Enter how much lemonade you want to make, pick a ratio, and get the sugar, lemon juice and water amounts — in millilitres, litres, US cups or US gallons.
A lemonade ratio splits your total batch volume into equal "parts," then assigns a number of those parts to sugar, lemon juice and water. A 1:1:4 ratio over 6 total parts means each part is one-sixth of your batch — for a 1 litre batch, that's roughly 167ml each of sugar and juice, and 667ml of water.
Sugar is shown in both grams and its volume-equivalent because the ratio itself is volume-based (as most home recipes measure it), but weighing sugar on a scale is more consistent than a volume measure, since packed versus loosely scooped sugar can vary noticeably by weight for the same cup measurement.
The lemon count is an estimate based on roughly 45ml (3 tablespoons) of juice per medium lemon — a useful shopping-list figure, but real lemons vary enough in size and juiciness that it's worth having a spare on hand.
1 part sugar to 1 part lemon juice to 4 parts water is the most common starting point. It reads as roughly equal sweet and sour, diluted to a drinkable strength — from there, more water gives a milder drink and less water gives a stronger, tarter one.
The ratio itself is a volume ratio, since that's how most home recipes measure sugar and juice by the cup. The gram figure is included alongside it because weighing sugar on a kitchen scale is more accurate than a volume measure — granulated sugar packs differently depending how it's scooped.
The calculator estimates lemon count using roughly 45ml (3 tablespoons) of juice per medium lemon, which is a reasonable average — but lemon size and juiciness vary a lot, so treat the number as a shopping estimate and taste as you go.
Switch to a lower-sugar preset like 1:1:6, or edit the sugar, juice and water parts directly — lowering the sugar part relative to juice and water makes it tarter, and raising the water part relative to both makes it milder without changing the sugar-to-juice balance.
