Middle Eastern Mint Lemonade Recipe
This Middle Eastern mint lemonade recipe makes a refreshing drink of lime juice, lemon juice, and fresh mint leaves that has subtle floral notes courtesy of orange blossom water. Dating to medieval times, this mint lemonade is called limon na’naa, limonana and limonada, and is popular everywhere from Egypt and the Levant to Iran and the Arabian Peninsula countries, including the UAE, where we used to live and first tasted this.
Servings: 4
Calories: 58kcal
Equipment
- 1 Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup lime juice
freshly squeezed from limes
- 1 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed from lemons
- 1 cup water and more as needed
- 1 tsp orange blossom water or more to taste
- 1 tbsp fine caster sugar dissolved in a little hot water, optional, or more to taste
- 2 cups ice cubes and more if needed
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves leaves only, and save some mint leaves for garnishing
- 1 lemon sliced for garnishing, or lime slices if you prefer
Instructions
- Squeeze your fresh limes and fresh lemons to extract the juice so you have one cup of each (or more if you're adjusting the quantity).
- To a blender, add the lime juice, lemon juice, water, orange blossom water, ice, and fresh mint leaves, and blend.
- Taste and adjust to suit your palate, adding a little more orange blossom water for a more floral flavour, or more sugar dissolved in water if you prefer a sweeter drink, then blend again for a few seconds.
- Pour into glasses — or into a jug and refrigerate until ready to serve — and garnish glasses with fresh mint sprigs and lemon slices — or lime slices.
- Provide eco-friendly straws or swizzle sticks to give the drinks a stir when the mint leaves rise to the surface.
Notes
Traditionally, the mint and citrus fruit were pounded in a mortar and pestle, but if the mint is too fibrous for your liking, blend for longer, use a food processor, or simply scoop off excess. If too thick, add a little more water, sparkling mineral water, or soda water.