What Is Pink Lemonade? - Greatist

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What Is Pink Lemonade, Exactly?Written by Tara Shioya — Updated on September 12, 2024

Curious about what pink lemonade is and how it is made? Discover the history, ingredients, and simple recipes to make this refreshing drink at home. Learn if it is ever made from pink lemons and how it might have been invented.

Ever wondered what exactly pink lemonade is, and how it’s made? Find out everything you need to know, including how it might have been invented—and how to make it at home.

What Is Pink Lemonade?

It’s a rose-tinted beverage made from lemon juice, sugar, water, and some sort of red or pink dye (natural or artificial) for coloring.

Is It Ever Made from Pink Lemons?

Real pink lemons, called variegated pink-fleshed Eureka lemons, do exist. But pink lemonade usually isn’t made with their juice.

How Do You Make Pink Lemonade?

You can make pink lemonade by adding your food coloring of choice to regular lemonade. Natural food colorings typically used include cranberry juice, grenadine, and crushed raspberries or strawberries. You can even use beets for a naturally pink lemonade on the more vibrant end of the color spectrum!

Our Easy Pink Lemonade recipe uses raspberry syrup (so you get a bonus sweet-tart boost of flavor along with the blushing color):

Who Invented Pink Lemonade?

The pink drink first appeared in the United States around the mid-1800s, though its origins and inventor are sometimes disputed. In one story, red cinnamon hearts accidentally were added to a batch of lemonade at a carnival concession (in which case, they’d have something in common with candy apples).

But according to carnival historian Joe Nickell in his 2005 book “Secrets of the Sideshows,” a man named Pete Conklin who ran a circus lemonade and peanut concession actually was the one who invented the drink. One day in 1857, while Conklin was making regular lemonade, he ran out of water. In desperation, he used the pink water from a tub that one of the bareback riders had used to wash her red tights. Unfazed, Conklin added some lemon slices and sold the concoction as “strawberry lemonade,” promptly doubling his sales. As they say, when life gives you lemons…

It’s a good (if gross) story, but regardless of the actual origin of pink lemonade, it remains a delightful summer refresher today, and is easy to make with far more palatable ingredients!

FEEDBACK:Written by Tara Shioya — Updated on September 12, 2024

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