Got lemons?
We tested the lemonade recipe Beyoncé recites in her visual album, Lemonade
Make Beyoncé’s lemonade with this recipe,
By now you’ve all slurped up Beyoncé’s Lemonade, her sixth studio album that premiered over the weekend. There’s still likely another week or so of think pieces to gloss over, be it concerning the political and racial themes behind her short film, whether Beyoncé is finally showing vulnerability beyond her ultrarestrained persona, or, most importantly, the identity of Becky With the Good Hair (I still believe it’s the fictional Aunt Becky from Full House). In the meantime, you can spill the tea at your next
Lemonade viewing party with the actual lemonade recipe Beyoncé recites in the film. For the record here it is, courtesy of Beyoncé’s grandmother Agnez Deréon: “Take one pint of water Add half a pound of sugar The juice of eight lemons The zest of half a lemon Pour the water from one jug then into the other several times
Strain through a clean napkin”
We adapted the recipe, using superfine sugar instead of what we assume is granulated sugar. As its name suggests, superfine sugar has a finer texture, making it easier to dissolve in cold water and thus eliminating the step that calls for pouring it from one jug to another. We also strained the freshly squeezed lemon juice beforehand so there’s no need to run the drink through cheesecloth at the end — Ms Deréon wasn’t referring to a serviette. A pour through a fine mesh strainer to get at the lemon zest will suffice.
The result is a very (very!) sweet lemonade that reminds us of sweet tea, so if you’re not used to that level of saccharine add half the sugar first, then more to taste. This would also be good with a fistful of mint leaves and a few shots of bourbon stirred in. Enjoy, Beyhive!