By Candice Walker on April 26, 2022 (Last updated April 8, 2024) This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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This matcha lemonade version of your summer favorite takes cooling refreshment to a new level. Matcha and citrus are meant to be together! This lemonade is the best friend of hot afternoons in your garden, days at the beach, and the perfect evening refreshment while dining al fresco.
Lemonade is already a refreshing summer favorite, but this matcha version takes it to a whole new level! Move over Arnold Palmer, there’s a new iced tea lemonade in town.
Matcha lemonade is simple to make, tastes amazing, and looks gorgeous too! Garnish with plenty of lemon slices for extra ‘wow’.
🌟 Why You’ll Love This Lemonade
Balanced sweetness in the matcha lemonade: The trick to the best lemonade is sweetening it with simple syrup. The sugar is dissolved into boiling water to create a sweet simple syrup that evenly sweetens the whole pitcher evenly.
Prominent matcha green tea flavor: The matcha in this lemonade is much stronger than a regular matcha tea to compensate for the added liquid from the lemonade. This ensures you enjoy both the taste of lemonade and taste of green tea in every sip. Plus, this level of matcha offers a slight caffeine kick to conquer any afternoon slumps.
Citrus, sweet, and earthy flavors come together: The addition of matcha to this lemonade is a perfect match – the sweet and citrus flavors are met with an earthy matcha flavor that’s both slightly bitter and nutty. It complements a classic lemonade and brings something new to the table. For more incredible flavored lemonades, try a mint lemonade, lavender lemonade, or rose lemonade.
🧾 Ingredients in This Recipe
Sugar – you’ll need white granulated sugar/caster sugar for this recipe to keep the brightness of the green matcha. You can use turbinado, raw, or brown sugar, but the color of the final drink will be slightly brown.
Matcha powder – make sure to get culinary-grade or latte-grade matcha powder. Here is the Encha latte grate matcha I get from Amazon, and here is the Mizuba matcha I usually use in my recipes.
Lemons – I always use freshly squeezed lemons for lemonade. If they’re available to you, Meyer lemons taste incredible, too!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
👩🍳 How to Make This Recipe
The first step is to make your simple syrup. Depending on how much you want to make, you can either dissolve 1/4 cup of white sugar in 1/4 cup of hot water or make a larger batch of simple syrup by combining 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan.
Stir to dissolve the sugar while the mixture comes to a boil. Once dissolved, turn off the heat and let the simple syrup cool until it’s ready to use.
Now it’s lemonade time! Roll your lemons with the palm of your hand against your counter to help release the juices. Cut them in half and squeeze them to get as much juice as possible. Discard any seeds. Juice until you have 2/3 cups fresh juice and pulp.
Next, pour 2 cups of ice-cold water into a pitcher. Stir in the lemon juice and pulp, and add the simple syrup to your liking. 1/2 cup is my preference for sweetness.
Next up is making the matcha green tea. Use your usual go-to method to make matcha green tea, whether you use a blender, whisk, jar, frother, or chasen. Not sure which method to use? I outline 4 different methods to make a matcha latte in this guide.
Start by adding 1/4 cup of water to your culinary-grade matcha powder and mixing it to remove the clumps. Then add the rest of the 1-3/4 cups of water and whisk, shake, or blend to combine.
Matcha Thickness
The ratio for the matcha in this recipe is different than usual because we are increasing the amount of liquid/water in the mix when we add in the lemonade. So this matcha it will be a thicker/heavier matcha than your regular matcha tea.
Now it’s time to put it all together! Add your matcha to the lemonade pitcher, and then add ice cubes to the pitcher or your glasses just before serving. Taste test one more time for sweetness and adjust to your liking.
Thinly slice a washed lemon and place it in your serving glasses for a fun garnish.
❄️ Store Leftover Matcha Lemonade in the Fridge
I find this lemonade is at its best and tastiest when drank fresh, but it will keep pretty well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
🍋 More Ways to Flavor Your Lemonade
Lemonade is a versatile drink as it can pair well with fun flavors. Aside from matcha lemonade, some fun lemonade flavors are calming lavender lemonade or sharp mint lemonade. I also love this floral rose lemonade. Or, you can make an Arnold Palmer: half iced tea and half lemonade.
🍵 More Matcha Recipes
I have no shortage of refreshing matcha recipes to enjoy! Start with these matcha-licious options.
You can either dissolve the sugar in hot water, or make a larger batch of simple syrup by combining 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve sugar while mixture comes to a boil. Turn it off, and let it cool until ready to use.
Lemonade
Roll the lemons with the palm of your hand to help release the juice. Cut them in half lengthwise, and squeeze into to juice them. Discard any seeds. Continue juicing until you have 2/3 cups fresh juice and pulp.
Pour 2 cups of ice-cold water into a pitcher. Stir in lemon juice and pulp, then add simple syrup to taste, 1/2 cup is my preference.
Matcha Green Tea
Start by adding ¼ cup of water to your culinary grade matcha powder and mixing it together to remove the clumps. Then add the rest of the 1-¾ cups of water and whisk, shake, or blend to combine.
Matcha Lemonade
Add the matcha green tea to the lemonade, and add ice either to the pitcher or glasses just before serving. Taste test one more time for sweetness and adjust to your liking.
Thinly slice a washed lemon for an optional garnish.
Video
Notes
The ratio for the matcha green tea is different than usual because we are adding more liquid/water later when we add in the lemonade. So, it will be a thicker/heavier matcha than a regular matcha tea.Not sure which method to use to make the matcha green tea? I outline 4 different methods to make a matcha latte in this guide.
Did you try this recipe?I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a Review to let us know how it came out, if you have a successful substitution or variation, or anything else.
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4 Comments
I thought making fresh lemonade would be tricky but this recipe was easy to follow and made it easy! I am addicted to matcha so this is going to be my go-to drink now the weather is getting warmer
I thought making fresh lemonade would be tricky but this recipe was easy to follow and made it easy! I am addicted to matcha so this is going to be my go-to drink now the weather is getting warmer
I love matcha drinks and this is my new favorite! Super refreshing, love it.
So glad you liked it, Nina… thank you for taking the time to share! I’ll be making a big batch this weekend and can’t wait!