Last Updated on July 8, 2020 by Candy Wafford

A blueberry lemonade cocktail on a recent trip knocked my socks off! Trying new foods and tastes is one of my favorite things about traveling. From visiting grocery stores to taking food tours when traveling, if it involves food I’m there.

Along with travel, cooking is one of my passions and I enjoy trying to recreate foods that I enjoyed on my travels. So I’m starting a new series here called Tasty Travel where I will share recipes for dishes I was inspired to make at home. First up, is Blueberry Hard Lemonade.

I enjoyed this Blueberry Hard Lemonade at a super casual bar/restaurant in Destin, Florida at The Harbor Tavern. The description of the blueberry lemonade cocktail was enough for us to order but then when this pretty little number came to our table we were in love. And she’s as tasty as she is pretty! So refreshing and delicious. And potentially dangerous – we could not taste the alcohol at all which made these go down easy.

Blueberry Lemonade

How to Make Simple Syrup

Have you ever made homemade lemonade? It’s so easy and so much better than pre-packaged mixes. Simple syrup is the secret to making delicious homemade lemonade. Heat sugar and water until the sugar dissolves, and to lemon juice and water and voila you just made fresh lemonade from scratch!

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Flavored simple syrups allow you to incorporate other flavors into your lemonade. For this blueberry lemonade recipe, you are going to add blueberries to the syrup for flavor and to achieve the gorgeous purple-blue color. You can also use other berries such as raspberries or strawberries to make other flavors of berry lemonade.

I recommend making a pitcher of blueberry lemonade without alcohol so you can enjoy the lemonade on its own or make cocktails. You can add the blueberry rum (or blueberry vodka) later for spiked lemonade. Spiked or not, blueberry lemonade is the perfect summer drink.

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Blueberry Hard Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup lemon juice – squeezed from 4-5 large lemons
• 5 cups water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Cruzan Blueberry Lemonade Rum – 1 1/2 ounces per drink
• Lime, sliced into wedges for garnish (optional)
• Blueberries, fresh, for garnish (optional)
• Fresh Mint Sprigs, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Make the blueberry simple syrup. Place 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and 1 cup blueberries in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes, until mixture thickens.

Place a strainer over a bowl, and pour in blueberry syrup. Press on berries to extract the juice. Discard blueberries.

Make the lemonade. Place the lemon juice in a pitcher with 5 cups of water and 1/4 cup of sugar. Stir to combine. Add 1 1/2 cups of blueberry simple syrup and stir. Refrigerate until cold.

To make blueberry hard lemonade. Add 1 1/2 ounces of blueberry lemonade rum to cocktail glass. Add lemonade and stir to combine. Garnish with fresh lime, blueberries, and mint.

Note: This summer cocktail recipe is easy to adapt. You can use rum or vodka, flavored or unflavored. You can also use pre-made lemonade and add the blueberry simple syrup. Want it sweeter? Add more sugar. Less sweet? Add less sugar or squeeze in a little fresh lime juice. Don’t have fresh berries? Just use frozen!

Ways to Use Simple Syrup

Simple syrups can be used for other drinks and desserts.

• Brushing simple syrup on cake layers is a wonderful way to add additional flavor and keep your cake moist. This blueberry simple syrup would be lovely on a lemon layer cake.
• Add simple syrup to cocktails to add sweetness.
• Simple syrup can be added to teas and coffees. Because the sugar has already dissolved, simple syrups blend easily and quickly.
• Poach fruit with simple syrup. Add the simple syrup to the poaching liquid for additional flavor. I think blueberry simple syrup would be a delicious way to poach peaches.
• Add simple syrup to fruit salads. You can soak the fruit in the syrup or drizzle it on fresh fruit.

Give this spiked lemonade a try and let me know if you loved it as much as I do!

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