Beat the summer heat with limonana

When Israel’s brief spring leaps into summer – and it can happen inside a week – everyone starts carrying water bottles around and taking big gulps out of them. We know a lot about staying hydrated. But it’s not all plain H2O. The summer heat also gives us a reason to plop down into a chair at the nearest sidewalk cafe and order a tall, frosted glass of limonana, one of the most refreshing drinks in the country. It’s sweetened lemon juice blended with fresh mint and lots of ice, and the flavor is intense.

Maybe it’s all that vitamin C – mint is loaded with it, and of course lemons are, too – or maybe it’s all that ice. But drinking limonana gives fast heat relief, like turning on a personal air conditioner. The way to enjoy it is slowly, sipping it through a straw and feeling your overheated self returning to coolness and optimism.

But who buys bottled limonana anymore? It’s so easy to make at home. The ingredients are simple and few, and with a blender, it takes mere minutes to create the essential Israeli summer drink.