Sugar is the common sweetener used in most traditional lemonade recipes. It balances the sharp acidity of lemon juice and helps create the familiar sweet-and-tart flavor. A basic homemade version generally combines lemon juice, water, and dissolved sugar, often as a syrup so the crystals mix evenly.
The exact sweetener is not universal. Honey appears in older and regional recipes, while high-fructose corn syrup is common in some commercial drinks. Stevia and other low-calorie sweeteners are used in reduced-sugar products. These substitutions change the flavor and sometimes the texture, but they do not make them the standard answer for a general lemonade question.
Historical recipes show that sweetened lemon drinks are centuries old. In 13th-century Egypt, a lemon-juice beverage called qatarmizat was made with sugar. Modern lemonade may also be unsweetened; in many places, a mixture of lemon and water without added sugar is called lemon water. Pink lemonade can add fruit juice, flavoring, or coloring, but its base still commonly follows the same lemon-water-sweetener formula.