Matcha Lemonade Recipe: Mandarin, Lemon, and Soda

Today's recipe is a simple one — a summer drink we keep coming back to when the heat sets in. Cold, citrusy, and easy to make at home.

Mandarin-Lemon Syrup: Homemade or Ready-Made

Both work. A homemade syrup gives more control over sweetness and lets the fruit stay the main flavour. A ready-made natural syrup is faster and more consistent — the one thing worth checking on the label is that it lists real fruit juice or extract, not artificial citrus flavouring or colouring, since that's what tells the two apart on the shelf.

Homemade Mandarin-Lemon Syrup

Ingredients

• 200ml water;
• 200g sugar;
• Zest of 2–3 mandarins (avoid the white pith, which turns bitter);
• 80–100ml fresh mandarin juice (about 2–3 mandarins);
• 20–30ml fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon).

Utensils

• Small saucepan;
• Fine strainer;
• Glass bottle or jar, for storage.

Preparation

1. Bring the water and sugar to a boil in the saucepan, stirring until the sugar fully dissolves.
2. Remove from heat, add the mandarin zest, cover, and let it steep for 30 minutes — this pulls the oils from the peel without simmering them into bitterness.
3. Strain out the zest. Stir the fresh mandarin and lemon juice into the still-warm syrup, off the heat, so the juice keeps its fresh flavour rather than a cooked one.
4. Let cool completely, then transfer to a bottle or jar. Keeps refrigerated for up to three weeks.

How to Build Matcha Lemonade

Ingredients

• Ice;
• 30–40ml mandarin-lemon syrup (homemade or ready-made);
• Soda water, to top up the glass;
• Matcha shot - we used Una.

Preparation

1. Fill a glass with ice.
2. Pour in 30–40 ml of the mandarin-lemon syrup.
3. Top with soda water, up to the ice line, leaving enough space for the matcha shot on top.
4. Pour the matcha shot over the top.

 

How to Make a Matcha Shot

Preparation

1. Sift 2 g matcha into a bowl (chawan).
   
2. Add about 20 ml warm water (70 °C) and whisk into a smooth paste.
   
3. Add the remaining 40 ml and whisk in an M/W motion until lightly foamy.

Matcha lemonade is one more direction for the same shot every matcha drink starts from — a small ritual you create for yourself, whichever way you build it.

For more ideas, explore our other matcha recipes.

Explore the full matcha collection.