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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.
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.
Real pink lemons, called variegated pink-fleshed Eureka lemons, do exist. But pink lemonade usually isn’t made with their juice.
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):
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!
Pink lemonade is just regular lemonade with red coloring. It should taste just like regular lemonade but..well… pink! To make regular lemonade pink, most people use food dye or a little bit of fruit juice from a red-colored fruit.
Our Easy Pink Lemonade recipe uses raspberry syrup (so you get a bonus sweet-tart boost of flavor along with the blushing color):
We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Here’s our process.
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.
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!
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 did you ever pause to wonder how pink lemonade came to be? After all, lemon juice — even the juice from pink lemons, which do exist — is not pink.
The history-minded people at Smithsonian magazine have recently recounted the tale of pink lemonade’s origins. Or should we say “tales”? Because there are two different versions of how pink lemonade originally got its color — and they both involve the circus.
1879: An article appears in the West Virginia Wheeling Register that underscores pink lemonade’s connection to the circus.
19th century: Chilled drinks become increasingly popular in the United States, thanks to the growth of the ice trade. Traveling circuses also take off, with people flocking from near and far to gape at death-defying feats and unusual people. (Sword swallowers! Fire breathers! Aerialists!)
1892: E.E. Kellogg’s classic Science in the Kitchen includes a pink lemonade recipe tinted with “a half a cup of fresh or canned strawberry, red raspberry, currant or cranberry juice.”
What is Pink Lemonade? – Sip Science
FAQ
What is the flavor in pink lemonade?
Is pink lemonade actually strawberry lemonade?
What is the story behind pink lemonade?
What color is pink lemonade?
Pink lemonade is sometimes colored with cranberry juice, raspberry juice or crushed strawberries, but it’s more often colored with red food dye. This may come as a surprise to some, but it’s a vast improvement from the way it was dyed when first appearing on the beverage scene in the mid 1800s.
Can one drink lemon?
Almost anyone can take lemon. The main advisable situation to avoid drinking lemon is for people who have allergies or gastritis, since they have less gastric protection against acids.
Is pink lemonade a real lemon?
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.
What is the difference between pink and lemonade?
It has added ingredients and variations that set it apart in flavor as much as color. Lemonade is mostly sour, while pink lemonade is mostly sweet. Lemonade is made with just water, lemon, and sugar, while pink lemonade uses these for a base but also may include red dye or something like strawberry, raspberry, or cranberry juice.