Brotseulis Limonati

Ingredients

• 1 cuplemon juicefrom about 5–6 lemons
• 2 cupspomegranate juicefreshly pressed or bottled
• 3⅛ cupswateradjust to desired strength
• 5¼ ozsugarboiled with an equal amount of water into simple syrup; some sources use ready-made syrup
• ice cubesplenty, for serving
• 2¾ ozpomegranate arilsfor garnish or frozen into ice cubes
• 1½ cupssparkling waterinstead of or in addition to still water (optional)
• Mintfor garnish (optional)
• 1Lemonslices for the pitcher and as garnish (optional)

Method

1. Bring the sugar and an equal amount of water to a boil in a small saucepan and simmer, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Take the syrup off the heat and let it cool all the way down.
2. Meanwhile, squeeze the lemons, and squeeze the pomegranates too if you're working with fresh juice.
3. Combine the lemon juice, pomegranate juice, cooled sugar syrup and cold water in a large pitcher and stir until everything is well blended.
4. Taste and adjust: more syrup if you want it sweeter, more water if the mixture tastes too strong for you.
5. Chill the pitcher until the lemonade is thoroughly cold.
6. Fill glasses generously with ice cubes, pour in the lemonade and top up with sparkling water if you like.
7. Garnish with pomegranate arils, thin lemon slices and fresh mint, and serve right away.

Tips and variations

You can also treat the juice mixture as a concentrate: fill each glass a third of the way and top it up with still or sparkling water, so everyone decides how strong they want it. If you'd rather it were less lemony, let the pomegranate juice lead and use twice as much of it as lemon juice and water. Ice cubes frozen in two layers with pomegranate arils inside look lovely, and fresh thyme works just as well as mint. Lemon slices and arils can go straight into the pitcher rather than just the glasses, which makes serving look festive from the start. Ready-made sugar syrup does the job just as well as homemade.