Pros and Cons of Making Homemade Lemonade

Often the thought of eating grosses me out in the summer! Nothing sounds better than a cold glass of water, soda, or lemonade. A few Sundays ago, my husband and I were walking back from church when I suggested we make lemonade for dinner. It was hot, and we were sweaty. I don't think anything tasted as good as those glasses of lemonade I drank with our dinner that night. What are the pros and cons of making lemonade versus buying a pre-made jug or powder?

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Pros of Homemade Lemonade:

1. Do you like it more sour or sweet? If you are in the mood for something less sweet, add less sugar! Do you want a little pucker? Dumping some more lemon juice in will do the trick! Making your lemonade, you are in control!
2. You can make it in whatever flavor you want to. Do you have pineapple juice? Add it along with the lemon juice and a little sugar. There you go, you have pineapple lemonade. Do you want avocado lemonade? It is all up to you.
3. You can make it whatever color you want. It is as easy as a few drops of food coloring. A bright yellow lemonade can turn blue and be considered a blueberry lemonade. Something about the color makes your mind believe it. 
4. It is healthier. Dumping a whole cup and a half to 2 cups of lemon juice in water makes the entire drink feel like you are being more healthy. On the other hand, dumping a scoop of sugary granulated lemonade into a pitcher of water screams extra calories. See the chart bellow.
5. It is cheaper. By using the basic recipe at the bottom of this article you will find you cup of lemonade costs anywhere from 4¢-27¢ cheaper! Disclaimer: If you use lemons to make lemonade (see recipe here)you can find your cost/cup will be approximately 54¢/cup.  Therefore this Pro would become a con. 

Lemonade: Cost/Calories/ Grams of Sugar

Cons of Homemade Lemonade:

1. Homemade lemonade requires more taste testing. Too sweet? Too sour? No flavor at all? Taste after taste. You might as well drink a whole cup of Lemon Time lemonade by the time you're ready to serve your homemade lemonade.
2. It takes more time and exact ingredients to make homemade lemonade. Suppose you are packing it to go or taking it to a party. A premade bottle of lemonade or drink mix seems easier than bringing all of the ingredients to mix.
3. Pre-mixed lemonade has been tested. Why try and make the exact lemonade of perfection if it is already made, tried, and tested; if it wasn't good lemonade, it wouldn't sell. So why try to make your own and be out a famous brand?
4. Some fruit lemonades can be tricky to make, like raspberry  and blueberry lemonade. Squeezing blueberries and raspberries through a metal sieve is time-consuming, and you have a lot of waste. Premade lemonade has done this for you already. You don't have to worry about the extra seeds and skins that might have fallen through. Let's face it, buying anything from the store is much easier than making it at home.
5. I don't know about you, but most people don't like warm drinks. Fresh cold lemonade that has been refrigerated for hours is the perfect summer treat. If you buy the already refrigerated lemonade, you don't have to worry about waiting until your lemonade is cold. 

             Easy Homemade Lemonade

1 ^1/2 cups  Lemon Juice

1 cup of Sugar

2 quarts water

Optional to choose one of the following:

1/4 cup Torani flavoring

2 TBS Vanilla

6 Mint leaves

Frozen fruit

Stir together until sugar is dissolved. Add ice to chill and serve.

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 - Pros and Cons Team

Written By: Sarah