1Mix strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar together in a bowl; set aside for juices to release from strawberries, 5 to 10 minutes.
2Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan; add 3/4 cup sugar. Cook and stir sugar mixture until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and cool simple syrup to room temperature.
3Stir simple syrup, 6 cups water, lemon juice, and ice together in a pitcher. Add sweetened strawberries and stir.
Footnotes
Cook's Note:
I always mix the ice and simple syrup together first and give it a good stir so that the syrup is nice and cold before I add the remaining ingredients.