Pineapple Chamomile Lemonade

This pineapple and chamomile lemonade is my current go-to non-alcoholic drink, and it’s a real crowd-pleaser no matter the age range or the season!

The combination of pineapple, chamomile, lemon, and honey is sweet, sour, tropical, and pleasantly floral. There’s something about the mildly floral, apple-like flavor of chamomile tea that is enhanced by honey and fresh pineapple juice.

I created this recipe when I was pregnant, but this is also delicious with an ounce or two of rum, gin, or vodka for those of you who aren’t abstaining from alcohol.

Ingredients

• 2 oz chamomile tea (cooled)
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz honey syrup

Recipe instructions

The first step is to brew up some fresh chamomile tea and let it cool. I like to brew my chamomile tea quite strong for this recipe, so that the flavor really shines through. 2-3 tea bags per 8 oz hot water is a good place to start.

While you wait for the tea to cool, start squeezing your lemons and juicing your pineapple (if using freshly juiced). If you have an elbow-style citrus squeezer, you can even extract pineapple juice with that!

Fill the squeezer with pineapple chunks and carefully squeeze it over a slightly larger container to catch all of the juice. Remove the smashed fruit and add more until you have enough juice.

Once your tea has cooled off and you have your fresh juices, add the remaining ingredients and ice to a shaker and shake until thoroughly chilled. Strain the liquid into a glass over fresh ice and garnish as desired.

Try different honeys

You can use any honey for the honey syrup, but I recommend checking out the honeys from Bee Seasonal. They were kind enough to gift me with a sampler last year, and I’ve really enjoyed the Marmeleiro Brazilian Quince Honey in this recipe.

I had no idea there were so many incredible varieties of honey and that the flavors would vary so much. Two of my favorites were the Linden honey, which had a minty flavor, and the cherry blossom honey, which I used in my Blood Orange Whiskey Sour recipe.

Some other great honeys to try (that aren’t hard to find) are orange blossom honey and wildflower honey.

What kind of pineapple juice to use

Freshly pressed or even muddled and strained juice is the ideal, but store-bought unsweetened, pure pineapple juice is your next best option.

Dole canned, unsweetened pineapple juice is a great option to keep in the pantry for recipes like this.

If using store bought juice, just make sure that it is unsweetened. A sweetened juice blend will throw off the balance of sweet to sour, meaning you’d need to add more lemon.

How to make honey syrup

Honey syrup is just honey mixed with water so that it’s easy to incorporate into cocktails or other drinks. To make the honey syrup, simply combine equal parts honey and water in a measuring cup or glass jar.

No need to heat it, just stir until the honey dissolves! Using warm water will speed up the process, but it only takes a few minutes either way. I typically make a small batch (1/2 cup honey to 1/2 cup water) to ensure it gets used up before it goes bad. Store honey syrup in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

You may also enjoy these drinks:

• Peach Green Tea Lemonade
• Whipped Lemonade
• Dragon Fruit Cucumber Limeade
• Whipped Pink Lemonade Cocktail
• Saffron Rosewater Pink Gin Lemonade
• The Best Lemonade Ever (It really is the best!)