Blackberry Mint Lemonade + Bonus Simple Syrup Recipe!

This sweet and refreshing blackberry mint lemonade is a flavorful treat you can make quickly with just a few ingredients. It’s a fun and tasty way to use fresh mint you may have leftover from another recipe or your garden.

If you don’t already have simple syrup, you may want to make it up ahead of time so it has time to cool.

If you make this recipe all at once you will need some ice to bring it down to a traditional lemonade drinking temperature for immediate consumption, or you will want to chill the finished blackberry mint lemonade in the fridge before serving.

While you are making the simple syrup ahead, you may want to ensure you have ice (or make some) at the same time.

How to Make Simple Syrup

1. Add 1 cup sugar to 1 cup hot water in a 1 pint container.
2. Stir mixture until all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Allow syrup to cool and store in the refrigerator.

I had always heard that simple syrup was easy to make. You’re supposed to mix equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan on the stove until the sugar is fully dissolved. This seemed like an excessive amount of dishes to dirty just to make a beverage, so I never made it that way.

Instead, I heated water in my electric tea kettle and measured out one cup of hot water and one cup of sugar into the same pint Mason jar that the syrup would be living in once it moved to my fridge, and then stirred until it dissolved. Once cool, I just added the lid and put it away! If you enjoy this recipe, you may also want to check out how to make homemade grenadine.

This simple syrup should last about a month in the fridge. For a more detailed breakdown of how long different types of simple syrup stay good for, you can read this article.

How to infuse simple syrup (optional)

1. Combine 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water in a saucepan, as above.
2. Heat and stir until all sugar is dissolved.
3. Add your flavor ingredient (fresh mint leaves, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, or whatever you like!) to the simple syrup and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
4. Let cool and let stand for 1-8 hours, depending on how strong you want the flavor. Taste as you go. Once you like the flavor, take out the flavor ingredient(s) and put your infused syrup in the refrigerator.

If you want to make this without having bits of mint leaf floating in your drink, you can infuse the mint flavor into the simple syrup. You could also make this beverage fancier by adding vanilla, cinnamon, or both. This is completely optional, but fancy and fun.

Since I am aiming for simple recipes, I used bottled lemon juice from the grocery store. If you want, you can use fresh squeezed lemon juice for a fresher, more vibrant flavor. To get a 1/2 cup of lemon juice, depending on your lemons’ size and ripeness, would take about 3 large lemons or 4 medium lemons.

Why do you muddle this drink and not use a blender?

With delicate herbs like mint or basil, processing them too much could leave your beverage too bitter. Also, it’s satisfying to squish the blackberries!

Muddlers are often made from wood, metal, bamboo, or even stone, like a pestle. Some of the modern ones have a nylon coating at the bottom so they don’t change the flavor of your drink like wood might if you used it to crush garlic recently.

You do not need to own a muddler for this recipe. You can achieve the same result with whatever you do have at home: a wooden spoon, or even a fork will work to press the berries against the side of your container.

Blackberry Mint Lemonade Ingredients

Before you begin, you will need:

• 1/2 of a 6 ounce container of fresh blackberries, washed. I used 12 blackberries or a very heaping 1/2 cup.
• Fresh mint leaves, to taste. I used 12 leaves.
• 1/2 cup simple syrup
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups water
• Ice (optional)
• Large container for mixing. I used a one quart Mason jar.
• Something to muddle with. If you have a muddler, great. I used the handle of my wooden spoon as the spoon side was too wide to fit into the mouth of the Mason jar.
• An apron – trust me on this one.

Blackberry Mint Lemonade Instructions

1. First, place your blackberries in the bottom of your jar or pitcher.
2. Next, finely chop the mint leaves for a mintier flavor. Add them to the blackberries.
3. Now, muddle the blackberries and mint. This means squish them. The first blackberry I squished squirted juice almost in my eye, so I grabbed an apron and covered most of the top of the jar with my free hand to reduce cleanup. Once all the blackberries have been at least partially squished you don’t have to cover the top anymore so you can see what you’re doing more easily.
4. Add the simple syrup.
5. Then, add the lemon juice.
6. Next, add your water. If you want a very sweet lemonade, taste it after adding 1 1/2 cups of water and just add a little water at a time until it tastes how you want it to. If you are looking for a less sweet drink, feel free to add more than two cups of water. Just taste as you go.
7. It’s ready! If you want you can strain out the chopped mint leaves from the top, but I don’t mind a few bites of mint here and there.

You can drink this right away or put it in the refrigerator to chill for later. You can always double the recipe for a larger batch as well.

If you give this recipe a try at home, let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe or leaving a comment!

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Variations on Blackberry Mint Lemonade

You could use sparkling water instead of flat if you will be serving it right away for a more festive drink.

You could use coconut water instead for added flavor and electrolytes to make it hydrating.

Add or swap out any fruit you would like: peach, blueberry, raspberry, mango, pear, strawberry, etc.

You could also add to or swap out the mint for basil, rosemary, lavender, etc.

If you want to make this drink fancier, you could add vanilla extract as well.

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I hope you loved this blackberry mint lemonade recipe!