Meyer lemon sparkling water, three ways
The unsweetened infusion, the syrup, and the ratio that makes the finished drink.
In season: December to May, peaking in January. Meyers bruise easily and ship badly, so they appear in stores for a short window and then vanish.
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Infused, unsweetened
Use
Peel from 2 Meyer lemons in wide strips, or 4 thin slices, per 1 litre
Method
Meyer skin is thin and the pith under it is thin too, so this is the one citrus where whole slices genuinely work. Cut them thin, cover with cold still water, refrigerate.
Time
4 hours with peel, up to 6 with slices. The extra headroom over a Eureka lemon is real, and it is still not unlimited.
Sparkling
Still water for the steep, then top with sparkling. A fresh Meyer twist expressed over the finished glass puts the floral top note back.
Keeps
3 days refrigerated with the fruit pulled at 6 hours
The syrup
Ratio
1 cup sugar : 1 cup water : peel from 4 Meyer lemons : 1/2 cup Meyer juice : 2 tablespoons regular lemon juice
Method
Dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat. Off the heat, add the peel and steep 30 minutes covered. Strain, cool, then stir in both juices.
Keeps
3 weeks refrigerated
Note
The 2 tablespoons of regular lemon juice is doing real work. Meyer runs roughly a third lower in acid than a Eureka, and a syrup built on Meyer juice alone tastes soft and perfumed with nothing behind it.
The finished soda
1 part syrup to 4 parts sparkling water over ice
If it still reads soft in the glass, add citric acid at 1/4 teaspoon per cup of syrup and taste again before adding more.
The shrub version
Peel from 4 Meyers tossed with 1 cup sugar in a jar, 12 hours on the counter until the sugar goes wet and yellow, then 1/2 cup Meyer juice and 1/2 cup champagne vinegar. Rest 5 days. Champagne vinegar is mild enough to leave the floral note standing.
What doesn't work: Swapping Meyer for regular lemon one for one in something that needs tartness. The drink comes out flabby. Meyer is a lemon crossed with a mandarin and it carries about two thirds the acid, so any build balanced around lemon acid falls over. The other failure is treating them as sturdy fruit. Meyers have thin skin, go soft in the bowl in three or four days, and a soft Meyer makes a musty infusion.
Goes with: LavenderThymeBlueberryRosemaryElderflower