Limonade/Lemonade

With the 4th of July upon us, I went in search for some good old fashioned lemonade the other day...in Germany, not an easy task...Since moving here, I have noticed an unfortunate shortage of lemonade made in the way I am used to from home in the US.  You know, a bit cloudy, a little pulpy, with a perfect mixture of the tart and the sweet?

(I know lemonade is one of the easiest things in the world to make...but having someone else make it for you just increases the enjoyment factor don't you agree?)
  
Lemonade here in Germany, is, well, Sprite.  Yep, clear soda. There are no lemons harmed in the making of this drink.  Not exactly what I was hankerin' for on a hot July day.  Now the German variety does have it's pluses-it gets along very well inside a beer glass to make a Radler (with Helles) or a Russ'n (with Weissbier). And on trips to Italy I have sampled some of their lemon soda-often times had Schweppes Bitter Lemon which we can get here and is yummy. But again, not what I was craving.

I found myself sitting outside at one of my favorite neighborhood places...and saw "Hausgemacht Limonade" on the menu...hmmm...housemade lemonade?  Worth a try.  It was delicious and very refreshing!!!

It was the closest to the lemonade I was looking for...it actually had lemons squeezed into it!  Okay, the recipe was a little different, but I found myself enjoying it.  Real lemon juice, simple syrup, and sparkling water = YUM!  And ice cubes!  Real ice cubes!  (That is another blog post in and of itself-we Americans have a love-affair with ice that the Germans do not...)

I think that I will find myself at that local cafe a lot this summer...but for now, here is more information than you ever wanted to know about lemonade, thanks to the nice people at Wikipedia, with their help my work here is complete:

Lemonade is a lemon-flavored drink, typically made from lemons, water and sugar.

The term can refer to three different types of beverage:

• "Clear" lemonade: In many western European countries, the term limonade, from which the term "lemonade" is derived, originally applied to unsweetened water or carbonated soda water with lemon juice added, although several versions of sugar sweetened limonade have arrived on store shelves.
• "Cloudy" lemonade: In the U.S., Canada, India and Pakistan (Nimbu Paani), and Iran lemonade refers to a mixture of lemon juice, sugar, and uncarbonated water, although there are many versions which contain artificial flavors instead of actual lemon juice. In Pakistan and India, Nimbu Paani is a common household preparation, made using freshly squeezed lemons, granular sugar, salt, pepper (and other spices as per preferred taste) and is invariably consumed fresh.
• "Fizzy" lemonade: In France, the modern use of the term limonade refers to sweet carbonated lemon soft drinks (the uncarbonated version would be called citronade). In Germany the term Limonade is used for sweet carbonated citrus soft drinks. Likewise, in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand the term mainly refers to a colourless, carbonated, sweet soft drink containing either natural or artificial lemon flavor, such as Schweppes Lemonade.