Kagati ko sharbat (Nepali lemonade) is a refreshing beverage made with freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice & simple syrup. You can add herbs/spices such as mint, lemongrass, cardamom, ginger to your liking.

This post is sponsored by Vinci.

Lemonade is essentially a lemon-forward, sugar sweetened beverage with many varieties worldwide. The earliest written record of a lemon drink comes from 12th-century Egypt but today, you can find endless variations of lemonade including sweet, salt, fizzy, icy, or boozy. I am partial towards Nepali lemonade – kagati ko sharbat. During Summer months, my mom made a large pitcher of kagati ko sharbat regularly as it was our go to beverage after-school and for serving guests.

There are only a few ingredients required to make kagati ko sharbat – Nepali lemonade and one of them is freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice!! Instead of manually squeezing lemons, I am using Vinci Hands Free Juicer, which is ideal when you need to juice a lot of citrus. You can pretty much juice any kind of citrus from small key-limes to oranges, lemons, and even grapefruit using this juicer.

In the video below, you can see Vinci Hands Free Juicer automatically squeezes every last drop of lemon juice as it senses the thickness of the fruit without breaking the rind, which can introduce bitter flavors.

Kagati Ko Sharbat (Nepali Lemonade) is generally made with freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice and simple syrup (equal part sugar dissolved in equal part water) but I add freshly sliced ginger, gently crushed cardamom, and black pepper to my syrup for added flavor. I like to use the same syrup on my tea and coffee too!

Depending on the size/juiciness of lemon/lime, 8 medium lemons or 6 large lemons will get 1 cup of juice (8 ounces). For me personally, Vinci Hands Free Juicer has been really helpful to effortlessly squeeze the juice in large quantities. If you are interested, do visit their website for more info/details: https://vincihousewares.com/

Now, moving on to the Kagati ko Sharbat (Nepali Lemonade), recipe; the one I am sharing makes 6 servings but you can easily scale the recipe and level of sweetness to your liking.

KAGATI KO SHARBAT (NEPALI LEMONADE)

Ingredients

• For the syrup

  • 1/2 cup water

  • 1/2 cup sugar

  • 15-18 cardamom pods, gently crushed

  • 1 heaping tablespoon sliced ginger

  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorn

• 8-9 medium lemon, freshly squeezed to yield about 1 cup lemon juice

• 1/2 cup syrup (from above)

• 6 cups water (more as needed)

• Ice, to serve

Directions

• In a medium pot, add water, sugar, cardamom pods, ginger, and peppercorn. Simmer over low-medium heat for few minutes until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let it cool.

• Strain the syrup and keep it aside.

• Use Vinci Hands Free Juicer (or other juicer you have) to squeeze fresh lemons, removing any seeds/pulps.

• In a pitcher add freshly squeezed lemon juice, cooled syrup and 6 cups of cold water. Mix everything together and add more water only if needed.

• Let the mixture chill for at least an hour. Serve it alone like traditionally served, over ice, or top with little sparkling water.