From the little lemonade stalls that you set up as a kid for charity purposes to enjoying the default drink at any party, lemonade has become the essential drink at every gathering.
People of all ages enjoy this drink and it is also known as a quite healthy one. Perhaps at one of the parties or at a restaurant, the pink lemonade caught your eye as a unique and fun drink.
Well, there you go, you get to know about another summer drink that is cold, refreshing, fizzy, tangy, and sweet. All combined to remind you of good old childhood summer days.
Even if you can’t taste the difference or found a significant change in your taste palate after tasting pink lemonade, there are some differences. The biggest one is, of course, the color of the two drinks.
Apart from that, we explore the key differences, and origins, and answer some of your queries about these two summer beverages!
What is Lemonade?
Lemonade is known to be one of the healthiest drinks that can rehydrate and give you a boost of vitamins all at once. Lemonade is made of water, sugar, and freshly squeezed lemons that contain vitamin C, magnesium, Iron, B6, etc.
You can also add some salt to enhance the tangy taste and have a pinch of potassium to make the drink almost as healthy as electrolytes drink. It may sound like a basic drink that you have seen at every party, but knowing how healthy it makes it one of the best drinking options.
It is also easy to make as all you will need is cups of water, lemon juice, and sugar. The popular drink now has so many varieties as well ranging from slush, powdered, electrolytes, artificial, etc.
Lemonade looks a bit yellowish and may be fizzy too if someone adds soda to it. If it looks very yellow, it might be because of the added chemical or artificial ingredient in it. Lemonade is healthy but should not be consumed too much as the sugar might be unhealthy for you.
What is Pink Lemonade?
A pink lemonade has the same refreshing taste as the lemonade with a bit of tartness at the end. You will feel the taste of freshly squeezed lemon and lime with any type of lemonade drink you get.
The tartness of lemon, the sweetness of sugar, and the unique pink color make people want to buy it more than any kind of lemonade. With the base lemonade and its taste, several ingredients are added to make it look pink.
Any kind of berry: strawberry, raspberry, grapefruit, or even red dye can be added as the pink ingredient. Homemade lemonades usually have fruits added as a pink hue.
Some people like to use edible flowers for the visually aesthetic look and pinkish color. There might be a different shade of pink based on the ingredient that is being mixed but the taste and overall freshness stay the same.
Pink lemonade is also much more preferred by customers than the basic one. The reason is it has less tart as the pink ingredient tones down the citrus.
The pink ingredient also increases the sweetness of the drink which makes it enjoyable and preferable.
Where did Pink Lemonade Come from?
You will also find different versions of the origin of pink lemonade none has any concrete proof of being the true story.
One of them is from a circus where the seller accidentally dropped something pink in the lemonade and later sold it. The other story is that a bartender invented the drink as a replica of the pink gin which used to be famous at that time.
However, the latter story tends to be more believable since the recipe is found in cookbooks around 1900.
Does it Taste Different?
Now comes the significant difference between lemonade and pink lemonade which is the taste. Pink lemonade tastes like regular lemonade but also has some differences.
When we use fruits, flowers, or any sweet ingredient in the pink lemonade it enhances the sweetness a bit. This extra sweetness then decreases the tangy taste we get from the lemons. But when we make regular lemonade we only use lemon juice. For that reason, lemonade is more tart and tangy than its pink version.
However, if we use food coloring to get the pinkish hue it might not be as sweet and we will have to add extra sugar to reach the perfect sweetness.
So, if you are looking for a pink lemonade that doesn’t vary much in taste than regular ones, you can use grenadine or artificial color to make it pink and have a fun drink at your party.
There is also another way of making pink lemonade which is by using fruits like citrus limon or zebra lemon. These specific varieties bring a pink tone to the drink without having to add anything else because these lemons are pink in color.
They taste and look like other lemons except the color is pink. Interestingly sometimes they can taste sweeter than regular ones as well which is why it is better to use the juice fully so that you don’t have to use extra sugar.
How to Make Pink Lemonade?
You can make pink lemonade from scratch at your house anytime! Just follow the steps below:
- Step 1: Add one 1 lemon’s juice for an entire cup of lemonade.
- Step 2: Add sugar or sweetener to your taste. However, pink lemonade might need less than ¾ of sweetener per cup.
- Step 3: Add the fruits or berries with which you want to get the pink color.
- Step 4: Add ice cubes to let it chill or crushed ice if want to make slush.
- Step 5: You can try to add a pinch of salt, mint, and basil if you want in your lemonade. You can get packaged cool lemonade here as well!
Which One is Healthier?
Since the base ingredients are pretty much the same you can count the same calories for both. The lemon and sugar being the prime ingredients can contribute the same amount of calories and vitamins to your drink.
In fact, according to this medical review, other than helping with congestion, cold, lemonade also helps with kidney stones, cancer, weight loss, and so many other benefits.
However, pink lemonade may contain fruits, artificial ingredients, or dyes that can add more calories to it. If you are trying not to increase calorie count, try to make your lemonade with pink fruits or lemons.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you compare pink lemonade with powdered, artificial lemonade then the calorie count might weigh more for the regular one. In that case, you can find the exact count on the body of the packaging.
Is Pink Lemonade a Specific Flavor?
The short answer is no. As you can already see that the pink lemonade is made from fruit extract or artificial color so it doesn’t add any specific flavor or fragrance to it.
However, due to the use of strawberry, cranberry, or some other berries, it can have a tint of fruity flavor. But that is not significant enough to tell apart. Usually, the color creates an illusion of the drink is sweeter and more flavorful than regular lemonade.
Conclusion
Pink lemonade might not be all that different from yellow one. But they sure are great additions to the summer parties. Instead of buying artificial soda loaded with sugar and calories, consider adding the pink one as a healthy and tasty option.
There are a lot of new and exciting recipes online to help you experiment and enhance the taste as well. For example, this video makes 4 different shades of lemonade that make you want to drink them instantly -
No matter which one you choose to make, in the end, we can all agree on lemonade remains the best beverage since our childhood to make our summer days exciting, fun, and fresh!
