A family favorite – we have been making this Sweet Lemon Water for years. Perfect for parties or family dinners, everyone always asks for this recipe.
If you are a lemon lover, you’ll also love this Mint and Basil Lemonade. Both of these drinks are so refreshing!
I am so lucky, because I belong to a family of women that like to experiment in the kitchen like I do. I’ve talked about this before, but whenever we get together for family functions, the first thing discussed is the food. More often than not, most of us are wanting to try out a new recipe. Thank goodness we are all willing to be each other’s guinea pigs!
I bring this up because when we have a recipe that makes it’s way into family dinners more than once, you really know it’s a winner. But when it makes it to almost every single family dinner, you know it’s amazing! This drink is one that we have at probably 90% of our family functions. My mom has been making it for years and years, and we’ve all adopted it and I’m sure it will be one that our kids will be sharing one day.
This is actually a pretty popular recipe and I’ve seen it under many different names – Citrus Water, Water Punch, Lemon Cooler… but I have always known it as Lemon Water. It looks just like water, but when you take a drink, it surprises you with a refreshing lemon flavor! And bonus – this Sweet Lemon Water Recipe is a great summertime drink.
Ingredients
Make sure to check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for full ingredient amounts.
- Sugar: You need granulated sugar. I have not tested this with any sugar substitutes, or with reducing the amount of sugar.
- Citric Acid: Citric Acid is widely used as a flavoring and as a preservative. It is actually also great for cleaning. It can sometimes be found in the grocery store with the canning supplies, but I usually buy my citric acid online.
- Lemon Extract: This is where you get the lemon flavor from in this drink. I like to use pure lemon extract.
- Water: We always make this with just plain water, but you could use sparkling water for some fizz.
- Lemons: The lemons are mostly for appearance, but if you store this lemon water, the lemon slices will just give your drink even more lemon flavor.
How to Make Sweet Lemon Water
STEP 1: Start by combining the sugar, citric acid, and lemon extract in the bottom of a pitcher. You want to make sure the pitcher holds at least 1 gallon. (This pitcher is the one that I am using.)
STEP 2: Add in 1 gallon of water, and stir until everything is dissolved. That’s it! I then add some ice and lemon slices and you are ready to serve.
Tips and Tricks
If serving this right away, make sure you are adding cold water.
If you add a lot of ice, you may want to cut back on the water just a bit to account for melting ice cubes.
You can keep a pitcher of this in the refrigerator and serve as needed. If you add lemon slices, they will continue to add flavor.
More Refreshing Drinks
Fruit Freeze
Cucumber Limeade
Blackberry Lime Soda
Virgin Pomegranate and Cranberry Bellini
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Sweet Lemon Water
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons citric acid
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon extract
- 1 gallon water
- 2 sliced lemons for garnish
Instructions
- Combine the sugar, citric acid, and lemon extract in the bottom of a pitcher.
- Add the water and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add ice and the lemon slices.
- Serve.
Connie says
I finally found this recipe, so excited. I hope it is the same. They used to use this drink at weddings, etc. at Mormon celebrations. You think you are drinking water, but are you very surprised, delicious. Going to be making this. Hope I am using the right thing, I found it at the canning department in Walmart. Thank you so much.
Chanda says
My husband is thoroughly enjoying this recipe. He calls it ‘holy water.’😃 Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Tres Delicious says
That’s a cool and refreshing flavored water. I want to try it.
Nisha says
My mom has been making a very similar recipe for years. Love it!
Holly says
Ahhhh-this sounds amazingly refreshing!!
Joanne says
This is what I want to be drinking poolside! Sounds delicious!
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts says
Sounds refreshing and delicious!
Katrina says
I have something similar to this every morning. Yum!
jennifurla says
refreshing too! Love it.
kat says
Does it taste different than actually adding real lemon juice to water? or would you need a ton of lemons to get the flavor?
Deborah says
Kat – I don’t know if this would work with lemons. The extract has a bit of a different flavor than fresh lemon juice.