Recipe for: Rhubarb lemonade with apple peel essence and fresh mint - photo 1
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Recipe for: Rhubarb lemonade with apple peel essence and fresh mint

Drinks Regional Cuisine of Poland 60 min Easy 17 wyświetleń ~26.30 PLN * - (0)
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Description

Refreshing, spring lemonade combining tart rhubarb with a delicate, aromatic essence from apple peels and fresh mint. A zero waste idea: instead of throwing away apple peels, we use them to enhance the aroma and flavor of the drink. The beverage has a pink, appetizing color, a slightly sparkling character after adding sparkling water, and a fresh, green note of mint. Great for the terrace, for a picnic, or as a light addition to strawberry desserts; it pairs well with simple snacks and homemade cakes.

Ingredients Used

Ingredients (9)

Servings:
4
  • Rhubarb 400 g
  • Apple peel 60 g
  • Sugar 150 g
  • Water 400 ml
  • Sparkling water 800 ml
  • Lemon 1.9 szt. (~150 g)
  • Mint 30 g
  • ✨ Opcjonalne
  • Honey 40 ml
  • Ice 200 g
💰 Szacowany koszt dania: ~26.30 PLN (6.58 PLN/porcję)
* Brak cen dla niektórych składników

💡 Kliknij na składnik aby oznaczyć jako użyty

Preparation steps

Preparing the skins

1

Wash the apples thoroughly under running water with a brush to remove dust and any dirt. After washing, place the apple on a cutting board and peel it with a sharp vegetable peeler, taking off only a thin layer of skin (avoid large pieces of white flesh). Weigh the peels — you need 60 g. If you don't have enough peels, you can peel an additional apple and use whole pieces (without the cores).

Ingredients: apple peel
Use a vegetable peeler and a cutting board; it's better to collect the peels in a glass or metal bowl. Don't peel too thickly – a lot of the white flesh adds bitterness.

Rhubarb-Apple Syrup

2

Trim the tough ends off the rhubarb and cut the stalks into slices about 1 cm thick (approx. 400 g). In a medium pot with a capacity of 2 l, place the chopped rhubarb, apple peels, 150 g of sugar, and 400 ml of water. Gently stir with a wooden spoon to help the sugar adhere to the rhubarb pieces. Place the pot over medium heat and bring it to a gentle simmer (small bubbles, not vigorous). Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10–15 minutes, stirring every 2–3 minutes, until the rhubarb is very soft and the liquid has slightly thickened.

Ingredients: Rhubarb, apple peel, Sugar, Water
Use a heavy-bottomed pot so the syrup doesn't burn; stir with a wooden spoon. The finished syrup should have an intense pink-red color and should easily break apart when you press a piece of rhubarb.
3

Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Strain the contents through a fine sieve into a bowl or pitcher, pressing down with a spoon on the residue in the sieve to extract as much juice as possible. The remaining fibers can be set aside for compost or used as an addition to yogurt/purees (zero waste). Cover the syrup and let it cool to room temperature for 20–30 minutes, then place it in the refrigerator to chill completely (min. 30 minutes) — the drink tastes best when the syrup is cold.

Ingredients: Rhubarb, apple peel
For straining, use a fine sieve or cheesecloth; press gently but firmly to extract the essence. Do not throw away the leftover pulp — it can be used for compost or as a base for jam.

Lemonade

4

Before serving, squeeze the lemon juice: gently crush the lemon on the countertop with your hand, place it on the board and cut it in half, then squeeze the juice into a measuring cup (about 150 g of lemon yields about 60–80 ml of juice). Add the lemon juice to the chilled syrup and mix well. Taste and adjust the sweetness — if you want a milder flavor, add 1–2 tablespoons of honey (40 g of honey instead of part of the sugar).

Ingredients: Lemon, Honey
For juicing, use a manual citrus juicer; if you don't have one, squeeze by hand over a strainer to separate the seeds.
5

Pour the chilled syrup mixed with lemon juice into a large pitcher. Add 800 ml of very cold sparkling water and gently stir with a wooden spoon to avoid losing all the carbonation. Add mint leaves — take a few sprigs of mint and vigorously crush them between your hands or lightly clap them to release the oils, then toss them into the pitcher. Taste and adjust with honey or additional sugar if needed.

Ingredients: Sparkling water, mint, Honey
Use a jug with a capacity of at least 1.5 l. Stir gently to preserve the bubbles. Crushing the mint just before adding enhances the aroma without the bitter aftertaste.

Serving

6

Fill the glasses with ice cubes (optional; 200 g of ice for several glasses), pour in the lemonade so that a light layer of foam and bubbles forms on top. Decorate each glass with a sprig of mint and a slice of lemon or a thin ribbon of apple peel. Serve immediately to maintain freshness and fizz.

Ingredients: Ice, mint, Lemon
The best glass is a tall long drink glass or a water glass. Additionally, you can add a slice of cucumber for decoration.

Zero waste and additional tips

7

The remaining pulp after straining can be sprinkled with sugar and boiled as a base for jam or mixed with yogurt. The apple peels used for the syrup can be drained, dried, and added to compost or dried in the oven to prepare a fragrant tea.

Ingredients: apple peel
If you want a more intense essence, the strained peels can be soaked again in a small amount of boiling water and left for 30 minutes as an infusion.

Fun Fact

💡

Rhubarb has been popular in Poland since the 19th century and was traditionally paired with apples in desserts. In this lemonade, we use traditional Polish flavors in a zero waste spirit, using apple peels as a natural fragrance essence.

Best for

piknik przyjęcie wiosenne popołudniowe spotkanie z przyjaciółmi

Tips

🍽️ Serving

Serve very chilled in a pitcher with a few sprigs of mint and a slice of lemon. Add a few ice cubes to each glass just before serving to prevent the drink from diluting too quickly. For a non-alcoholic version, you can add a bit of chamomile infusion instead of honey as a sweetener.

🥡 Storage

Store the syrup in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Prepare the lemonade just before serving; if you need to store it, keep it in the refrigerator for a maximum of 24 hours and add fresh sparkling water before serving. Do not freeze the prepared lemonade — it will lose its fizz.

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