Lemon syrup with peppermint and lemon balm

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 kg lemon(s), untreated
• 500 g lime(s), untreated
• ¾ liter of lemon juice (from the bottle), equivalent to about 23 squeezed lemons
• 4 liters of water
• 2 kg sugar
• 25 g citric acid
• 2 handfuls of lemon balm
• 3 handfuls of peppermint and spearmint mint (American mint) mixed in a ratio of 3 : 2

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 2 days; Total time approx. 2 days 30 minutes

very refreshing for the summer

Brush the lemons and peel off the yellow rind (zest), as well as the limes. This can be done with a zester, but also with any peeler. Wash the fresh herbs, such as peppermint and lemon balm, drain them, and then place them in a container with the zest (I always use a bucket for this purpose). Add them to the water and cover with a lid. Let it stand in a cool place overnight or for two days. I only left it overnight. Then add the squeezed lemon juice, the lime juice with the bottle of lemon juice, and the citric acid and let it stand for another half a day. Then put the entire mixture and herbs in a large pot, add the 2 kg of sugar, and heat gently. Just before it’s boiling, remove from the heat and strain everything through a sieve into another container. Now pour the juice into hot, rinsed twist-off bottles and seal tightly. If you don’t have twist-off jars, you can also use liquor bottles in a pinch, which is what I did. Since I didn’t have a large enough pot, I boiled the infusion mixture twice, adding only the kilogram of sugar each time. Of course, you should also divide the herbs. The juice is very refreshing and can be diluted with mineral water or sparkling wine and served as an alternative to a summer punch. If you like, you can also add it to the punch separately. You can also make a liqueur with the addition of alcohol! Then mix 1 liter of the syrup with a bottle of 0.7 liters of vodka, bottle it, and let it stand for about 1 week to 14 days, shaking occasionally.