How to make lemon cordial

Juice is acid, zest is flavour

Lemon juice is largely citric acid, water and a little sugar. It provides sharpness and almost no aroma. The aroma sits in oil sacs in the coloured outer layer of the peel, and a cordial that does not extract it tastes like sweetened acid.

The pith underneath is bitter and must be kept out. Pare the zest thinly with a peeler, or grate it finely, and take no white with it.

The classic extraction is to rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers before anything else happens. The sugar crystals abrade the peel and the oil goes straight into the sugar rather than escaping into the air. It takes two minutes and it changes the result completely.

The method

Zest first, always. FoodHQ does not publish keeping times or preservative quantities for home-made cordials. Those are safety numbers rather than matters of taste, and in the UK the Food Standards Agency is the authority — follow its guidance on sterilising bottles and on storing, refrigerating and freezing what you make.

1. Scrub unwaxed lemons well, or scrub waxed ones under warm water to remove as much of the coating as you can.
2. Pare or grate the zest, taking none of the white pith.
3. Put the zest in a bowl with the sugar and rub them together with your fingertips until the sugar is damp, fragrant and slightly yellow.
4. Add hot but not boiling water and stir until the sugar dissolves.
5. Juice the lemons and add the juice, along with citric acid if you are using it.
6. Cover and leave to steep for several hours or overnight in a cool place. The longer it stands the more the peel gives up.
7. Strain through muslin, taste, adjust for sweetness and sharpness, and bottle into sterilised bottles.

Cordial, squash and lemonade

Cordial

A concentrate, diluted to drink. What this page makes.

Squash

Commercially, a diluted cordial with added preservatives and often flavourings. The same idea, industrialised.

Lemonade, still

Made at drinking strength rather than concentrated. Essentially a very dilute cordial.

Lemonade, cloudy

Made with whole crushed lemon including some pith, which gives the cloudiness and a slight bitterness.

Citric acid

Sharpens the flavour and is traditional. Any preservative role is a food-safety question for the Food Standards Agency.

Variations

• Lemon and lime, using both zests, which is more complex than either alone.
• Lemon and thyme, with a few sprigs steeped and removed. Lemon thyme is even better.
• Lemon and rosemary, which works surprisingly well.
• Lemon and ginger, sliced fresh ginger simmered briefly in the syrup.
• Lemon and elderflower, if you have both.
• Preserved-lemon cordial — a small piece of preserved lemon in the steep gives a savoury edge worth trying once.
• Freeze it in cubes for iced drinks, which is the neatest way to keep a batch.

Common questions