The first time we used this, it was great. It showed off our fresh-squeezed citrus punch beautifully. We garnished it with floating slices of citrus fruit (as recommended in the Best of Country Potluck cookbook we had from the public library -- we also used their recipe, Aunt Frances' Lemonade or something like that), and everything was great. It looked great, it dispensed at just the right rate for filling a glass in reasonable time but not overflowing, there were no leaks, and after more than three hours, most of the ice in the base was still solid, and the lemonade was still cool. (Admittedly, we had the thing set up inside a garage, so the sun wasn't directly hitting it, and it wasn't an especially hot day. Still.) Perfect. But I'm not sure I can use it again. Well, I could use it around the house I guess, but unless I can find a way to clean it, I don't think I can take it to a public event again. There are these horrible rings of (presumably) citrus residue everywhere the level of the liquid stopped on the way down. Some of them are significantly worse than others, probably because the punch level stopped there for longer. Ordinary dishsoap and hot water and scrubbing don't seem to have any impact. I also tried soda, to no avail. I'm not sure what else is safe to use on this thing without scratching it. If only it had come with better cleaning instructions that indicate what kinds of cleaning agents can be used... but all it says is "Hand wash do not use abrasives. Dry with a soft cloth." Yeah, but hand wash with what? There was nothing unusual in that punch, certainly nothing that would be expected to damage a lemonade dispenser. It contained water, sugar, and juice from squeezed lemons, limes, and oranges, plus a handful of slices of the same fruits for garnish. That's it. Since the photo on Amazon where they sell it shows it full of a yellow liquid containing lemon slices, I figured serving citrus punch in it would be fine. Apparently not. When I bought this thing, I thought of the fact that it was plastic, rather than glass, as an advantage. It'd be lighter, less likely to drop and break, etc. Now I'm not so sure. If anybody can tell me how to clean this thing so I can use it again, I'll happily edit my review and increase the number of stars; but for now, I can only recommend this product for serving water, or if you just want to use it once.
