Husband just bought a three bin drink dispenser ~ the kind that jets the liquid up onto the lids. We are selling sweet & unsweet iced tea, and want to put lemonade in the third bin. My questions for all you gurus of lemonade: what is an easy way to squeeze the lemons (is it worth it to get a juicer?), and would you share your best lemonade recipe? We envision the lemonade having slices of lemon bobbing about in the bin, to "sell the sizzle", and ordering special glasses with our logos on them to set our teas and lemonade apart from our regular fountain sodas. Thank you for any input!

love, peace & fry grease

Susan, in that jetspray machine there is a proprellor.  Lemons and seeds will often lodge in that propellor if you are not careful.  Also fresh lemons greatly reduce your shelf life.  I prefer to use a lemonade mix (which I believe is just as good) and then put a slice of lemon on the glass or cup.

BurgerMan is right, solids and jetspray machines don't play together real well.  I used to sell lemonade and fruit punch with a jetspray machine.  I dropped the jetspray machine when I went with self serve drinks due to lack of counter space.  It's been eight or nine years now and I still get customers telling how much they miss the old lemonade I used to sell vs. the fountain product.  I think I was using the Dominaid brand mixes.

 

Ray

http://www.dallasfamouschicken.com/

Susan,

We sell lemonade in a high-production theme park environment. We purchase 100% lemon juice from US Foods or Sysco; it is delivered refrigerated. This is not from concentrate. This is cheaper than squeezing it yourself, as the company will be squeezing ugly fruit, and you will buy pretty fruit and then squeeze it.

Our recipe is:

12 to 16 oz juice

enough water to total one gallon

1 to 1.5 cups sugar (this recipe is very flexible, as the tartness of the lemon juice fluctuates throughout the season.)

We started out squeezing our own lemons, doing 50 to 100 lemonades a day. When we got numbers above that; it became so labor intensive, our US Foods rep convinced us to try this product. We are very happy with it, and wouldn't use it if it were not as good as squeezing our own. We still add sliced lemon to the display,and sometimes to the cup, as this allows us the $1.00 premium over other drinks sold at our venue.

Best Wishes,

Phil and Rhonni

Phil still claims to be typing-impaired, but that might just be so that Rhonni feels needed.

Until that is remedied:

Rhonni's Blog

Rhonni on Twitter

Susan, you might want to try just some good old fashioned grape juice in the machine.  If you have crushed ice it makes a wonderful summertime drink.

My avatar is a pitcher of my signature Lavender Lemonade. We use fresh lemons and squeeze them ourselves. The trick is to roll and 'pound' the lemon before cutting it. I use a hand juicer and then strain it all through a jelly bag to get the seeds out. Then we freeze the juice and cut lemons of 10-12 lemons. That is enough for a gallon of lemonade and when we need more it is easy to pull the bag out of the freezer.

I then brew 4 oz of dried lavender flowers in boiling water for 10 minutes and cover the lemons and juice in boiling water to draw out all the flavor. I add 1.5 cups of sugar to the hot mix and then add the lavender brew. That is my favorite part because when the purple 'tea' mixes with the lemon mixture it "POPS" a bright pink color. I then strain the whole thing and top it off with water to fill the gallon.

I sell it for 2.50 a glass and it is my best seller. It is refreshing and very 'zen' as it calms frayed nerves and tastes delicious!

Living a life I love and loving the life I live.

Muse, very pretty beverage you have there! Thank you for the info. Where do you get all the lavender from? I'm trying to remember back to far distant pot smoking days (I didn't inhale) and 4 oz is a pretty big baggie, isn't it? Intriguing recipe. Phil, I like your idea too, and think this might be the way to go, since it has to be a simple procedure. I'll talk to our Sysco rep. Thank you, everyone ~ much appreciate your advice!

love, peace & fry grease

Egads you are right!! I did not mean weight I meant measure. How about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup then?  I buy it at any herbal shop or Whole Foods type market place.

Living a life I love and loving the life I live.

 

Phil, what does Sysco call the Lemon juice?

Thanks

Jack

Jack@DrofBBQ.com

The Doctor of BBQ
www.DrofBBQ.com
Jack@DrofBBQ.com

Jack,

     I have only ordered it as: Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice, not from concentrate. I have recieved it in both a 1 qt. and a 2 qt. container over the years.

If Sysco does not carry it you might try a bar supply, many bars use this in margarita's.

In Texas it is offered by my fruit purveyor.

In New York we purchase from U S Foods.{ My wife and I sell food at seasonal theme parks, [Renaissance Festivals]}

Phil still claims to be typing-impaired, but that might just be so that Rhonni feels needed.

Until that is remedied:

Rhonni's Blog

Rhonni on Twitter