Color Changing Lemonade

 
Hey guys!
 Today I have a super fun recipe for you. COLOR CHANGING LEMONADE! 👀 Omg, amiright? This would be a awesome thing to do at a kids birthday party, Halloween or just a fun summer treat.

 Ok, now let me smack your face with some science. All plants have pigments in them call flavonoids (totally sounds like a made up word). This is what gives all plants their bright colors. How this works is when you extract those pigments from a plant and then mess with its pH balance by adding something acidic it changes color. YEAH SCIENCE! (makes me want to re-watch Breaking Bad)

Before we get started I wanted to let you know that this can be made with 2 different plants and they both have their pros and cons. I made this recipe with purple cabbage, good because its cheap and easy to get, bad because you risk a cabbage after taste. The other way is with dried butterfly tea flowers. Good because they work well with no after taste, bad because you probably will have to order them from amazon and it will cost more. 

 Ingredients-

1 Purple Cabbage
1 cup Lemon Juice
3/4 cup Sugar
Water

Directions-

First we need the color from the purple cabbage. You can either use a juicer or food processor, or you can just chop it up with a knife. If you use a juicer it will have a very strong cabbage flavor so I used a food processor instead. Chop up one head of cabbage with a food processor or knife. Place in a large bowl and add 4 cups of hot but not boiling water.

 Let this sit then drain through a strainer. I used a spoon to help get out all the liquid.

Stick the liquid in the fridge to chill or make ice cubes with it.

To some of the cubes I added lemon juice to make different colors of ice cubes. Its soo cool to see the change.

Now you need a lemon simple syrup. Just mix together the lemon juice and sugar and microwave for 2 minutes.

 When all the sugar is dissolved stick it in the fridge to chill.

Once everything is cold its time to assemble. 

Start with a glass of cold water, then add some of the colored ice cubes or 2 tablespoons of the purple cabbage juice.

Last add the lemon simple syrup. I did a 3-1 ratio. So for 3/4 cup of water add 1/4 cup of the syrup.

 Then watch the magic happen!

Add a straw and a slice of lemon and your good to go. If the cabbage flavor is to strong then just add more water to the cabbage juice to thin it out but the lemon syrup will definitely help cover it up.  Remember, if you just can't stand the cabbage feel free to order the dried flowers. Just soak the flowers in hot water like tea or coffee and use the liquid the same way.

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