Homemade Sparkling Lemonade

Ingredients:

4-6 lemons, enough to make 1 C freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 C natural cane sugar
1/2 C hot water
3 C cold water
1 C sparkling water

Instructions:

Squeeze lemons to make one cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Dissolve sugar in hot water to create simple syrup and chill. Mix together lemon juice and cold water. Add chilled simple syrup to taste. Add sparkling water according to your preference. 

Chill and serve. Garnish with fresh mint, if desired.