This color changing lilac lemonade is a refreshing drink with tangy lemon and delicate floral notes from lilac blossoms. It's so easy to make and uses a homemade lilac infused simple syrup to flavor it. The lilacs add a subtle floral element that is delicate and fragrant. The lemonade changes color when adding lilac syrup making it a fun drink to assemble with kids. It's the perfect whimsical, fragrant beverage for any backyard party!
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🌼 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Lilac flavor: Homemade lilac syrup adds so much delicate lilac flavor! It's so fragrant.
- Lemonade: bursting with tart, sweet, refreshing lemon flavor, this lemonade is perfect for lilac season.
- Easy: It's easy to make and the lilac syrup can be made up to 1-2 weeks in advance.
If you're looking for a lilac dessert to complement this lemonade, check out my lilac cake recipe. Or these lemon poppy seed scones.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
- Lilac blossoms: You will need 2 cups of lilac blossoms. Use branches with blossoms that are fully opened but not yet falling off for the best flavor.
- Lemons: You will need 3 large lemons or about ¾ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Don't use pre-squeezed lemon juice it won't taste as fresh and lemoney!
You will also need water and ice.
✔️ Ingredient substitutions
If you can't find lilacs, you can substitute with elderflower. They have a very similar flavor and you can use store-bought elderflower syrup to flavor lemonade too!.
👩🍳 How to make lilac lemonade
Lilac syrup step by step
Step 1: Pluck the lilac flowers off of the lilac stems into a bowl. Add water to cover, let sit for 10 minutes, and rinse well to remove any dirt and bugs. Drain the water off.
Measure 2 cups of lilac blossoms, packed into the measuring cup. You can add slightly more or less, depending on how much you have.
Step 2: Place picked and washed lilac flowers into a medium saucepan. Add sugar and 1 cup of water.
Step 3: Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature in the saucepan.
Step 4: Strain the syrup into a jar or container, and squeeze out any syrup left over in the petals. Discard the flowers.
Lemonade step by step
Step 1: Squeeze the lemons and pour the juice into a large non-metal pitcher.
Avoid using metal for lemonade and other acidic recipes to prevent a metallic aftertaste.
Step 2: Add 3 cups of ice and 3 cups of water into the pitcher.
Step 3: Pour the lilac syrup into the lemonade and stir. Watch the color of the lemonade change to a peach color!
Step 4: Optionally, add some lemon slices and a washed sprig of lilacs into the lemonade. Pour and serve!
🥤 Expert lemonade tips
- Don't use a metal pitcher to avoid a metallic aftertaste in your lemonade. Use a glass, ceramic, or coated pitcher.
- Taste your lemonade and add more sweetness or lemon if you need to! Lemons vary in flavor and acidity.
- If you need to make it sweeter, dissolve sugar in hot water in a 1:1 ratio and stir. Add to the lemonade to taste.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
The syrup can be made a week ahead of time and stored in an airtight jar or container in the fridge, for 1-2 weeks.
The lemonade can keep in the fridge for 1-2 days. I recommend enjoying it the day it's made because it will taste the most fresh.
❔ What do lilacs taste like?
The blossoms are edible and have a very similar flavor to how they smell: a delicate, floral, sweet flavor.
Different varieties will have subtle differences in flavor. Choose a variety that smells good to you.
I'm obsessed with the delicate floral flavor of lilacs and think that lilac season is too short! It pairs so well with lemon, and my lilac lemon cake is my most requested cake to make while lilacs are in bloom. My parents supply me with bouquets of lilacs from their lilac tree every year.
If you don't like strong soapy floral flavors (like lavender), you should try lilacs because they have a much more subtle and sweeter flavor.
✔️ Where to source lilacs
Your best bet is to peak into your neighbor's garden and ask if you could have some of their lilacs. Or grow them yourself. They come in bush, shrub, and tree form.
If buying from a floral shop, make sure to ask if they have been treated with anything that would make them inedible.
I would avoid sourcing lilac blossoms for eating from the edges of large roads because they could be very dusty and covered in pollutants.
❔ Are lilacs pH sensitive?
Yes! This is why the lemonade changes color as soon as you add the lilac syrup.
The anthocyanins (pigments that give lilacs their purple hue) react with acidity and turn a reddish-orange color. I haven't tested how it would react in a basic environment, but theoretically it should become more blue.
White lilacs do not contain anthocyanins so this won't work with white lilacs.
📖 Recipe FAQs
Substitute the lilac syrup with elderflower syrup! It has a very similar delicate, floral flavor.
You will need about 4-6 large blossom clusters, or about 2 cups of picked petals, packed into the cup. You can get away with using slightly less or slightly more.
You want to look for lilacs that aren't growing near large roads, and haven't been sprayed with anything that would render them inedible. Ask your friends and neighbors if they have lilacs and could spare a bouquet, or grow your own if you can. Alternatively, you may be able to find them in floral shops - just make sure to ask the florist if they have been sprayed with anything that would make them inedible.
All kinds of lilacs are edible. My favorite way to use them is to infuse them into a simple syrup and use the fragrant syrup in drinks like this lilac lemonade. Or in cakes like this lilac cake.
Yes, substitute simple syrup in drinks for this lilac simple syrup for a floral twist.
Purple lilacs contain anthocyanins which react to pH and change color. This is why the lilac syrup causes the lemonade to turn a peach-orange color because it's reacting with the acidic pH of the lemon juice.
Yes you can, but the lemonade won't change colors due to the anthocyanins found in purple lilacs. It should still taste great though.
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📖 Recipe
Lilac Lemonade
Equipment
- 2 litre glass pitcher 8 cups
Ingredients
Lilac Syrup
- 2 cups lilac blossoms packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
Lemonade
- 3 lemons ¾ cup juiced
- 3 cups ice
- 3 cups water
- lemon slices
- lilac blossom sprig
Instructions
Lilac Syrup
- Pluck the lilac flowers off of the lilac stems into a bowl. Add water to cover, let sit for 10 minutes, and rinse well to remove any dirt and bugs. Drain the water off. Measure 2 cups of lilac blossoms, packed into the measuring cup. You can add slightly more or less, depending on how much you have.2 cups lilac blossoms
- Place picked and washed lilac flowers into a medium saucepan. Add sugar and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute.1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup water
- Turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature in the saucepan.
- Strain the syrup into a jar or container, and squeeze out any syrup left over in the petals. Discard the flowers.
Lemonade
- Squeeze the lemons and pour the juice into a large non-metal pitcher for the lemonade.3 lemons
- Add 3 cups of ice and 3 cups of water into the pitcher.3 cups ice, 3 cups water
- Pour the lilac syrup into the lemonade and stir. Watch the color of the lemonade change to a peach color!
- Optionally, add some lemon slices and a washed sprig of lilacs into the lemonade. Pour and serve!lemon slices, lilac blossom sprig
Notes
- Don't use a metal pitcher to avoid a metallic aftertaste in your lemonade. Use a glass, ceramic, or coated pitcher.
- Taste your lemonade and add more sweetness or lemon if you need to! Lemons vary in flavor and acidity.
- If you need to make it sweeter, dissolve sugar in hot water in a 1:1 ratio and stir. Add to the lemonade to taste.
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