Citrus-ade

Time: 2-10 min, depending on amount

Ingredients
Fresh citrus - lemons, limes, oranges. Grapefruit might work, but it'd be iffier
Water 
A sweetener of some sort - I've used sugar in the past, when I could have it, but honey, date sugar, rice syrup, coconut sugar, maple syrup or sugar, yacon syrup - they'd all work, with slightly different flavors. Just remember that most of these have processing, which can introduce cc from certain allergens.For the those who haven't found a safe sweetener yet, you might want to try and grow your own stevia. Take the leaves, dry and crumble them up, and they work great! Or steep fresh leaves in hot water, let it cool, and then use that water for this recipe.


Directions
1. Juice your citrus of choice. For lemons and oranges, the right amount of fruit is about 1/2 med citrus per glass. 4-6 oranges or lemons per pitcher of this. Limes, I'm still working out.

2. Pour the citrus juice into the glass (or a pitcher, if making more). Add lukewarm water until almost the desired height, then add sweetener to taste.  Chill.

3. If you wish to serve this very chilled, add more sweetener. Food tastes less sweet when it's cold.

Feeds: 1/2 lemon or orange will make approximately one glass of citrus-ade. Limes, might need a little more.

What inspired this: Homemade lemonade, and then hearing about a southern treat called orange-ade, and then all the lime-ade drinks out there now.

What worked:  I pretty much love this drink to bits. It's quick, easy, gives some vitamin C, and it's really nice when you're sick and tired of water.

What didn't work: When I've added honey and the water was cold already, it was very hard to dissolve it. However, I tend to use thicker, raw honey rather than the type that flows. Really, really a good idea to start the water off warmer and let it cool in the fridge afterward if your sweetener needs to dissolve. If you want to preserve more of the vitamin C, I would do the sweetener and water first, and then when cold, add the citrus juice.

What would improve it: I've thought of adding mint to lemon based -ades, which I think would add a nice coolness to it. Alcohol, I suppose, if one can have that and was interested. Rasberry lemonades are popular now, so I imagine pureed raspberries would probably be a nice touch, too.

Allergen note: Different sweeteners may be acceptable for those with different dietary restrictions, so if you aren't sure which sweeteners are safe for your allergy, please double check. Or ask - I might know. :-)