. Strained it into the 1e batch & OMG! Best ginger beer ever! Added water & sugar & made it again using the original ginger & lemon skin & added it to the pitcher!

    I came back yesterday after 2 hours of observing a snapping turtle through waves and sand and this new fangled drink was perfectly refreshing.

    This is our new house drink. Will try it with lime. Thank you David!!

    (It’s been 4 yrs that we no longer buy from China. Found a few local farmers growing ginger, even organic)

    • Ben M

    I made this using your Limonade (sparkling lemonade) recipe from DRINKING FRENCH as a base–infusing the ginger into the starting mix with a little extra water–and it turned out great, basically a lemon ginger soda. It did need to sit overnight in the fridge for the flavors to fully infuse when made this way, though. Thanks for a great recipe!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Glad you like the recipe for sparkling lemonade from Drinking French, and could adapt it with the addition of fresh ginger, too!

        • Ben M

        I thought of it as adapting this recipe, but I guess I was really adapting the Drinking French recipe to include ginger. Tasty either way! I tend to like combining recipes. My favorite was ginger liqueur + creme de cacao (much like the one in Drinking French), resulting in cacao ginger liqueur. It was especially good with tequila and lime.

        I am looking forward to getting local strawberries nex week to make your Liqueur de Fraises!

    • Alexandra

    I would like to ask you if you have a recommendation for substituting the sugar. Greatful for your comment.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Just before the recipe, in the headnote, I mention how to use alternative liquid sweeteners with some guidelines for approximately how much. For other sweeteners, like stevia, you can simply add to taste.

        • Alexandra

        Thank you David – have a great weekend

    • Ken

    Made this today for a refresher – its very good. A definite keeper, Next time I’ll add some gin.

A

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