Bitters are a fun and easy ingredient to add to your non-alcoholic drinks. Especially in this heatwave we’re having. They bring a nice little bite to whatever you’re drinking. Try some in a homemade soda or with lemonade (like we’re doing here!) I don’t know where you are but, here in North Carolina, we’re scorching!! We’ve been hitting 99º every day!!! In the late Spring and Summer, there’s nothing better that sipping a tall glass of lemonade. As for now, I’ll be sipping my lemonade near a large window. It’s just a little too hot for my liking outside. However, don’t be afraid to break out that citrus juicer. Fresh lemonade is the way to go and, the combinations of flavors for lemonade are endless. Beet, mint, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, basil…I could go on. And, I will. We should probably start a whole mini series for lemonade this Summer. Our first installment is this Rosemary Lemonade with Hella Bitter s Citrus Bitters. Rosemary and citrus compliment each other so well. It’s a no-brainer.

Fresh lemonade is pretty simple to make with just a few ingredients. Lemons, sugar, water and whatever fruit or herb (and in this case, Hella Bitters) you want to add. All you’ll need is a little manpower.

One bag of lemons should do you for one batch O’ lemonade.

Rosemary Lemonade:

1 1/2 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Cup Rosemary Syrup

4 Cups Water

Mix all ingredients together, bottle and allow some time for chilling.

*For rosemary syrup: add 2 Cups of water and 2 Cups of sugar to a saucepan with 4 or 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer and dissolve sugar. Cook for about 5 minutes. Let the syrup cool, leaving the spring in the mix. This makes more than 1 Cup of syrup. You can adjust the sweetness of the lemonade to your taste and use the leftover syrup for gin cocktails in the future. I’m thinking rosemary gimlets with a few dashes of Hella Bitters Citrus Bitters.

For each tall glass of rosemary lemonade, add 2-3 dashes of Hella Bitters Citrus bitters, stir, throw a fresh sprig of rosemary in the mix and enjoy. Just try to find a nice piece of shade to relax under  Cheers!