Wash the citrus and strawberries thoroughly under cold running water.
Zest as much citrus as the recipe calls for and cut the rest of the citrus in half ready to juice and use as garnish. Make sure the zest is fine and you are not using any of the white pith underneath the zest. That stuff is bitter and will spoil your lemonade.
Bring to the boil 250g water and 250g sugar until dissolved. Add 750g cold water to cool the liquid down slightly. You could also add 750g of ice instead if you have it.
Add the citrus zest to this 20% sugar syrup and let it infuse for about an hour. This step is vital as we are extracting the flavour oils from the citrus zest.
When infused strain through a sieve into a suitable container discarding the spent zest and keeping the syrup.
Juice the citrus and add the juice to the above syrup.
Add 1L of water.
Taste for balance and adjust if needed to your own personal taste. Remember that you will add ice to the lemonade and that will dilute it too. So keep it nice and brightly flavoured and well balanced.
Remove the green leaves from the strawberries and cut them into quarters. Add to the lemonade.
Place in the fridge to chill well.
Slice some citrus and pick a few sprigs of fresh mint and basil.
Add into a jug with ice and give a stir.
Serve with chilled glasses filled with more citrus slices, mint, basil, strawberries and ice.
Notes
You could also add other fruits to this recipe or replace the strawberries with cherries and other berries.
You could substitute the sugar for honey.
To make this recipe sugar free use a sugar replacement but follow your taste rather than the measurements shown here of the sugar as sugar replacements are much sweeter.
Store in closed bottles this lemonade will keep fresh for days. It can also be frozen for months without changing character.