Pink Lemonade? Are there really Pink Lemons?

Last edited Fri Sep 20, 2013, 02:34 PM – Edit history (1)

I had some Pink Lemonade the other day… and it suddenly occurred to me, there are no Pink Lemons that I know of..so I decided to investigate;

Pink lemonade is a rose-tinted beverage made from lemon juice, sugar, water, and some sort of red or pink dye (natural or artificial) for coloring. Natural food colorings typically used include cranberry juice, grenadine, and crushed strawberries.

Real pink lemons, called variegated pink-fleshed Eureka lemons, do exist. But pink lemonade usually isnt made with their juice.

The pink drink first appeared in the United States around the mid-1800s, though its origins and inventor are sometimes disputed. In one story, red cinnamon hearts accidentally were added to a batch of lemonade at a carnival concession. But according to carnival historian Joe Nickell in his 2005 book Secrets of the Sideshows, a man named Pete Conklin who ran a circus lemonade and peanut concession actually was the one who invented the drink. One day in 1857, while Conklin was making regular lemonade, he ran out of water. In desperation, he used the pink water from a tub that one of the bareback riders had used to wash her red tights. Unfazed, Conklin added some lemon slices and sold the concoction as strawberry lemonade, promptly doubling his sales. And, as they say, when life gives you lemons .

http://www.chow.com/food-news/54183/what-is-pink-lemonade/

Funny how we just take things for granted sometimes..

Seasons/Availability

Sporadicly, Pink lemons are available beginning winter through mid-summer.

Current Facts

The Pink lemon AKA pink lemonade tree is actually its own variety. It is not a hybrid, rather simply unique to the Eureka lemon family. Although it is not the most productive of lemon varieties, perhaps because their variegated leaves are low in chlorophyll, the fruits produced are highly edible and delicious. The older fruit loses their stripes and develop flesh pigmented pink from lycopene, the same compound that colors pink grapefruit.

Description/Taste

Younger Pink lemons are variegated, with green and off white stripes on the outside, and a rosé hued pink flesh inside. As the lemons mature the variegation reverts and the pink flesh intensifies. Pink lemons have a tangy and tart flavor, a rich lemon scent and very few seeds if any. Their leaves are highly fragrant, considered the most fragrant among lemon trees. Pink lemons become less acidic with age. They are best suited for their juice and their zest.

Applications

Sweetened with sugar or agave the juice of Pink lemons make a delicious lemonade. For a sweet twist on the classics try using the juice of Pink lemons in your favorite lemon cake, lemon bars, or lemon pie recipe. Their vibrant exterior makes them a perfect garnish for cocktails!

Geography/History

The variegated Pink lemon is a mutant variety first discovered in a home garden on an ordinary Eureka lemon tree in Burbank, California circa 1930. It is grown as a farmers market fruit in limited quantities throughout Southern California.

http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Pink_Lemons_4170.php

http://www.melissas.com/_resources/img/MediaCache/2b824397c7444e9ab50a8fdf8505ab7d/129460730750988750_400_0_0_0_False_Color%20[Empty].jpg

Thanks!

Just found this too:

Pink Lemonade: The Story Behind Its Pink Color

Pink lemonade doesn’t really make any sense, if you think about it. Lemons are yellow, yet this lemon-based beverage is pink. Some people assume that there are red-colored berries responsible for this oddity; this is sometimes true, but usually not — and that’s certainly not how it was originally invented.

We’re not here to ruin this perfectly good summertime beverage for you. Pink lemonade is sometimes colored with cranberry juice, raspberry juice or crushed strawberries, but it’s more often colored with red food dye. This may come as a surprise to some, but it’s a vast improvement from the way it was dyed when first appearing on the beverage scene in the mid 1800s.

According to Josh Chetwynd, author of the book, “How the Hot Dog Found Its Bun,” there are two main claims to the title of pink-lemonade inventor — and neither of them sound very thirst-quenching. The first attributes this beverage to a salesman, by the name of Pete Conklin, who sold concessions at the circus. When working a shift in 1857, he ran out of water to make his lemonade (with no access to a nearby well or spring).

Rather than lose out on business, “Pete sprinted into the dressing tent and came across Fannie Jamieson, one of the shows bareback riders. She had just cleaned her pink tights in a vat of water, leaving the liquid looking a deep pink hue.” He used the water without a second thought, and sold it as “fine strawberry lemonade.” It’s reported that he “did double the business of ordinary refreshment and, allegedly, ushered in a new style of the drink.”

more..http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/why-is-lemonade-pink_n_1503570.html

and some years, I’ve not found any.

Enjoy your posts

See above edit, I found more..

Old post but i found it by googling information on the pink lemon tree i have in my yard. The flowers are a very beautiful violet.

Unusual first posting.